Information sheets to guide community meetings with developers could go a long way in alleviating residents? concerns about the zoning process and planned developments, county officials said.
“That might be a way of getting people oriented,” Marsha McLaughlin, director of the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning, told County Council members at Monday?s work session.
Residents had wanted a bill before the council to require a planning and zoning staff member to attend the pre-submission meetings, an idea some council members lauded.
However, the change could be considered a substantive revision of the bill, which would mean reworking the legislation. Some council members said they wanted to move forward on the current proposal, which requires pre-submission meetings be held in a public building within five miles of the site, extending the current three-mile requirement.
Meanwhile, the department can create handouts to answer basic zoning questions and a checklist for developers outlining points they should cover.
“I think we will move forward with what we have now,” said Council Member Jen Terrasa, D-District 3, adding the council can continue to discuss the need for a county staff member to attend the meeting.
The measure, introduced by Council Member Courtney Watson, D-District 1, was prompted by residents? complaints that meetings with developers were often held on site, outside and in the cold.
A recent pre-submission meeting for the planned low-income development Centennial Gardens was held at the county office buildings after residents complained that an on-site meeting was not safe or accommodating.
Terrasa said she was concerned with how details of the meeting are relayed back to the county. Developers submit minutes to county officials, which Terrasa said was “an inherent conflict,” since developers are interested in seeing their plans approved.
