O'Malley Outlines Growth Strategy

Bills Proposed to Preserve Farmland, Limit Bay Pollution

Gov. Martin O'Malley yesterday announced legislative proposals to manage growth that he said would "stave off further destruction" of Maryland's remaining acres of farmland and the Chesapeake Bay.

The governor, who is seeking to leave an environmental legacy, said his administration hopes to invigorate a Smart Growth program started under former governor Parris N. Glendening (D) and to curb the suburban sprawl that sends polluting runoff into the bay.

"It's time to move from 20 years of treading water to 20 years of cleaner water and more sustainable growth," O'Malley (D) said as he ticked off six bills he will propose this month to the General Assembly.

One would reverse a ruling by the state's highest court that allows local governments to ignore their planning maps when approving development projects. Another would require local governments to track more closely how growth is unfolding in counties and cities. Another bill would incorporate such goals as economic development and public participation into the state's planning agenda.

The state's planning director cited the challenge of population growth -- by 2030, officials predict a 27 percent increase, to 6.7 million -- and the effect on global warming and bay pollution that such growth could have if it is not better controlled.

"The job is harder in Maryland because we're the fifth-most densely populated state," Planning Secretary Richard E. Hall said. "We have small towns, and the citizens expect them to be vibrant communities."

The legislative initiatives are in line with the conclusions of a report released yesterday by a task force that spent the past year working on a statewide planning map. The 90-page report -- "Where Do We Grow from Here?" -- says Maryland needs a comprehensive road map to guide the location and density of growth throughout the state.

If suburban sprawl continues unabated in Maryland, workers will be unable to find housing near their jobs, commuting times will increase and the bay "will be in further jeopardy," the report says. It says about 650,000 acres would shift from rural use to urban development by 2030 at the current pace of development. But the report presents another scenario that would reduce the total to 150,000 acres if development is restricted to areas near public transit.

The O'Malley administration is not proposing restrictions on development, and some environmentalists worry that the Smart Growth law passed under Glendening in 1997 will not be strengthened to restrict growth to designated high-density areas. Some environmental groups said they had hoped for more from O'Malley.

"There are visions but no goals or standards" for what new communities should look like, said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1000 Friends of Maryland, a group that promotes dense development near rail and bus stations.

The task force of planners, developers, local officials and lawmakers is recommending legislation to effectively undo a Court of Appeals decision last year. The court ruled that Allegany County did not have to follow its planning map in approving Terrapin Run, a 4,300-home community far from public water and sewer lines.

The Maryland Association of Counties said local governments are concerned that another bill, requiring "compulsory information-gathering" on a community's growth patterns, could stigmatize some jurisdictions unfairly.

"One size rarely fits all," said Michael Sanderson, the association's executive director.

Other legislation would reauthorize a tax credit for rehabilitating historic properties; the credit is set to expire next year. Another bill would have fishermen lease land on the floor of the bay for oyster harvests. That would leave large swaths of the bay unharvested, with the idea of allowing oyster populations to revive.