Passing Plan2040 moves power to county communities

The Anne Arundel County Council passed a bill Monday night that does something very rare in the world of government. Plan2040, our state-mandated General Development Plan, actually transfers power to the people. It literally puts people first.

Creating the plan and moving it to the council was a two-year process that engaged more residents in more meetings and online engagement than any plan in county history. The result was described by the Maryland Department of Planning as a model for other counties, and praised by Smart Growth America founder and former governor Paris Glendening in a recent Capital column. By approving this GDP, we have established a roadmap with a detailed implementation plan to take us to a greener, smarter, more equitable future.

For me personally, this is a big deal. I grew up in a farm family where land stewardship was considered a sacred responsibility, and as a young adult I spent years struggling to rebuild blighted urban neighborhoods as a strategy to reduce poverty.

I’ve seen the impact of land use planning.

It was the inspiring stories that I heard from people across this county about working with their neighbors and county planners on Small Area Plans in the early 2000 s that led me to seek this office, not only to protect nature and rebuild communities in smarter ways, but also to reconnect people with each other and their government, and ultimately to restore trust.

I won’t argue with those who say that Plan2040 is just a plan, and that the real work is in the subsequent legislation and governing. That’s absolutely true, and I very much look forward to a spring and summer tour of stakeholder meetings on implementation.

But Plan2040 itself shifts the balance of power by mandating nine Region Plans, and unlike the one-time county experiment with Small Area Plans, they precede and thereby establish the terms for what really matters for our future - comprehensive rezoning. That’s the process whereby landowners and developers swarm county council members with requests to upzone land to increase its development potential and its market value.

In other words, it won’t be possible for the County Council to do what they did in 2011. There won’t be a countywide comprehensive rezoning following the GDP. Instead, they must wait for the Stakeholder Advisory Groups and longrange planners to do the intensive, modern planning that should inform any rezoning decisions. It takes time and professional staffing, and for that reason, only three of the nine regions will do their plans at a time. All nine won’t be finished until it’s time for the next GDP.

This not only empowers local communities, but it slows down the pace of change and ensures that each region’s rezoning process has the full attention of the public. It encourages developers and planners to work closely with residents, and it creates an ongoing cycle of community-driven planning.

If you put yourself in the shoes of a county councilperson, this Region Plan sequence presents a dilemma. You run for office believing that you will have the power to rezone your district in your first term, and then the administration presents a GDP that takes that away from you.

If the regions in your district are in the final third to do plans, you might not even get to rezone in your second term. It takes a confident leader who trusts his or her constituents to approve a change like this.

I want to thank Council Chairman Sarah Lacey, and councilmembers Lisa Rodvien, Allison Pickard, and Andrew Pruski for your willingness to empower the residents in your districts and support this plan.

To councilmembers Amanda Fiedler, Jessica Haire, and Nathan Volke, I expected your vote and was disappointed not to get it, but will continue to seek your support for the important legislation that Plan2040 prescribes, and trust that you support the smart growth principles that are the foundation of the plan.

Republicans and Democrats love trees and hate traffic equally, and on land use, issues share much common ground.

To the residents of this county, our work is not done. Please join your local civic organization, participate in your region plan, and hold your county government accountable as we move forward. None of this works without you.