Smart Growth

After vowing to invigorate Maryland's toothless Smart Growth program, Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to ask the legislature for only modest changes - far short of the overhaul that activists say is needed to curb suburban sprawl and halt the decline of the Chesapeake Bay. The governor intends to seek legislation reversing a court ruling that freed local officials from having to heed their own master plans when making growth decisions. He also wants to add new goals to the state planning law, and to require local governments to track more information on how growth is occurring in their communities.

A popular state home-buying assistance program that critics complained contributes to suburban sprawl has been renamed and retooled to encourage home shoppers to live closer to where they work. Smart Keys for Employees is the latest name for the on-again, off-again purchasing assistance program offered in a variety of forms for much of the past 10 years by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Unveiled with little fanfare in April, the program offers qualifying home buyers grants of up to $5,000 to help pay settlement costs, if their new residence is within 10 miles of their workplace, or in the same county or municipality.

The architect of Maryland's decade-old Smart Growth policy spoke up for it yesterday, arguing that despite its shortcomings at curbing suburban sprawl it has helped revitalize dying downtowns across the state and kick-started a national movement to build more transit-oriented, walkable communities. Speaking in Annapolis at a conference reviewing the growth-management law he crafted, former Gov. Parris N. Glendening acknowledged that a few metropolitan areas and states such as Oregon and Seattle have had more success than has Maryland at reining in low-density development.

It's not terribly surprising to learn that state agencies haven't kept sufficient track of how their spending fits in with Maryland's Smart Growth law. The reality of Smart Growth is that what started out as a good idea has been compromised, weakened and outright ignored over the years, particularly during Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s tenure as governor. But the study released yesterday by the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education in College Park underscores the need to revisit the program's design rather than its goals.

Out-of-town growth uses up our water While I appreciate The Sun's commending the town of Mount Airy's decision to focus on water sources close to town borders and to create a green buffer at its perimeter ("Reverse field," editorial, June 14), I also encourage The Sun and its readers to recognize that the circumstances surrounding growth in Maryland are not always comparable and that a bigger issue exists in Western Maryland, especially in the Piedmont region. Most of the towns in the Piedmont region have either reached maximum development or are close to maximizing the development that can fit within the current water allocations from the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley plans to announce today his nominees to head two key state agencies, once again choosing veterans of former Gov. Parris N. Glendening's administration to run the health and environment departments. Sources close to the O'Malley administration confirmed yesterday that John M. Colmers, the former head of the Maryland Health Care Commission, will be the nominee for health and mental hygiene; and Shari T. Wilson, who helped lead Glendening's signature Smart Growth initiative, will be the governor-elect's pick for the Department of the Environment.

Developer explains Turf Valley plans In an effort to keep the community better informed of our development at Turf Valley, I want to share information regarding our progress and dispel any "myths" that might exist. Over the next decade, my family's land at Turf Valley will be developed into a mixed-used project designed to enhance the beauty, preserve the environment and provide services and housing choices much needed in western Howard County. Our development is planned as a Maryland Smart Growth mixed-use, master-planned project and has been part of the Howard County General Plan since 1982.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening moved yesterday to inject new life into ailing downtown Hagerstown, announcing that the state will locate the University System of Maryland's new Washington County campus in the heart of the city's business district.The governor said he hopes his decision, which goes against the publicly expressed wishes of county and university officials, sends a strong statewide message that he will enforce his Smart Growth policies favoring redevelopment in existing urban centers.

Since he twisted enough arms to win passage of his Smart Growth anti-sprawl initiative two years ago, Gov. Parris N. Glendening has insisted that the law has teeth.Last week, he bit. And localities from Western Maryland to the Baltimore suburbs to the Eastern Shore felt the pain.The fiscal 2000 budget, released Thursday, showed that the governor dropped five long-anticipated highway projects previously included in the state's Comprehensive Transportation Plan.In each case, the administration said the projects did not pass muster under the Smart Growth law that went into full effect Oct. 1. The law is intended to protect open space and to channel development into existing communities by curbing state spending that encourages sprawl.

