August 2024

Dear Community Member,

It has been a busy summer at our department. Our staff is hard at work, from updating our PDox plan management software to launching the next round of the Route 1 Tax Credit program and managing the recent awards from the Maryland Sustainable Communities program for Façade Improvements covering Ellicott City’s Main Street, North Laurel, and Savage businesses. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a huge shoutout to our team for HoCo by Design winning the award for best in planning from the National Association of Counties. This is a remarkable achievement and one that could not be accomplished without the support of the citizens of Howard County and the dedication of the planning staff.

In this newsletter, you can expect to find valuable information about DPZ and the County. Whether it’s updates, events, or helpful insights, we’ve got you covered. Enjoy reading!

DPZ to Help Administer Façade Improvements to Ellicott City’s Main Street, North Laurel, and Savage Businesses

DPZ was recently awarded two Maryland Façade Improvement Program (MFIP) grants in support of Ellicott City and North Laurel Savage Sustainable Communities Program.

Currently, DPZ is working with the Ellicott City Partnership to disburse $100,000 in grants to Main Street businesses. These grants will be used to enhance the character and attractiveness of Main Street by helping owners improve the exterior façades of buildings.  Applications for the grant are open now through August 31, 2024. For more information about this program, please reach out to Ellicott City Partnership, or to apply to this program, click here. 

The North Laurel-Savage MFIP grant for $75,000 will launch later this summer and will also encourage businesses to provide façade improvements. DPZ will be partnering with the Howard County Economic Development Authority to administer this program. 

For any questions about Maryland Sustainable Communities in Howard County or the North Laurel-Savage MFIP, please contact Kristin O'Connor at koconnor@howardcountymd.gov. 

DPZ Launches New Year of Route 1 Tax Credit Program

DPZ 's Route 1 Tax Credit Program is now accepting applications for Fiscal Year 2025! Commercial and industrial property owners can apply to receive a tax credit of up to $100,000 per site for renovation projects that improve the appearance of their properties.

This past funding round, Mr. Pat Patel, the owner of the White Elk Motel located at 6195 Washington Boulevard in Elkridge, approached the County to replace its iconic Route 1 sign.

"We needed to replace our motel sign badly as it was old and rusty,” he said. Staff met with the owner and encouraged him to preserve the authentic look of the legacy sign by giving it an update instead.

Many signs along the historic roadway provide a sense of yesteryear. US Route 1 has historically served as an important north-south highway spanning from Maine to Florida. The recently approved Route 1 Corridor Plan: A Plan for Washington Boulevard recommends a branding and marketing plan for the Corridor that recognizes vintage signs along Route 1 as important design elements along the roadway and calls for their preservation. 

As a result, Mr. Patel worked with a company to refurbish the motel sign, cleaning the pre-coated metal, painting the steel bollards, and adding LED lighting. The original old elk from the top of the sign was removed and painted by hand.

“The whole process was very easy and fast,” said Mr. Patel. “Our sign looks great and has very good visibility, which will help our business. Thank you everyone involved at the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning for helping our business. I appreciate it very much." 

To learn more about this program or to apply, commercial and industrial property owners interested in renovating the appearance of their property are encouraged to visit the Route 1 Tax Credit web page.

DPZ Publishes Development Monitoring System Report

To monitor growth in Howard County and ensure that the County will be able to maintain adequate public schools, roads, and other infrastructure, DPZ is required by the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) to develop an annual report that tracks new residential and non-residential development. The report also addresses the State’s Smart, Green and Growing legislation, providing additional information including changes to zoning, the subdivision regulations, and reports on residential density inside and outside the County’s priority funding area. The Development Monitoring System Report documents new development in Howard County over the past year and summarizes new development in the County over the prior four years. DPZ has recently released the 2023 Report, which can be viewed here.

In addition to publishing the annual report, DPZ utilizes the development monitoring system to track development activity on a daily basis, updating relevant, real-time information in a database.



“The development monitoring system is a cooperative effort of several DPZ divisions, ensuring that all development-related information is always up-to-date, ” said Jeff Bronow, Chief of DPZ's Research Division. “It enables us to produce a comprehensive report each year as required by APFO and State law and also provides development-related information to the public, state and local agencies, and non-profit and business organizations upon request.”

The public can also access geographical development information in DPZ’s Search Plans mapping application, which is linked to the development database and updated on a daily basis.

