SNOW HILL – Local officials used a listening session with the Maryland Department of Planning to stress that Worcester County was unique.
During the session hosted by the Worcester County Commissioners during last week’s meeting, various officials shared their thoughts on “A Better Maryland,” the state’s new development plan.
“We are here to listen,” said Robert McCord, the state’s acting secretary of planning. “We are here to understand your concerns and gather the feedback from all of the elected officials. We talk to planning staff. We talk to the public. We’re in listening mode.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams told officials that all of the municipalities in the state were different and didn’t want to be categorized by geography.
“Sometimes the only thing we have in common is being in the same state,” he said. “We do not want to be lumped together.”
He added that in small towns like Berlin, leaders were highly involved in their communities and were therefore aware of the issues facing them.
“There is a lot more involvement at the community level here I think than metropolitan areas,” Williams said.
He said he hoped the state would partner with towns like Berlin on various opportunities.
“We do not want to continue to have what has always felt like a subservient relationship with the state,” he said. “We want to have what is more of an equally and mutually respectful partnership. The stereotyping’s got to stop.”
He added that the majority of local residents lived in Worcester County because they wanted to, not because they had to.
“We do not live here because we’re not qualified or educated enough to live in the Baltimore-Washington corridor,” he said. “A lot of people assume that. Most of us live here by choice. We live here because of the quality of life.”
Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan also talked about the problems with dividing the state based on geographic regions. He said even the towns within Worcester County couldn’t be lumped together.
“Ocean City is unlike the rest of the county,” he said, adding that its sole opportunity was tourism. “Everything we do is based upon that.”
Meehan also said that the resort was recognized by Census data as a rural area in spite of its immense summer population.
“Sometimes that’s a stumbling block to us when it comes to getting funding,” he said.
The commissioners echoed the comments made municipal officials.
“The best planning can be done by locals …,” Ted Elder said. “We’re always happy to work with the state accomplishing whatever we can but it’s something to remember that it’s very unique, very different, from one end of the county to the other.”
Commissioner Jim Bunting said he hoped “A Better Maryland” would be a tool to improve coordination between state agencies and local matters.
“All statewide planning initiatives must be suggestions rather than mandates,” he said. “We want the planning and zoning authority to stay at the local level. The best planning is local planning.”
McCord assured officials that his staff understood that each part of Maryland was different. He said the plan that was being developed would enable the state’s various municipalities to learn about successes in other parts of the state.
“We’re all different,” he said. “I get that. This is not just one sheet we’re stretching over the entire state, it’s really a quilt and each panel has a very unique shape and very unique set of colors to it.”
