Do you like living in Crownsville? The General Development Plan will determine what you see, the amount of traffic, the quality of your environment, the availability of services and more. We all need to read it and comment on it. We need to know where it will have its impact with zoning changes and what it will cost. On January 20, Dinnie White of the SAC presented concerns about the GDP to members of the GHCCA. (A few words about the acronyms: GDP- General Development Plan; SAC-Special Advisory Committee; GHCCA – your own Generals Highway Council of Community Associations.) Read on!
General Development Plan Draft
The latest revision of the General Development Plan (GDP) has been underway since 2007 with the draft just released on January 20, 2009. The GDP is being prepared under the auspices of the Office of Planning and Zoning and according to state legislative requirements mandated in 2006.
The Special Advisory Committee
The county seated the Special Advisory Committee (SAC) to review the draft findings of the Planning Advisory Board. The 21 member SAC included one representative from each of the 16 small areas and five members-at-large. The SAC, a volunteer group, worked with the staff who attended most committee meetings. A subcommittee on policy and goals worked without staff involvement; however, their work was suspended when the TAP draft release pre-empted their report. Read more about the formation of groups related to the GDP.
GDP Public Comment
The draft GDP is a 200 page technical document. Now that it has been released, the next phase is public comment. The first opportunity for public comment is a forum on January 26 at Annapolis High School. The last of four forums is February 5 at Meade High School. The public has until February 16 before the public comment period closes. See the entire schedule for public comment.
SAC Member speaks to GHCCA
Dinnie White, SAC member, spoke to the GHCCA on Tuesday evening, January 20. He shared with the Council members the process that comprised the development of the GDP and the implications of the comment schedule. He expressed concern about the ability for the public to analyze the document in the allotted time and make useful comments. Two county council members share his concern. Josh Cohen and Cathleen Vitalle have expressed interest in increasing the public component of the process.
Get the GDP
The entire draft GDP document is available on-line as a PDF. For those who prefer a hard copy or don’t have computer access, the county will provide a black and white copy at their Heritage Office Complex on Riva Road for $15. The black and white copy makes the interpretation of the color maps difficult. (Update note: The color, bound report is now available for $35.)
GDP Public Forums
On Tuesday evening, Dinnie presented the SAC concerns about the GDP. Among their concerns was the apparent lack of consideration of SAC input for the GDP. The SAC has asked for a tightening of the GDP relative to SAC concerns. SAC members plan to attend each of the four public forms.
The structure of the public forums favors the well-prepared citizen. As each person enters the forum, he/she will be assigned to a table moderated by a planning staff member. The public will have the opportunity to raise points and ask questions; however, the evenings will not include a general meeting of the entire group in attendance to hear the information raised at other tables. There are no plans to record the proceedings of the forums. The opportunity for public comment closes on February 16 after the forums. Since nothing is being recorded at forums, comments should be submitted in writing.
Concerns
The GDP draft available to the public does not include a financial impact analysis done by a Mongomery County firm. Similarly, concerns for some 80 zoning requests reduced to thirty or so are not available to the public. The SAC has concerns about spot zoning, the use of MXD zoning, and the number of acres up for rezoning offering Bestgate Road transformation over the decade as food for thought. Read the SAC Concerns.
Our Challenge
Dinnie White’s expertise is in land use planning. He offered this comment at the close of the meeting. “When do we plan for the communities already here. When are we going to listen and then be intelligent about what they want?”
We take the first step toward helping our county listen to its communities when we give time and effort to reading the GDP draft and the SAC comments and, then attending at least one forum. The first one is next Monday at Annapolis High School from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Elaine: Two corrections: The SAC DID work with the Staff – staff attended every meeting except one or two. However, they have not attended the subcommittee meetings on policy and goals until the last one. And this work was suspended because the TAP draft came out before we were finished.
The document is now available at 2664 Riva Road for $35, not $15. Not particularly public input friendly.
Thanks for a good report.
Dinny
Thanks Dinny- I will make that correction this evening when I get back from the meeting. I tried reading the GDP — I really did. Thank you for all your work. I would appreciate any suggestions you have for boosting public involvement and input.
Elaine