What's New

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in March that PDC, Inc., a Columbia-based developer, could go forward with its plans to build a 4,300 home subdivision in Allegany County.  A local citizens group had sued to block the project because it was in direct contrast to the local growth plan.

Environment Maryland recently launched a new campaign to make local growth plans more enforceable.  Local development experts and concerned citizens put tremendous effort into crafting “comprehensive plans” that are supposed to guide growth in each county.  Those plans should mean something.  Public officials should not be able to ignore those plans or grant arbitrary exemptions from local zoning maps.

How You Can Help

Developers and local officials strongly oppose efforts to reduce sprawl development.  We need to demonstrate widespread public support for smart growth and land preservation.   Please sign our petition.

Brief Summary

Maryland's landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. Beautiful rolling farmland has given way to one sprawling subdivision after another.  Forests and meadows that used to act as giant green filters have become asphalt slabs that send pollution into the Chesapeake Bay.  Every year, more than 17,000 acres are developed in Maryland—an area larger than Manhattan.

This is much more the result of bad decision-making than simply an outcome of population growth. Between 1990 and 2000, population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed climbed 8 percent, but the amount of developed land jumped 41 percent.

Maryland is nationally renowned for two growth management policies.  In 1969, the state created Program Open Space, dedicating a one percent tax on real estate sales to buying land to preserve it forever.  In 1997, Gov. Parris Glendening championed the Smart Growth law, which required counties to designate priority growth areas and threatened to withhold state money if they failed to steer most growth within the priority areas.

The first of these has been a great success.  We have preserved half a million acres.  More than $100 million per year goes into the program.  The second has had much less success.  The state has never followed through on its threat to withhold money, and much growth is occurring outside of the priority areas.