Howard residents can expect projects, like neighborhood street improvements and Route 1 revitalization efforts, to move quicker after a restructuring of the county’s Division of Environmental and Community Planning.
“The (Department of Planning and Zoning) for a long time was structured to review development proposals, and over time we’ve expanded,” said Marsha McLaughlin, director of Planning and Zoning, explaining how the division is now split into two separate departments.
“This allows us to focus on a smaller number of program initiatives to move them forward more rapidly. We have an existing population who care intently on how development happens.”
The new Resource Conservation Division will focus on environmental protection, agricultural land preservation and historic preservation, said new division Chief Elmina Hilsenrath, a registered landscape architect with more than 30 years of experience.
“By bringing together these three resource-based components, it’ll strengthen the relationship among all of them,” she said.
The division will work closely with the county’s Office of Environmental Sustainablily to provide environmental outreach and education as well as perform surveys of historic sites, among its other oversight activities, Hilsenrath said.
The new Division of Comprehensive and Community Planning will address revitalization efforts along the Routes 1 and 40 corridors and in downtown Columbia and its village centers, said Bill Mackey, the division chief who’s a certified national planner with 14 years of experience.
A new Design Advisory Panel will provide guidance for the projects along the Route 1 corridor, he said.
One of the pilot projects still in planning stages is the Robert Oliver Place Enhancement in the Oakland Mills Village Center.
“It’s a small street improvement and public art project,” said Mackey.
Some items being discussed are sidewalk and landscape improvements, which could serve as a model for future small-scale, neighborhood improvements.
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