Urging A Plan for Growth

O'Malley officials are worried about effects of growth. (Toni L. Sandys - The Washington Post)
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Many commuters in the Washington-Baltimore corridor are beginning to rethink life in the typical suburb, where spread-out neighborhoods often lack sidewalks, stores are rarely within easy walking distance of houses and the roads are inhospitable to cyclists.

Housing sales have slowed across the region because of other economic forces. But with the rise in gas prices, the slump has been especially pronounced in some far-flung suburbs where jobs and shopping are more than 30 minutes away by car. And there is increasing pressure to find housing for the wave of new residents coming between now and 2030, when Maryland is expected to grow by 1 million people.

"The bottom line is, this is about finding a place to put those people," said Karl Brendle, the planning director for the city of Laurel, an area of substantial expected growth.

State government can help things along by subsidizing public transit and providing incentives to developers to build bike and walking paths. The state also can restructure taxes and offer subsidies to encourage development that is more energy-efficient and less car-dependent, popularly known as "smart growth," a concept that gained currency during the administration of former governor Parris N. Glendening (D).

Government will need to move quickly to catch up with demand, said Frank Hertsch, a lawyer and engineer who heads an engineering firm that works with builders and developers.

"You can't direct people to live in an area unless you meet the infrastructure needs," such as schools, libraries and transit, he said.

Hertsch said it would be unrealistic for a Towson or a Rockville to develop their own light-rail systems, which should be funded regionally or at the state level.

A state plan might aid in those efforts, he said.

Stuart Meck, a planner who heads the Center for Government Services at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, said Maryland is ripe for a state plan to promote smart growth. The state's disparate incentives and regulatory systems have had limited success at promoting denser development near mass transit, protecting farmland and preserving open space.

"Did it really physically change the characteristics of growth in Maryland? It really didn't," he said.

A key reason, Meck said, is that the state needs to push for even denser development around transit and other designated growth areas to realize the goal of preserving open space.

Brendle said he is eager to see what the state plan might entail. He sits on a statewide task force convened by O'Malley that is starting to lay the groundwork for the state plan.