Gov. O'Malley Says PlanMaryland Stops Subsidies for "Stupid Decisions" // MoCo Planning Board's Casey Anderson Explains

Maryland Juice has periodically discussed Governor Martin O'Malley's smart growth initiative PlanMaryland. Montgomery County Planning Board member Casey Anderson today provides readers with some information about the new land use guidelines. Conservative lawmakers have attacked the plan, but Gov. O'Malley adopted it as an Executive Order over their objections. The Baltimore Sun reported last month:

The plan has been decried by conservative county officials and Republican legislators as a usurpation of local power over land use, but O'Malley defended it Monday as a framework for making wise decisions about where the state should invest in capital projects....

O'Malley said the plan will not dictate local land-use policies but will guide state spending, steering money away from projects that promote sprawling development.

"The state's not going to be a part of those stupid decisions, and we're not going to be subsidizing stupid decisions — pardon me — unsustainable decisions," O'Malley said....

The plan seeks to discourage the spread of what it calls "large lot development areas" — subdivisions that are typically built with septic systems rather than with public water and sewer. The policy explicitly seeks to discourage the spread of such developments by minimizing funding for programs that fuel such growth.

Montgomery County Planning Board member Casey Anderson provided the following additional explanation of PlanMaryland:

The most important thing for anyone who lives in Montgomery County to understand about Plan Maryland is that if the surrounding jurisdictions are allowed to do whatever they want, the resulting sprawl will clog up our roads (because many of the people who move there will be commuting to jobs here or travel through MoCo on their way to DC).  It also will increase the amount of water pollution from runoff (because of increased amounts of impervious surface when new roads and parking lots are built, etc.) which limits our ability to grow, because the total amount of pollutants entering the Chesapeake Bay is subject to increasingly tight restrictions.  

In other words, if Frederick's development ends up polluting our watershed, then development in Montgomery will be more expensive and difficult because we will be required to pay for additional water quality mitigation in order to build anything.  

Gov. O'Malley Signs "PlanMaryland" Executive Order // Play the Video Game & Watch the Video

UPDATE: Maryland Juice just noticed a few cool features to the PlanMaryland website: 1) PlanMaryland Video Game, 2) PlanMaryland Social Media Portal, and 3) PlanMaryland Citizen Input Map.

Numerous media outlets recently reported that Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed an Executive Order advancing his smart growth plan, dubbed PlanMaryland. If you've been listening to conservatives in the Free State lately, you would think that Mr. O'Malley was plotting to seize private land or carpetbomb rural parts of Maryland. The Washington Times noted GOP Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin called PlanMaryland a "War on Rural Maryland." The Potomac Tea Party Report blog yesterday announced: "O’Malley signs Executive Order on PlanMaryland; citizens lose/UN wins." I believe the opposition to PlanMaryland can be categorized into a few groups:

• Global warming deniers/Tea Party
• Sprawl developers and/or rural-exurban landowners
• the GOP (either because it is now a regional/rural party or because it seeks wedge issues)

Granted, there are ordinary Maryland residents that are opposed to the policy for various reasons, but that is true for any policy change -- especially when it involves land use. The organized opposition -- and misinformation -- is emanating (in my opinion) from a partisan source. But Michael Dresser from The Baltimore Sun provided a decent snapshot of the rationale for PlanMaryland:

At a ceremony that included two of his Democratic predecessors, O'Malley formally accepted the plan, which had gone through two draft versions before being adopted. The plan has been decried by conservative county officials and Republican legislators as a usurpation of local power over land use, but O'Malley defended it Monday as a framework for making wise decisions about where the state should invest in capital projects....

O'Malley said the plan will not dictate local land-use policies but will guide state spending, steering money away from projects that promote sprawling development.

"The state's not going to be a part of those stupid decisions, and we're not going to be subsidizing stupid decisions — pardon me — unsustainable decisions," O'Malley said....

End Commuter Discrimination: Senators Cardin & Mikulski Fight to Preserve Transit Tax Credit - Relief Ends in 2.5 Weeks!

Federal News Radio today reported that U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski are calling on Congress to protect and expand a tax credit for mass transit commuters. The benefit is set to expire at the end of this year:

A group of 22 senators has called on the Senate Finance Committee to take up extending a mass-transit commuter tax benefit, which expires at the end of the year.

The mass-transit benefit is set to be cut nearly in half — from $230 a month to $120 — starting next year, barring action by Congress.

Maryland Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, who both signed the letter, said the cut could disproportionately affect federal workers....

The commuter benefit was last boosted in December 2010, when Congress upped the benefit to its current level — the same amount afforded parking benefits.

