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Cecil County, Maryland Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance Straddling the I-95 and US 40 corridors between Wilmington and Baltimore, Cecil County is one of the fastest growing counties in Maryland. Development patterns above the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal were threatening to outstrip the county’s ability to provide public facilities and services, and erode the county’s essential rural character. Concerned about the community impacts of rapid growth, the county Commissioners formed a 35-member citizen committee to prepare recommendations for updating the Cecil County Comprehensive Plan. Having just completed the county’s Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program, considered by many to be a model and innovative approach to natural resource protection, Redman/Johnston Associates, Ltd. (now Peter Johnston & Associates, LLC) and Rodgers, Golden and Halpern (RGH) were retained in 1990 to work with the committee and prepare the updated plan. In 1993, the county retained RJA to assist its planning and zoning department in the preparation of a county zoning ordinance and zoning maps. Both the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance contained specific development guidelines that provided the county with a strong strategic policy basis for controlling growth and improving site design. Notable highlights include: - designation of a "Development District" along the I-95 and US 40 highway corridors where higher density residential, commercial and industrial development would be concentrated; - designation of a "Village District" to protect existing villages by allowing only limited development that would be consistent with the historic and aesthetic character of these villages; - designation of town center districts emphasizing county/municipal coordination of land use; - extension of many of the resource protection measures first applied in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area countywide, thus insuring the preservation of many of the natural features that make a significant contribution to the rural character of the county; - utilization of density incentives to encourage the preservation of farm land.
Peter Johnston & Associates, LLC 416 Goldsborough Street Easton Maryland 21601 Telephone 410.822.9630 Fax 410.820.5039 Email plj@peterjohnstonassociates.com
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