The 21-member panel of developers, local officials, environmentalists and others recommends "corrective legislation" after a Court of Appeals decision last year. The court ruled that Allegany County did not have to follow its own master plan in approving Terrapin Run, a proposed 4,300-home community next to Green Ridge State Forest and far from public water and sewer. The ruling cast doubt on the value of communities' comprehensive plans, development blueprints that are updated every six years with extensive public input.
Among other recommendations of the task force:
* Update the state's 1992 planning law with an expanded set of 12 "visions" for compact and environmentally sustainable growth. All local governments would be expected to abide by those goals in charting future development of their communities, though local officials have been free to interpret the law's existing eight visions as they see fit.
* Develop a commonly accepted set of "indicators" for state and local officials to track, such as how much development is occurring in designated growth areas and how much farmland is preserved.
Local officials are warily awaiting the bills, while making it clear they will oppose anything that diminishes their authority over land use.
"We know the issues in our counties. We know the lay of the land," said Jan Gardner, president of the Frederick County commissioners and a member of the task force. "One size does not fit all."
Hall assured local officials that the administration is not trying to be "super-prescriptive." Environmental advocates indicated that they would seek to strengthen the governor's bills if he does not propose tying state funding or some other consequence to how communities measure up on their "indicators" for growth.
"Everybody recognizes 'visions' don't do anything unless they're tied to actual outcomes," said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1000 Friends of Maryland.
The task force also urged requiring less-polluting but more costly septic systems for all new homes built beyond the reach of sewer lines. But this proposal has not been among the growth bills circulated by the administration.
The task force reported it needs more time to resolve many issues, particularly a thorny debate over revamping the "priority funding areas" at the heart of the 1997 Smart Growth law. Environmental advocates urged the state to shrink the boundaries of those growth areas, and to impose a development tax on building outside them. Local officials argued that more state funding of parks and amenities is needed inside growth areas to make dense development there more attractive.
Gerrit Knaap, a member of the task force and director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research at the University of Maryland, said the panel's efforts to find consensus caused it to sidestep controversy. "I think we skirted the big issues," he said.
The head of the task force said the group aims to press on with its work and seek agreement on other reforms in the next two years. "There was more to do here than we really could possibly do," said Jon Laria, a Baltimore real estate lawyer. "We tried to triage and do the best we can."