In a joint press release last Friday, the two Maryland Senators explained why they were fighting for this critical, but not-so-glamorous benefit:

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski today joined a bipartisan coalition of twenty additional Senators in urging the Senate Finance Committee to include an extension of the widely used mass-transit commuter tax credit in any relevant legislation taken up by the Senate before it expires at the end of the year. The tax credit has an immediate impact on the region’s federal workforce and middle-class commuters across the nation. At a savings of over $1,000 per year, it eases the burden of high travel costs on families, allowing them to invest it in the local economy.

The Future Of Montgomery County: Take DC's Streetcars to MoCo's Suburban Big Box Stores? // aka the Walmart Question

Rorschach's Journal 11/6/2012

The year is 2020. Tom Smith, a resident of Gentro Heights NW, needs a sack of grain. He picks up the Georgia Ave Streetcar from in front of his house and gets off at the Downtown Silver Spring Transit Hub, where he transfers to the Purple Line. Tom's journey ultimately ends at the Walmart West Montgomery Station in Rockville, Maryland. Welcome to Montgomery County 2020.... maybe.

Maryland Juice's domestic partner/wife Virginia Juice has recently been reading a classic land use and planning tome, "Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs. I don't remember why she started reading it, and don't tell her, but I wasn't paying close attention when she was telling me about the book. Nevertheless, my eye was drawn to a mention of the book in the comments to this morning's very interesting MoCo-centric news round-up at the Greater Greater Washington blog (excerpts below):

Streetcar to Silver Spring?: Montgomery Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Hans Riemer are asking DC to consider running the streetcar to Silver Spring. It's entirely logical, if only the various DOTs can work together. (South Silver Spring)

Berliner against anti-urban Walmarts: Councilmember Roger Berliner wants to stop the Walmart at Rockville Pike and Randolph Road because it will undermine the more urban form the county wants to foster in that area. (Patch) 

Mall owner prefers a town instead: The owners of White Flint Mall want to replace the mall with a town. The project would include 5 million square feet of offices, apartments, and shops and will take 25 years to complete. (Gazette, Mike) 

Jobs outstrip housing: The region is failing to match job growth with housing growth. Eventually, employers and workers may relocate to cities where housing is cheaper. (Post) ... Building up, rather than out, is the best solution we've got. (City Block)

Food stamps down in DC, up in MD, VA: The number of food stamp recipients fell 10.5% in DC while jumping 10.2% and 21.2% in Virginia and Maryland respectively. The shift may signal the displacement of poverty from DC to the suburbs. (Examiner) 

And...: Prince George's County will create "prostitution-free zones" along the DC border. (Patch)

Sidebar on the Future of Civic Activism: Increasingly the era of the suburban civic activist is being displaced (or at least enhanced) by the era of the digital civic blogger, email/listserv warrior, etc. Just look at the slow proliferation of interest in wonky sites like Greater Greater Washington, Just Up the Pike, the South Silver Spring Association blog, the Citizens League of MoCo and many other land-use oriented blogs. Too often, I hear elected officials asking why young people, working class folks, communities of color, and others don't "participate" more. They ask why people don't show up at public hearings, why they don't apply for advisory boards, etc. But when I look around, I see a vibrant culture of expression on some very nerdy policy issues -- from a range of voices. It is not hard to find the outlets where ordinary citizens are speaking out on such matters these days. Just look at the first few comments to the news roundup above (I highlight one comment for continued discussion below):

Is Former GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Ellen Sauerbrey MD's New Anti-Smart Growth Lobbyist?

Politicians representing rural Maryland counties have their knickers atwist over Governor Martin O'Malley's new smart growth plan, dubbed simply "Plan Maryland." Maryland Juice will soon discuss the bold new initiative, but to give you a sense of the political context, note that Western Maryland counties are banding together to hire a lobbyist to fight "Plan Maryland." Two days ago Hagerstown's Herald-Mail wrote:

Concerned that a new state planning document will be used to "strong-arm" local governments, the Washington County Board of Commissioners decided Tuesday to join other Western Maryland counties in hiring a lobbyist to protect their interests....

Washington County will join Carroll, Allegany, and Frederick counties in pitching in for the lobbyist, Baker said. Garrett County opted not to contribute, he said.

Today, Maryland Juice notes that two-time GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey is now stumping against Plan Maryland. Is she the lobbyist they've hired?

Not surprising to see the GOP turn smart growth into a partisan issue. Note that the website above appears to be run by incoming Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin.

Much more on Plan Maryland soon!