La Plata planning commission accepts annual report after staff corrects data; members press need for development-capacity analysis and staffing

The La Plata Planning Commission voted to accept the town’s 2024 annual planning report with corrections to numeric tables and clarifications to be made by staff before the document is forwarded to town council and submitted to the state.

Commission members pressed planning staff about a missing Development Capacity Analysis (DCA) and said the commission needs more staff and consultant resources to prepare data for an update to the town’s comprehensive plan and for refinement of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO).

Director Dooley, who presented the annual report, told the commission that “the state of Maryland requires us to provide an annual report every year on various planning activities in the town,” and that staff reviewed records to compile the 2024 submission. Dooley said the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) has no staffing capacity to help La Plata prepare a DCA and that the last DCA on MDP’s record for the town was…