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Havre de Grace adopts Envision Havre de Grace comprehensive plan with multiple amendments
Summary
The council adopted the city’s comprehensive plan after accepting a package of amendments that include reordering transportation priorities, adding aging-in-place language and other edits; the final vote was 6-0.
The Havre de Grace Mayor and City Council adopted the Envision Havre de Grace comprehensive plan on Monday with a series of council-led amendments intended to reflect public input and recent staff updates.
The council voted 6-0 to adopt Calendar Resolution 2025-01, approving the comprehensive plan after the council accepted a package of amendments that change the plan’s year designation to 2025, reorder transportation priorities to emphasize sidewalks before bikeways, add language on “aging in place,” note the city’s bird-friendly initiatives, and remove hyperlinks with broken federal links. The council also approved a repeal-and-replace for Chapter 11 (transportation) to clarify active-transportation language and the order of sidewalk/bikeway content.
Why it matters: A comprehensive plan guides city decisions about zoning, parks, transportation, affordable housing and future capital investments. The amendments reflect both technical updates and policy choices — for example, prioritizing sidewalks over bikeways signals an emphasis on pedestrian infrastructure in the city’s built environment.
What the council changed and why
- Year and housekeeping: The council replaced references to the “2024 Envision Havre de Grace comprehensive plan” with “2025,” updated staff names and removed broken hyperlinks that staff said were no longer reliable.
- Transportation chapter: The council approved a repeal-and-replace for Chapter 11 to reorder walking infrastructure (sidewalks) ahead of bikeways, add explicit language defining active transportation (shared multimodal use), and clarify that many sidewalk/bikeway items were intended to be treated together. Council members said the change better reflects the city’s walkable character.
- Aging in place and parking: Amendments added language encouraging aging-in-place strategies and included guidance on parking requirements, including consideration of reduced parking ratios for certain housing types to support affordability.
- Tranquility Homes and other site references: The council accepted edits addressing specific sites and changed some text to reflect that the city includes a significant number of second homes.
How the council handled the amendments
Councilmember Schneggis introduced the adoption motion and Councilmember Boyer moved a consent calendar of many amendments. Those amendments were discussed, and a subset was handled as separate votes — including striking one amendment (number 15) from the packet after further review and approving other changes by unanimous voice or roll call. Staff described the changes as primarily editorial and reordering; the transportation chapter was replaced to consolidate edits.
Public engagement
Council members and staff repeatedly noted public sessions and work sessions that produced the recommended edits. Planning staff thanked the council and multiple staff members for time spent refining the plan.
Ending
With the passage of Calendar Resolution 2025-01, the plan becomes the council-adopted guide for the city. Several implementation steps remain: staff and council will use the plan to inform future zoning, capital projects and parking/transportation decisions; some changes will require ordinance action when they affect zoning code or capital budgets.
