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Every ten years, the County revises its Master Plan as mandated by State law. The current one was approved by the County Council in February 2000. The Office of Planning is currently preparing the 2020 version. In the past, this document has provided valuable guidance and is often cited by opponents of particular zoning changes and developments that are not in keeping with the visions for the rural areas. However, the provisions of the Master Plan are not mandatory as some think.
The passage of HB297/SB280, "Smart, Green, and Growing - Smart and Sustainable Growth Act of 2009", should have the effect of ensuring that development plans are "consistent with" the Master Plan, rather than just being simply "in harmony with" as ruled in the Terrapin Run case. Therefore, the next decade's Plan should become an even more important tool for those striving to protect our environment.
As the first step in revising the Master Plan, the Office of Planning published a draft of the changes for the Rural section and held Public Input Meetings. A revised version was passed to the Planning Board to consider after which it went to the County Council for approval.
The Plan provides an overview of the present conditions (areas in preservation, agriculture, etc) and describes the goals to promote agriculture, protect water supplies, preserve additional land, and generally save natural resources.
More information can be found at the Office of Planning web site.
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