Planners say housing, tourism chapters updated; implementation matrix and public survey will guide final comprehensive plan

County planning consultants told the work session they have revised multiple plan chapters, including tourism and housing, and are reconciling overlapping material in natural resources and land-use sections. Jennifer and consultant staff said the tourism chapter received substantial new material and that the housing element will be coordinated with a separate county housing study.

Consultants described how the plan will include an implementation chapter that consolidates goals, objectives and action items from each chapter into a matrix. "The goals, objectives, and action items from each individual chapter are wrapped into an implementation chapter," a consultant said, adding that jurisdictions often use annual reports to the Maryland Department of Planning as the basis for tracking progress.

Staff said draft chapters and the web mapping layers will be posted to the comprehensive-plan website and that the county is collecting feedback through an online survey. The department is also using Google Analytics to track how many visitors access the plan pages and how many follow the survey link; staff said they can report back on numbers such as clicks versus completed survey responses.

The consultant said some guidance required by the Maryland Department of Planning remains outstanding and may not be finalized until after plan adoption. Staff described a near-term schedule: revised chapters and updated growth boundaries will be returned to the committee in the next workshop, with some elements possibly following in May depending on how long it takes to gather municipal inputs and finalize calculations.

The team asked commissioners and municipal partners to submit edits and technical comments to Jennifer and Matt so the next public draft will reflect local corrections.