Work by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) Planning Division on rewriting the Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations started in 2014 and will be completed in 2017. Many public presentations and briefings have been conducted countywide by M-NCPPC planning department staff, including an update for the Greenbelt City Council on Module 2 of the rewrite by Chad Williams, project manager for the rewrite, at a worksession on August 17. The zoning ordinance is decades out-of-date and has become overly long, complicated and difficult to interpret, in part due to its many amendments. In addition to updates, a primary goal of the rewrite is to simplify and streamline both the document and the review process for applications and approvals. The latter was identified early on by municipalities as a two-edged sword, a topic that was prominent at this worksession.
While the city council and other municipal officials generally support the simplification of the ordinance and regulations, they do not wish to see the administration and review process streamlined to the extent of undermining necessary and appropriate municipal and other public review. Thus far, this concern has not been addressed by the county.
A second concern that the city council wants to have the opportunity to consider in greater detail is the categorization of areas as being inside or outside the Beltway. Although Greenbelt straddles the Beltway, it is categorized in the rewrite as if it were entirely inside, which has both pros and cons that are not entirely clear.
Rewrite Schedule
Outlining the schedule to date, Williams said Module 1, which covers the proposed new zones and land uses, was released in October 2015. Module 2 came out in the spring and deals with design and subdivision standards, including adequacy of public facilities. Module 3, dealing with the process and administration of zoning and subdivision regulations, is due to be out by September 1, which is also the “best consideration” deadline for comments on Module 2, although comments will still be accepted after that date. The “best consideration” deadline for Module 3 comments will be November 1. The subsequent steps will include testing the code to see if it works as planned by trying it out on eight cases, which will be selected by the end of August, with results to be presented by October or November. Over the same period, a focus group of developers will be consulted for their input on why they do or do not undertake development in the county. By the end of the year or early 2017, project staff will consider all the feedback received from municipalities, other groups and individuals, make revisions and release a comprehensive document for further review and comment prior to forwarding legislation to the county council.