Visit St. Mary's urges clearer heritage language, better signage and visitor resources in draft plan

Liz Miltenstein of Visit St. Mary's reviewed proposed edits to the tourism and heritage policies, asking staff to "collaborate with Visit St. Mary's Maryland to regularly update the inventory of resources available on the Visit Saint Mary's website" and to call out Historic St. Mary's City and its 400th anniversary.

Miltenstein flagged faded brown roadside signage and recommended a county‑level effort in partnership with the sites listed on the signs. She also asked the commission to consider incentives or other supports for tourism‑oriented businesses, including opportunities to attract film crews — noting that filming brings crews who use local hotels and services.

Planning staff noted Visit St. Mary's is now a nonprofit and operates a robust events calendar and listings; staff suggested working with Visit St. Mary's to refine sign language and visitor‑resource coordination. Commissioners proposed low‑cost visitor touchpoints (QR codes at county entry points, pamphlets at convenience stores) and asked staff to craft revised language for BoardDocs.

Next steps: staff will work offline with Visit St. Mary's to refine language on inventories, signage and potential incentives and will return updated language for commission review.