Annapolis needs a development plan

In spite of a profound economic downturn last year due to COVID-19, it appears that new construction and development is either being planned or underway in the City of Annapolis. It is reasonable to anticipate this rebound will continue and probably intensify due to the need and desire to re-purpose various properties that are no longer viable due to the pandemic’s effect on work choices and commuting.

This could be a wonderful thing for a city. It propels economic growth by providing jobs, it fulfills community needs and it contributes to the city’s tax revenue base. At the same time, however, whenever property development is done absent a master plan it, inevitably leads to a fragmented approach.

At best, the result is a patchwork of projects; at worst, it results in a developers’ free-for-all. A master plan, however, provides a yardstick against which to measure how well a new land-use proposal fits into our view of what we want our city to look like, how we want to use our limited land resources to achieve our community goals, and most of all, what we want our city to be.

This is why we need to see Annapolis’ 2020 Comprehensive Plan (ACP) completed and approved by the City Council this coming term. Our Chief Comprehensive Planner, Eric Lechinsky, has done enormous outreach about the plan, getting feedback in community meetings, surveys and workshops. Without a plan, we are continuing to react to a sole development losing an opportunity to have an infill or redevelopment with better environmental control measures and serving a more multiuse providing necessary housing and jobs.

Be a part of it and go to the Annapolis.gov website as comments on the Comprehensive Plan will be accepted through September 17, 2021.

Elly Tierney, Annapolis

The author is the Ward 1 alderwoman on the Annapolis City Council