Anne                                  Arundel

On September 25, the ALC Steering Committee met with Phil Hager, the new Planning and Zoning Officer for Anne Arundel County, and Lynn Miller, Assistant Planning and Zoning Officer.

At the beginning Mr. Hager was asked to talk about his background and work prior to his new job at AA County. He provided some insight into how he became a planner (almost by accident) and some of the early career stops along the way (including some time spent in the federal government, work on demographic studies, and experience as a cell tower location analyst. More recently, he’s worked for three Maryland counties in lead planning capacities.
Most of the discussion focused on the 2019 General Development Plan (GDP). The process for updating the GDP will occur in several phases:
- The process begins with eight community listening sessions with associated on-line surveys. 
Information and scheduling of these is posted on the County GDP website. Work on this first phase has recently been initiated by the Long-Range Planning Division under the direction of Cindy Carrier. Phase I will be completed by the end of February 2018.
- The next phase will involve background data collection and analysis conducted by the planning staff and published in a series of reports. Additionally, input received during the listening sessions will be reviewed. During this phase, an advisory committee will also be formed to provide additional input for plan development.
- The plan development phase will follow which includes developing a vision, goals, policies, recommendations, and a proposed land use plan. A second round of community outreach meetings will be undertaken, with emphasis on more specific issues.
- Finally, the County Planning and Zoning staff will produce a draft GDP which will be discussed at a third series of community outreach meetings. Following public input on the preliminary draft plan, a final draft plan will be reviewed by the PAB and prepared for legislation.
The GDP process will not include development of Small Area Plans. Mr. Hager said, however, that small area planning is important, and work on this aspect will begin when the overall GDP is completed.
In response to questions from the Steering Committee, Mr. Hager stated that 
- The most important problems facing the county are in transportation and infrastructure.
- Administrative and legislative adherence to the GDP is required by the consistency requirement in the MD Land Use Article.
- Citizens typically do not want to see increased population density in their own community.
Throughout the discussion, Mr. Hager reiterated the need for community outreach and citizen input to validate planning decisions. He also emphasized the difficulty in achieving consensus, particularly in areas as diverse as Anne Arundel County. He said that “A fair deal often is one in which everyone walks away equally unhappy”.