Md. smart growth needs to be improved

The headline "Study calls Md. smart growth a flop" may lead readers to believe that Maryland's smart-growth policies are not working. This is not the case.

Actually, the limitations of the Priority Funding Areas charted during the Glendening administration were known and chronicled a decade ago. Moreover, the Glendening-era momentum was left to languish over the following four years.

However, under Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), Maryland has regained that momentum. After the previous administration effectively shuttered our most effective land-conservation tool, we're reinvesting in Program Open Space. Improved redevelopment tools and historic-renovation tax credits are helping strengthen towns and cities.

No doubt we have smart-growth challenges that we need to address together. We are developing a State Growth Plan for this purpose. Maryland's commitment to, and innovation in, smart growth remain strong.

Richard Eberhart Hall, Baltimore

The writer is the Maryland secretary of planning.