Maryland planning officials brief committee on move from “smart growth” to “sustainable growth” and state technical support for local plans

Secretary Rebecca Flora, Maryland Department of Planning, told the Education, Energy and the Environment Committee on the topic of a departmental briefing that the agency will propose updating the state's growth policy to prioritize "sustainable growth" and to make statutory guidance clearer for local jurisdictions.

"Comprehensive planning is all about the community's vision," Flora said, emphasizing the department's view that local planning commissions drive plan content and that the state's role is technical assistance and review.

The department presented three areas the committee asked about: the comprehensive planning process, the historical evolution of the state's growth policy, and the proposed shift from the current statutory "visions" to a set of concise "planning principles." Flora said the department will present a bill to amend the code so that the 12 existing visions are reframed, consolidated and supplemented by new principles that explicitly include equity and resilience.

Why it matters: the department told lawmakers the current statutory visions are often vague in practice and that local planners and officials have asked for clearer, simpler guidance. Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) officials said the proposed change is intended to preserve local control while improving clarity and alignment among state agencies that provide technical input.

MDP staff described their two primary roles: providing technical assistance to local jurisdictions and coordinating reviews of local comprehensive plans. Flora said the technical-assistance package varies by jurisdiction and ranges from providing data such as population projections to more detailed subject-matter support on topics like water resources or sensitive areas. "Sometimes there's a lot more handholding than there are in other areas," she said, and noted the department works with sister agencies including the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to supply expertise.

Committee members asked how that assistance shows up in practice. Assistant Secretary Chuck Boyd said MDP often identifies the issue a local government is facing, then brings in the appropriate subject-matter experts from partner agencies to provide data, model language or best practices. Boyd described recent collaborative work rewriting the water-resources element to reflect legislative changes and to make the guidance usable for local planners.

Flora and Boyd also explained MDP's statutory review role: the department reviews local comprehensive plans and provides recommendations, but cannot unilaterally change local plans. Flora acknowledged the statutory timing of that review often occurs late in plan development and said staff are discussing ways to engage earlier in the process while remaining within statutory limits.

MDP also maintains a public repository of local comprehensive plans and is working with state mapping authorities to consolidate geospatial information. The assistant secretary explained that while MDP performs some mapping, many state agencies maintain their own maps; statewide mapping is consolidated under the state's IMAP system maintained by DUIT.

On the policy shift, Flora summarized the department's rationale: the original Planning Act (1992) and subsequent changes (notably a 2000 amendment adding adequate public facilities and a substantial 2009 rewrite that established 12 visions) focused policy primarily on where development occurs and on conservation. The department proposes reframing the statutory language to shorter, clearer planning principles that would more explicitly address economic, social and environmental dimensions of growth. "We're moving from where we grow to now the implications of how we grow," she said.

Flora said MDP conducted six planner roundtables with roughly 150 participants statewide and used feedback from the governor's sustainable growth subcabinet and public forums to shape the proposed principles. She said the department has crosswalked the existing visions to ensure no statutory topic is omitted and that the proposed package would simplify statutory language while adding explicit references to equity and resilience.

Committee members pressed practical questions about tradeoffs between open-space preservation and development, infrastructure sequencing, and definitions such as "sprawl." Flora offered a working definition: development that unfolds in an inefficient, resource-intensive way. She and committee members noted local variation across Maryland's rural and urban counties and the practical constraints of local approval processes.

No bills were taken up or voted on during the briefing. Flora and staff agreed to follow up with senators asking for additional mapping and implementation details. The committee paused for a short technical break before transitioning to departmental bills.