From the Capital Gazette News, March 1, 2021
By Olivia Sanchez
Anne Arundel County’s future is on the agenda at Monday’s County Council meeting in the form of bill 11-21, the General Development Plan.
It is better known as the GDP or Plan 2040, a product of dozens of listening sessions, town halls, and meetings since 2017, with hundreds of residents weighing in along the way. It will act as a guide for comprehensive rezoning, water and sewer management, and capital improvements across the county, among others. It gives land use designation change ideas and suggests policy change.
The GDP outlines plans to revitalize the Glen Burnie Town Center, policies aimed at protecting county greenways, open space, rural areas, and strengthening services for older adults and people with disabilities by increasing access to affordable housing and public transportation and expanding recreation options.
Though it’s widely known as a land-use plan, the GDP also makes policy recommendations relating to the natural environment, built environment, healthy communities and a healthy economy.
It is more than 300 pages long and is now eligible for a public hearing.
Residents will be able to stream the 6 p.m. meeting on Monday and sign up to give audio testimony or submit written testimony. The council is expected to hold multiple public hearings to maximize community engagement. They are required to pass the bill by May 7.
County Executive Steuart Pittman said he hopes this plan will be different from previous in Anne Arundel, which he said have mostly sat untouched. This was designed to be implemented and will be a “radical departure from the past,” he said. It will prioritize transportation and revitalization, among
other things.
“There may be a few corrections, but I hope people are vigilant and watch each one of these proposed changes and make sure we are not doing it just to make somebody some money,” Pittman said. “We all have a whole lot at stake if we plan to be here in 10 and 20 years.”
He said he believes residents are concerned about whether continued development will turn Anne Arundel into one big city — he thinks his dedication to this issue was part of the reason why he was elected.
This, for Councilwoman Allison Pickard, D-Glen Burnie, will allow the council to strike a balance between competing needs. She said she’s looking forward to working through the plan — at a recent work session, she said she has a list of questions 14 pages long — and plans to introduce amendments she thinks will help the plan better balance the county’s needs.
Though the document hasn’t formally had a hearing before the council yet, members have already begun carefully going through it. Councilwoman Amanda Fiedler, R-Arnold, has already begun to advocate for small businesses, questioning the makers of the plan about the reasoning for certain zoning classifications and dig into the definition of ephemeral streams and the role they play in the county’s environment.
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