Evening star., 1951-12-24
Home Rule and PIonnino

Although the home e-rue recommendations Of
the Prince Georges survey report were generally
expected, the suggestion that the Maryland
National Capital Park and Planning Commission
oe abolished came as surprise to the countys
citizens. This was probably the most controver-
sial proposal of the Public Administration Serv-
Ice, professional survey firm employed to advise
on governmental reform in Prince Georges It
Is hard to follow the reasoning which led the
survey staff to the conclusion that the commits
sion ought to be scrapped
There are good arguments in the report. on
the other hand, for substituting charter form
OF home rule for the present rural-type system
OF government in fast-growing Prince Georges
County. Civic groups in the county long have
advocated such a reform The clamor has been
louder since the adoption in neighboring Mont
gomery County of charter government, based
on county council-county manager setup The
survey report favors somewhat similar plan for
Prince Georges County.
The similarity would end in the field of
planning, however. Instead of the bicounty
commission which now jointly serves Mont
gomery and Prince Georges Counties, the survey
staff proposed creation of Prince Georges
Office of planning directly under the county
government The principal reason for this
change, the report said, is that the Maryland
National Capital Park and Planning Commission
Is restricted in its powers to the urbanized part
OF the county within the Washington Metro
polltan Area. The report comedies that the
commission has made excellent contributions
to the development of the regional district"
but points out that areas outside this district
need planning, too.
The report is right about the deficiency of
the restricted jurisdiction plan On this prob
lem the report commented: "The uncontrolled
development of the area outside the boundaries
Of the regional district undoubtedly will result in
increased problems and costs of community de-
velopment in future years. The ills arising from
uncontrolled development outside the regional
district will be difficult to cure" There are ways
Of solving this problem, however, without resort
ing to the drastic step of abolishing commission
that the report agrees, has done fine Job
within it's limited sphere of action. Montgomery
County has met the situation by creating the
Upper Montgomery County Planning Commits
s1on to Serve rural parts of that county. Prince
Georges could do likewise. Or the Maryland
National Capital Park and Planning Commission
could be given extended jurisdction-as the
commission itself has proposed in the past. Or
the county could create an Office of planning
or similar agency to handle matters outside the
Jurisdiction of the bicounty commission.
To do away with intercounty planning at a
time when there is increasing need for Joint
planning on broader regional scale would be
q step backward. The part of the reform report
which contains this ill-advised proposal should
be carefully studied not only by Prince Georges
authorities but by regional planning officials, for
1t is Of concern to planners outside of the county
involved. Such study should result in a better
suggestion for rural planning than the destruc-
ton Of an agency already functoning efficiently
In the metropolitan planning field.