IT'S HARD to take Gov. Parris N. Glendening seriously on his anti-sprawl Smart Growth philosophy when he abruptly cancels in midstream, after 12 years of planning and more than $20 million invested, construction of a statewide law enforcement training center in southeast Carroll County.The governor would place the center in a yet-unnamed, more urban area. The site, on 70 acres of the former Springfield Hospital Center, meets state guidelines for Smart Growth, the administration concedes. But location elsewhere in the state would be preferable and stimulate more economic activity, Mr. Glendening argues.

Environmental groups and smart growth advocates Monday applauded Maryland's use of almost $225 million in federal stimulus funds, saying the state's decision to concentrate spending on highway maintenance projects is a wise use of resources and an effective way to create jobs. Maryland was one of 10 states and the District of Columbia that elected to spend 100 percent of the money they put toward road projects on preserving existing infrastructure rather than adding new capacity, according to a report issued by Smart Growth America.

This wasn't supposed to be a big year for the environmentalist movement in Annapolis, and that may yet prove to be the case. Program Open Space funds are under assault from the state Senate, millions of cap-and-trade dollars from power plants are being diverted from alternative energy and efficiency programs, and some important environmental programs have had their budgets cut (as many state government functions have). But with just a week left in the legislative session, the greenies are in a surprisingly good position to pull off some significant wins.

Laurel Park to appeal ruling on slots Laurel Park will appeal a court ruling rejecting the horse track's attempt to get back into the bidding for a slots gambling license, officials said yesterday. This week, an Anne Arundel Circuit Court judge upheld a state decision to toss out Laurel's application for a slot machine license because of its failure to pay $28.5 million in required license fees. The track contends that its literal reading of the gambling statute led it to conclude that the fees were not legally refundable and were therefore an unconstitutional seizure by the state.

Perched on a slope just west of Baltimore, near the intersection of Interstate 70 and the Baltimore Beltway, is a sprawling office park that houses the headquarters of the Social Security Administration and its 9,800 workers. Last week, the agency's director sketched out plans for a new $750 million data center to be built within 40 miles of the Woodlawn complex. Most of its funding is from the president's economic stimulus package, and that puts the project on the fast track - a significant asset and economic opportunity for the Baltimore region.

It's become fashionable for politicians to talk green these days, but Gov. Martin O'Malley has generally shown a willingness to back it up with money and policy initiatives. Despite the recession, he was at it again during last week's State of the State address. But if his aim is to protect the Chesapeake Bay, it's become apparent he's not yet willing to go far enough - at least not if it threatens how local governments make development decisions. What does the governor do right? First, there's his decision to fully fund Program Open Space next year.

'Smarter Growth' already state policy In response to "Smarter Smart Growth" (Commentary, Jan. 1), I would argue that the O'Malley administration is working very hard to do just that - make Smart Growth smarter. Maryland is rich with Smart Growth successes at the state and local levels and in the private and nonprofit sectors as well. Yet we still face challenges on both sides of the Smart Growth coin: protecting areas we don't want to grow from sprawl development and creating compact, attractive development in areas we do want to grow.

After vowing to invigorate Maryland's toothless Smart Growth program, Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to ask the legislature for only modest changes - far short of the overhaul that activists say is needed to curb suburban sprawl and halt the decline of the Chesapeake Bay. The governor intends to seek legislation reversing a court ruling that freed local officials from having to heed their own master plans when making growth decisions. He also wants to add new goals to the state planning law, and to require local governments to track more information on how growth is occurring in their communities.

Most Marylanders remain blissfully unaware of how growth and development occur around them or affect their daily choices. They probably don't know about last summer's round of "listening sessions" sponsored by the Maryland Department of Planning, or the draft report from the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland - or that the General Assembly expects to see legislation this year to "revise and re-energize" Maryland's Smart Growth...

Many thanks to The Baltimore Sun for the editorial calling for more action on Smart Growth ("Responsible growth," Dec. 7). With our economy in such terrible shape, we must stop spreading houses over cornfields in patterns that maximize public service costs while also maximizing the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay. The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy has been working for 20 years for conservation and sound land-use planning on Maryland's Eastern Shore....

Last week, Gov. Martin O'Malley offered some welcome news for Maryland's environmental future - the acquisition of more than 9,200 acres of forest, farm and waterfront to be preserved as parks and open space. He also announced the creation of a Web-based interactive map called GreenPrint that makes it easier to track such conservation efforts across the state. As promising as these developments are (a willingness to spend $72 million for land conservation at a time when state employees face mandatory furloughs is no small gesture)