Counties, under this formula, can go ahead and approve development in rural and lightly populated areas.
Local government zoning powers are unimpaired.
But unless new projects are located within existing municipalities, inside the Baltimore and Washington beltways, or already served by water and sewer systems, local taxpayers will have to bear 100 percent of the costs. This just makes sense in terms of fiscal prudence for government. At the same time, population flight has caused hundreds of schools, in walkable cities and inner-ring suburbs, to close. The eloquence and effectiveness with which he's pushed his growth management initiatives suggest a formula likely to be attractive to actual and would-be governors in other states. Maryland simply can't afford another 25 years of development like the last 25, the governor argues.