Mount Airy presents master plan and asks Carroll County to coordinate on annexations, trails and facilities

Mount Airy planning officials told the Carroll County Planning and Setting Commission on March 18 that the town’s master plan centers on preserving a ‘‘small‑town feel’’ while enabling targeted infill, transportation improvements and accountable implementation.

Ralph Gant, chair of the Mount Airy Planning Commission, said the plan emphasizes infill in the downtown Core along Center Street and Main Street and uses the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance to tie growth to water, sewer and school capacity. “We want to try to maintain as much open space, recreation, parks opportunities,” Gant said, adding that the plan sets five goals and 24 objectives with named owners to prevent the plan from becoming “a three‑ring binder that sits on a shelf and collects dust.”

John Breeding, director of planning and zoning for Mount Airy, and…