Smart Growth has four straightforward goals:

· Support existing communities by targeting resources to support development in areas where infrastructure exists;
· Save our most valuable natural resources before they are forever lost;
· Save taxpayers from the high cost of building infrastructure to serve development that has spread far from our traditional population centers; and
· Provide Marylanders with a high quality of life, whether they choose to live in a rural community, suburb, small town, or city.

The 1997 General Assembly passed five pieces of legislation and budget initiatives-Priority Funding Areas, Brownfields, Live Near Your Work, Job Creation Tax Credits, and Rural Legacy-known collectively as "Smart Growth."

Smart Growth directs the State to target programs and funding to support established communities and locally designated growth areas, and to protect rural areas. The Priority Funding Areas Act provides a geographic focus for the State's investment in growth-related infrastructure. The remaining four components complement this geographic focus by targeting specific State resources to preserve land outside of Priority Funding Areas, to encourage growth inside Priority Funding Areas, and to ensure that existing communities continue to provide a high quality of life for their residents.

Maryland has adopted the following principles of Smart Growth, which provide guidance for new development, infill development, and redevelopment:

· Mix land uses;
· Take advantage of compact building design;
· Create housing opportunities and choices;
· Create walkable communities;
· Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of plan;
· Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas;
· Provide a variety of transportation options;
· Strengthen and direct development to existing communities;
· Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost effective; and
· Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.

Although the 1997 Smart Growth initiative was significant in the State's refusal to fund wasteful sprawl development, it is also only one component in the continuum of Maryland's growth policy development. Several important developments in growth policy occurred prior to 1997.

In 1974, the State adopted its intervention policy, which allows the Maryland Department of Planning to participate in any local, state, or land use proceeding to inform the decision-maker of the State's views and to prompt the decision-maker to take action consistent with the general welfare of the State and its citizens.

The State's 1992 Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Act articulated the State's growth policy through seven visions centered around concentrating development in suitable areas, protecting sensitive areas, and establishing funding mechanisms to achieve the visions. The 1992 Act also required local jurisdictions to address these same visions in their comprehensive plans.

The State has over 80 programs that help to further Smart Growth. Many programs were established prior to 1997 and either were already consistent with the Smart Growth philosophy or redirected to be more supportive of the Smart Growth philosophy.

Making Smart Growth Smarter

An overused but insightful phrase, "Making Smart Growth Smarter" refers to Maryland's continuing efforts to ensure that we make efficient use of land inside Priority Funding Areas and curb sprawl outside of Priority Funding Areas.

One only has to travel briefly in Maryland to understand that sprawl is still occurring. Development projects approved prior to 1997 account for some of the continued sprawl but at the same time, nothing in the 1997 Act prevents sprawl, either inside or outside the Priority Funding areas.

Many zoning codes still contain permissive agricultural and rural zoning outside of Priority Funding Areas and still prohibit dense, mixed-use development inside Priority Funding Areas. Local governments throughout Maryland have either updated their zoning codes or expressed interest in doing so, and the State is working to provide assistance when requested.