Background
Through the Planning Coordination section, a part of the Planning Services division, the department completes more than 200 technical assistance projects for counties and municipalities in a typical year. Planning services provides support in reviewing or drafting more than 60 comprehensive plans and/or ordinances for local governments each year.
Planning Coordination is made up of three functional units: Local Assistance and Training, Infrastructure and Development, and Resource Conservation.
Reinvest Maryland 2.0
A Guide to Accelerating Infill, Redevelopment and Community Revitalization
Reinvest Maryland represents an opportunity for all levels of government to work together, strengthen collaborative efforts to support revitalization and reinvestment, and to engage stakeholders of all types in the effort to rebuild our communities and improve quality of life.
This unique
website provides a “toolkit” designed to encourage and ensure local communities to consider redevelopment projects in partnership with the private sector that are supported by public programs and resources.
Maryland's Brownfields Redevelopment Assistance Program
The
Brownfield Redevelopment Assistance Program connects local planning jurisdictions throughout the State with brownfield assessment and cleanup funding opportunities through EPA and identifies additional technical and financial resources to help jurisdictions and other interested parties navigate the brownfield process.
Maryland’s brownfields are a special asset to help communities meet economic development goals, environmental protection and sustainability goals, and help achieve local comprehensive plan visions and objectives. Maryland’s brownfields can also be assets for revitalization, reinvestment, and redevelopment.
Maryland Building Permit Software Survey Report
Title 12, §12–505, of the Public Safety Article requires that each local jurisdiction shall enforce the current version of the Maryland Building Performance Standards. At a minimum, the local jurisdiction shall implement these standards by reviewing plans, issuing building permits, inspecting the work, and issuing use/occupancy certificates. How local jurisdictions fulfill this responsibility varies among counties and municipalities across the state. To better understand the approaches taken by counties and municipalities that administer the building permit and inspection process, and to identify what software tools jurisdictions use, Planning conducted a survey in fall 2020 of all jurisdictions in Maryland.
The full report can be read here.
Maryland Department of Planning’s (Planning) 2020 survey of county and municipal building permit software systems shows that most counties and larger municipalities are using third-party building permit software, with only two large counties using a software system developed in-house. The smaller jurisdictions that track building permit activity tend to use off the shelf office software, specifically Microsoft Office. More than 40% of Maryland’s counties also provided building permit and inspection services for their municipalities.
There is a relatively limited number of software vendors supporting building permit tracking for Maryland jurisdictions. The top six software firms used by jurisdictions process 75% of all new housing permits on an annual basis in Maryland. While most counties and a majority of municipalities responding to the survey indicate they report local building activity, less than half of the counties and 20% of the municipalities post building reports online. Based on the survey responses, there appear to be opportunities for increased coordination and sharing of local building permit data with Planning and the potential to develop a statewide building permit reporting system that could help better describe the economic conditions of our communities, which would improve the accuracy of state projections of future development using near real time monitoring of construction activity.
Smart Growth Subcabinet Virtual Public Forum, Wednesday, December 14, 2022
The Governor's Smart Growth Subcabinet held a virtual public forum for county and municipal elected leaders and planning officials on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. Significant accomplishments have occurred over the eight years of the Hogan Administration to advance sustainable growth to support a strong economy and environmental stewardship across all of Maryland. At the public forum Smart Growth Subcabinet agencies highlighted efforts to collaborate with local leaders, connect local communities to state resources and achieve results (The PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded here). Elected leaders, planning officials, and subcabinet members also discussed local government issues related to activities that affect smart growth, development, neighborhood conservation, and resource management.
View recordings from prior virtual Smart Growth Subcabinet forums