DPZ Produces EV Charger Checklist

DPZ recently published an EV charger checklist for residents who want to install an electric vehicle charger in a dedicated homeowners association parking spot. The checklist outlines all the steps necessary to obtain an EV charger permit. Once DPZ's Engineering Division has reviewed a resident's submission and confirmed their property rights, the request can then be processed by the Department of Inspections, Licenses, and Permits, who will issue a permit. 

To view the EV Charger checklist, click here.

DPZ Transitions All Planning and Zoning Submissions to the Digital ProjectDox System

This summer, DPZ upgraded its ProjectDox system, a tool used for paperless plan submission, review, approval, and tracking. As a result of this upgrade, all DPZ forms have been moved to the ProjectDox system, making the review of alternative compliance submissions more efficient and transitioning the redline and zoning petition review process to a digital process within ProjectDox. 

Now, all DPZ applications, including redlines, zoning amendments, and alternative compliance waivers, must be submitted through ProjectDox instead of the Howard County website.

This upgrade also includes the following changes:

• Drawings submitted for all Department of Planning & Zoning (DPZ) submissions must be in PDF format. DPZ will no longer accept DWG and other formats that are not PDF. PDFs should be flattened to help make uploading and storage more efficient. Reports, checklists, and other non-drawing items will still be accepted in their native formats.

• Applicants will no longer be able to add changemarks, reply to changemarks or comments, or submit responses to Department Review outside of the dedicated review tab and resubmission task window. Both the review tab and the ability to reply to reviews within the task window are now mandatory. The ability to reply within drawings is disabled and submissions of comments/responses as their own file are not accepted. This change helps streamline the review process and keep responses located in a consistent place. It also preserves all review comments and replies within the review tab for easy reporting and archiving of completed plan reviews.

Anyone needing help with submissions can visit DPZ’s front desk (located on the 1st floor of the George Howard Building) and have a member of DPZ assist with online submissions at the front desk kiosk.

For more information about using ProjectDox for your application, visit the ProjectDox web page or contact James Wilkerson at jwilkerson@howardcountymd.gov.

DPZ Earns NACo's Best in Category Award for HoCo By Design General Plan

This summer, DPZ was honored by the National Association of Counties with the Best in Category Award for the County's 2040 General Plan, HoCo By Design!

NACo Achievement Awards are the premier national honor to recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance citizen participation and public policymaking. 

Best in Category is awarded to only one entry in the Planning category, and this year, NACo recognized HoCo By Design as a model for mature suburban communities grappling with issues of housing affordability, public school capacity, equity, and limited land supply. In particular, the award recognizes HoCo By Design's innovative approach to missing middle housing, public school facilities, advancing equity through land use, redeveloping mixed-use activity centers.

To read more about the award, click here.

The Evolution of Euclidian Zoning in Howard County

Howard County first adopted a zoning code in 1948 with just three districts: Residential, Commercial A, and Commercial B. The 1954 Zoning Regulations update replaced these original districts with 10 new districts organized by residential, tourist, business, and manufacturing types. This approach to zoning is an example of Euclidean zoning—the separation of land uses by type—residential, commercial, retail, industrial, etc.—each into their own zones or areas within a community.

The name actually comes from a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Euclid v. Ambler (1926), which established the legality of local government authority to enact zoning. In Howard County, subsequent comprehensive rezonings followed General Plan updates in 1961, 1977, and 1985. While this separation by district can help ensure there is adequate land available to support the many different industries and uses needed in a community and can reduce negative impacts such as noise, odor, and pollution risks, over the years it has resulted in unanticipated negative effects. Time has shown that traditional zoning practices encouraged urban sprawl, increased car dependency, limited housing supply and contributed to housing unaffordability. Planners and communities must also grapple with the legacy of past zoning decisions that contributed to and exacerbated economic, social, and racial segregation regionally and ensure a more equitable future for all.

In response to these negative impacts of Euclidean zoning, many jurisdictions, including Howard County, have looked to solutions that retain the benefits of Euclidean zoning while addressing its shortcomings. Beginning with policy changes in the 1990 and 2000 General Plans, the County began to adopt zoning changes to preserve agricultural land and open space, plan regionally, and balance the growth in housing and jobs. These policies were reflected in zoning changes that modified the original Euclidean districts to allow for cluster subdivisions, historic preservation, transfer of development rights, and mixed-use zones including Transit Oriented Development (TOD), Mixed Use (MXD), and Corridor Activity Center (CAC). Furthermore, the County's new General Plan, HoCo By Design, offers new policies that direct the County to evaluate and consider zoning changes that incorporate more diverse housing types, such as missing middle and Accessory Dwelling Units, throughout the County's various residential zoning districts.

