LEADERSHIP THAT WORKS: Achieving Sustainable, Balanced Growth Throughout Maryland

Goals and Values for Achieving Sustainable, Balanced Growth Throughout Maryland

We all recognize the value and opportunity of growth. But, as too many Maryland communities know, haphazard and unchecked growth brings severe consequences for our quality of life – including increased traffic and congestion, overcrowded schools, overwhelmed infrastructure, a lack of affordable housing and a loss of green space.

Many Maryland families feel that developers’ interests are being put ahead of their interests and their quality of life. Many Marylanders feel that growth is being allowed to run too far ahead of infrastructure. Many Marylanders feel that land use decisions are increasingly driven by big developers and their big campaign contributions. It’s time for a change. We need to put residents’ interests first, have better transparency regarding land use decisions and campaign contributions, and create clearer accountability for the government’s management of growth.

The status quo is not acceptable. It’s time for the state government to step up and play a proactive role in managing growth in order to protect and enhance the quality of life for the people of Maryland. Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown will make achieving sustainable, balanced growth a top priority.

Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown believe that we can grow and keep our sense of community at the same time. By focusing on better planning, empowering communities and creating smart incentives for livable, workable communities, an O’Malley/Brown administration will help Marylanders spend more time with their families and less time stuck in traffic.

Paths to Progress

As Maryland’s next Governor, Martin O’Malley will:

• Develop and implement regional growth plans that:
  
  1. Identify the types, locations and timing of desired future growth along with the infrastructure needed to support that growth (e.g., roads, transit, schools, fire and rescue, police, parks and community centers, etc.);
     
  2. Much more closely align development approvals by local governments with infrastructure investments by the state government;
     
  3. Achieve better balances locally between jobs and housing;
     
  4. Address the shortage of affordable housing; and
     
  5. Protect the environment and Maryland’s open space (both regionally and locally).
  
  
• Empower Local Communities to Determine Their Own Destiny by:
  1. Supporting measures that give localities the tools to better determine whether new growth can be sustained by public infrastructure before it is built - including sewer lines, schools, roads and transit;
  2. Giving neighbors a meaningfully opportunity to participate in land use decision-making; and
  3. Finding ways to give all municipalities additional land use authority to reject development that they feel would not be in the best interest of their community.
• Improve transparency in land use decisions and campaign finance so citizens can hold government accountable for the management of growth.
• Promote livable, workable downtowns and communities by investing in transit and giving businesses incentives to locate near transit.
• Help local governments strive for the highest-quality new growth that will enhance quality of life by identifying and disseminating “best practicesâ€? in growth management policies and land use regulations.

Martin O'Malley and Anthony Brown –
Leadership That Works