Citizens Encouraged to Attend Tuesday, April 17 Evening Meeting at St. Charles High School in Waldorf
(April 13, 2018) Baltimore, MD - The Maryland Department of Planning (Planning) is
currently engaging local officials, staff, and residents in the new state
development planning process, A
Better Maryland.
Planning
will host a listening session next Tuesday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. at St. Charles High School, located at 5303
Piney Church Road in Waldorf.
The purpose of
the outreach and overall statewide dialogue is to connect with stakeholders and
solicit feedback about the plan and how it can help local governments and state
agencies better meet local planning needs.
“Governor Hogan signed an Executive Order in August 2017,
providing a great opportunity for all of us to work together on a new state
development plan,” said Special Secretary of Smart Growth Wendi Peters. “As we
complete our initial round of listening sessions in every county and Baltimore
City, the feedback we are receiving from citizens, local governments and other
stakeholders is providing valuable insight and information for A
Better Maryland.”
At the listening sessions, attendees view a short
presentation and interact with planning staff and other stakeholders using an
instant polling exercise and discussion questions.
The overall effort consists of a series of 24 outreach
events in every Maryland county and Baltimore City. Planning will be scheduling
additional follow-up meetings later this year to discuss the information
gathered and next steps for the plan.
Stakeholders can also review the project purpose and methodology, find out
about upcoming listening sessions, read summaries of session input, and
complete a survey
at the ABetter.Maryland.gov website. The website also includes notes
and discussions from the prior listening sessions.
"We continue to receive phenomenal feedback
as we complete our initial listening sessions," said Acting Secretary of
Planning Rob McCord. "Each meeting has brought a unique local perspective
and we encourage people to view comments from prior meetings around the State
on the A Better Maryland website. "
The survey remains open and is an excellent way
for citizens to become involved if they cannot attend a listening session or
they prefer to provide an online comment. The outreach is designed to provide
convenient and frequent access to make engagement meaningful and consistent.
Planning is working closely with the public,
local governments, state agencies and other stakeholders, the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission, the Maryland Municipal
League, and the Maryland Association
of Counties to
develop and maintain a productive dialogue throughout the effort.
For questions about A Better Maryland, please
contact Chuck Boyd, Director of Planning Coordination, (chuck.boyd@maryland.gov) at
410-767-1401.
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