50 acres of woodland are up for sale in Maryland, and while a developer has scoped the land as a good site for 25 homes, local residents are pressuring local and state officials to employ a little-used open space funding program to buy up the land.
Program Open Space is a 30-year-old law that requires Maryland's counties to set aside 30 acres of land for parks and recreation for every 1,000 people. The state intended to achieve this goal by taking a small slice of money from every real estate transaction within its borders. And over the years, some counties have been able to provide the 30 acres per 1,000 residents the law requires. But Baltimore County, which is currently facing an open space tug-of-war between a housing developer and residents, is more than 30% below its open space quota. Residents are hoping that local and state officials will take advantage of the upcoming sale of 50 acres of woodland to help the county catch up to the state's mandate.
"Maryland's Program Open Space is a pioneering effort enacted more than 30 years ago that requires money be set aside from each real estate transaction to finance the purchase of land for public use: ball fields, playgrounds and parks."
"Because of a variety of factors -- from the rising price of land to repeated diversions of money to balance the state budget -- Maryland's pioneering open-space program has failed in recent years to keep pace with development."
FULL STORY: Md. open-space program lags behind development
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
The EV “Charging Divide” Plaguing Rural America
With “the deck stacked” against rural areas, will the great electric American road trip ever be a reality?
Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal
Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)