To learn more about this topic, click here.

Q&A with Susan Overstreet

Environmental Planning Supervisor at the Department's Research & Conservation Division

DPZ wishes Susan the very best on her recent retirement from her 30-year career at the department! Before her final farewell, she shared with us the details of her important work at the County over the past three decades.

Please tell us about your professional history.

I have worked at DPZ as an environmental planner for just over 30 years. Before coming to Howard County, I worked for Baltimore County at the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, now the Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability, in their Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Program. I began my career at two engineering companies.

What is your educational background?

I earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering with a specialization in structural engineering. After working in that field for six years, I returned to school for a master’s in environmental planning. I really wanted to do environmental work, and I wasn’t one of those people who could work all day and then volunteer evenings and weekends. I knew I needed it to be the main job I was working on. 

What does being an environmental planner involve?

Environmental planning involves understanding what environmental resources the County has, how they are impacted by land use, development, and climate change, and how they can be protected and restored from those impacts.

What are some of the main aspects of your role?

In my role, I help develop and implement various plans, such as watershed management plans, the General Plan, community plans, the Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plans and the climate action plans. I’ve also helped update environmental regulatory programs, including stream buffer regulations and the Forest Conservation Act. 

Watershed management plans, which look at existing and future land use in the watershed, examine the condition of the natural resources, and determine how to maintain or restore the quality of the resources. Some of these recommendations might include stream restoration for eroding stream channels, more stormwater management, and vegetative stream buffers to improve the water quality and natural habitat. 

A significant part of my job also involves specific environmental projects, like the County’s Green Neighborhoods program. In 2007, the County launched this voluntary, incentive-based program to encourage development that’s more sustainable. At the time, housing allocations were hard to get, so a certain number of housing allocations were set aside for Green Neighborhoods participants as an incentive. 

One of my most important current projects is managing implementation of the County’s Green Infrastructure Network (GIN) Plan. The network is a countywide mapped system of hubs and corridors. The hubs contain large natural areas, especially wetlands and forests, that provide significant plant and wildlife habitat. The corridors generally follow rivers and streams and connect the hubs together. The connected habitats within the GIN allow for the movement of plants and animals, which helps keep the included areas sustainable and healthy. 

I also serve on the technical committees for the Patuxent Reservoirs watershed and the Baltimore Reservoirs watershed protection groups. The reservoirs supply drinking water for the region and each watershed has a management plan or strategy that includes resource protection and land use management to protect water quality within the reservoirs. Implementation efforts include a cost-share program in the Patuxent Reservoirs watershed for implementing agricultural best management practices that is jointly funding by Howard County, Montgomery County and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (which owns the reservoirs and the land immediately around the reservoirs). The groups also do some outreach and education, especially for residents and schools in the watershed. 

Why does the environment matter to you?

I think that nature is important in its own right, not just in the benefits it can provide for humans. And keeping the planet’s varying habitats and native wildlife populations healthy helps us, too, by mitigating heat, air and water pollution , and floods, and providing us with food and clean water. And of course, protecting the environment is vital to our mental health as well, allowing us to get out in nature, enjoy the beauty and decompress.  

Are there any important lessons you have learned at your role?

Over the years, I have seen how slow regulatory change to improve environmental protection can be and how easily it can be derailed by the political process. I’ve also seen how it’s important to have a champion who can ensure the funding and staff are available to move specific initiatives forward. 

In some ways the time goes by so fast, but then when I start thinking about projects I’ve worked on and the people I’ve worked with, I start realizing how long I really have worked here. I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I have had here to take on different projects, learn new things, and work alongside and for wonderful people, who are smart, kind, creative and dedicated to their work.

Interesting fact about you?

I was born in Scotland. My father was serving there in the US Air Force when he met my mother, who grew up in Scotland. 

What are you looking forward to most about retirement? 

I’m looking forward to having more time for traveling, spending time with family and friends, gardening, birding, hiking, and just being outside more. I’m also looking forward to picking up some new hobbies, maybe do genealogy, and maybe volunteer for environmental organizations in the area. 

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