Havre de Grace council remands 2024 comprehensive plan to planning commission for edits

The Havre de Grace mayor and city council on Jan. 6 voted to send the proposed Envision Havre de Grace 2024 comprehensive plan back to the planning commission with requested edits rather than adopt it at the meeting.

Council President moved to remand the plan to the planning commission with a set of amendments; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Boyer and carried 5-0. The motion followed an earlier procedural introduction of a calendar resolution to approve and adopt the plan prepared by the Havre de Grace Planning Commission.

Council members said the requested edits should remove or soften references to changes in parking structure and density and should require additional review of a proposed hospital overlay and the city’s Adequate Public Facilities (APF) analysis before allowing new development. “I don't support the putting in the comprehensive plan the ideas of the of, changing our parking structure or our density,” the Council President said while explaining the amendments.

Several council members urged stronger emphasis on basic infrastructure and school capacity. Councilmember Boyer said the plan overemphasized bike infrastructure relative to other priorities and called for more focus on water, sewer and stormwater upgrades: “I personally believe walkability is far more important than bikeability.” Other members sought clearer references to Harford County EMS service levels and editorial fixes to wording and footnotes (for example, how the plan cites “complete streets”).

Council members agreed the planning committee would review the administration's recommended edits and forward the set of amendments to the planning commission for formal consideration. No adoption or binding zoning changes occurred at the Jan. 6 meeting; the action was limited to remanding the document to the planning commission for revision and return.

The council’s action preserves the planning commission’s draft while directing a new review cycle that could change recommended policy language and any implementation steps, including references to parking ratios and development density. The council did not set a new adoption date at the Jan. 6 meeting.

The planning commission prepared the Envision Havre de Grace comprehensive plan, and the motion to introduce the calendar resolution to adopt that plan referenced the local government article of the Annotated Code of Maryland and sections 33 and 34 of the city charter.

Next steps: the planning commission will receive the council’s requested amendments for review; the council’s planning committee will also review and provide recommendations before the planning commission returns the draft to the council.