Carroll County commissioners on Dec. 18 directed county staff to prioritize a consultant request for proposals to review zoning and code provisions affecting the Freedom District and approved temporary deferral policies for several contested land uses.

Planning director Chris (staff) told the board the RFP would focus on assessing existing master and community plans against county code and drafting recommended text amendments for four uses: cluster subdivisions, retirement villages and homes, self‑service storage facilities and planned commercial centers. "The schedule that we outlined in the RFP was that we wanted this completed by March," Chris said, noting two firms — Michael Baker International and Wilson t Ballard — submitted bids; staff recommended Wilson t Ballard as the lower responsive bidder for the two highest‑priority tasks.

The board debated procurement rules that limit non‑public bids to $50,000 and whether to add the third task (assistance through planning commission hearings) to the initial contract. After extended discussion about staffing, scope and vendor staffing history, commissioners voted 4–1 to direct staff to issue an RFP covering all three tasks so the full scope could be procured as soon as possible.

To address immediate neighborhood concerns while code changes proceed, the board also voted several time‑limited deferrals with exemptions: for cluster subdivisions in the Freedom Growth Area (exempting projects submitted before Dec. 1, 2025), for retirement villages and retirement homes (allowing continued processing but requiring any final approvals to meet code changes or be explicitly exempted), and for self‑service storage and planned commercial centers. Commissioners emphasized these deferrals are meant to preserve safety and design review while staff and the chosen consultant gather data and propose code language for public hearings in January and beyond.

Commissioner Krebs, who sponsored the cluster‑subdivision exemption motion, said developers already mid‑process would be allowed to continue under existing rules: "They can continue to work down the road," she said. Commissioner Gordon and others pressed for a full procurement and careful vetting of consultant resumes and deliverables. Chris said staff will publish a public RFP, work with procurement to ensure competitive bids where required, and return on the January schedule with draft code language and a recommended timeline for Planning and Zoning Commission review.

Next steps: staff will issue the RFP as directed, publish a work session on January 15 to review draft code options for the MD‑26/Corridor (C‑2) and other Freedom District issues, and return to the board afterward for public hearings and any formal adoption votes.