Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Service Delivery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioner says county land-use website is hard to use, asks for improvements
Summary
A commissioner criticized the county's Land Use and Growth Management website (referred to in the transcript as 'Lugam') as unintuitive for residents seeking permit guidance and asked colleagues to support improving it to help both residents and staff.
A commissioner at a St. Mary's County meeting urged the county to overhaul its Land Use and Growth Management website, saying residents cannot easily find step-by-step instructions for common projects such as sheds, decks, pools or new houses. "If you wanna build a shed or put a shed on, build a deck, build a swimming pool, build a house... You go on the LUGM website and show me where the steps are," the commissioner said, calling the current site "not intuitive" and "not easy to find."
The commissioner acknowledged LUGM's competing priorities, including work on the comprehensive plan and compliance with "88 requirements for websites," but said the site should be improved to make permitting clearer for residents and to help LUGM staff get applicants better prepared. Better online guidance, the commissioner argued, would reduce back-and-forth at the permit counter and make service delivery more efficient.
No formal action or timeline for updating the website was adopted during the meeting; the commissioner said they hoped colleagues would support the effort and that staff are already working on improvements.
