Planning Commissioner Training Course - The 2009 Smart and Sustainable Growth Act requires local planning commission/board and board of appeals members to complete an education course. This course, created by the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP), satisfies this requirement.

Open Meetings Act Training - In 2017, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation requiring at least one member of each public body to take a training class on the Open Meetings Act. This training satisfies the requirement.

Equity and Ethical Concerns for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Planning - As planners begin to integrate AI into their analysis and implementation processes, they face not only technological complexities but also ethical and equity concerns and challenges. This discussion considers these challenges of AI in planning, including adaptation to new skills, ensuring AI's transparency, and confronting embedded biases. CM Category: Equity

Past, Present, Future – A Look at Three Planning Projects that Span the Chronology of Community Development to Build the Vision of the Livable Frederick Master Plan - This session will address the Historic Preservation Ordinance, the Water Resources Element, and the South Frederick Corridors Plan within the context of realizing the vision of the Livable Frederick Master Plan. 

Mobile Tour #1: Turf Valley Community - This mobile tour examines the development and future of the Turf Valley community.  

Sunday Night Welcome Social – To kick off the conference, this casual reception is designed to engage conversation and foster meaningful connections among citizen and professional planners while enjoying light refreshments

The Future of Comprehensive Planning - Join Secretary Rebecca Flora, AICP (Maryland Department of Planning) and David Rouse, FAICP, to discuss the future of comprehensive planning in Maryland. 

Building a Better Maryland: The Bottom-up Approach - Join Strong Towns’ Director of Community Action Edward Erfurt as he explores why U.S. cities are experiencing a gradual, yet enduring, decline and how to rationally approach necessary triage. Mr. Erfurt analyzes why induced development and growth -- the conventional response to urban financial struggles -- just doesn’t work. 

Law Session - Michele Rosenfeld (of The Law Office of Michele Rosenfeld LLC), whose Rockville-based law practice includes regulatory, judicial and legislative matters related to land use and development, will provide an update on recent land use laws and court decisions affecting planners in Maryland. CM Category: Law

Mobile Tour: Historic Ellicott City and the North Tunnel - Walk Main Street and visit the oldest train station in America, learn how this historic town was built within a granite valley on top of two rivers and see first-hand rebuilding and restoration efforts, including flood-proofing techniques, following the devastating floods of 2016 and 2018.

Research on Land Values: Informing Local Governments on Sustainable Growth - The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), in partnership with Urban 3, conducted a study of eight counties on the Eastern Shore analyzing land use data to help local governments implement more environmentally sound and sustainable land use practices and to best utilize their limited land resources to prepare for the impacts of sea-level rise. CM Category: Sustainability & Resilience

On Track Towards a More Sustainable Maryland: Promoting Transit-Oriented Development along the MARC Penn Line - The Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) rail system has experienced declines in ridership resulting from an increase in hybrid and remote work following the COVID-19 pandemic. To boost ridership and mobility, MDOT’s Office of Real Estate and Economic Development seeks to leverage the transit-oriented development (TOD) projects in ways that engage key joint-development partners, utilize clear investment strategies and priorities, financial tools, and other resources. CM Category: Sustainability & Resilience

Strong Codes for Small and Rural Communities – How the Maryland Zoning CheckUp Can Help - Developed by MDP regional planners, the Zoning CheckUp addresses nuts-and-bolts zoning practices and provides a primer for a variety of planning topic areas, including maintaining jurisdictions’ zoning maps, zoning ordinances, and the powers and duties of their planning commissions. 

Off the Shelf and Into Action, How to Create an Implementable Comprehensive Plan - We’ve all heard it before - “The plan sat on the shelf.” This session addresses the “implementable comprehensive plan,” a concept that has grown out of a Pennsylvania movement, highlighting keys for plan content, process, and participants through facilitated discussion and case studies. 

Planning for Common Ground through Brownfields - Finding ways to reimagine former industrial sites found in nearly every community can stump citizens and professionals alike. Facilitators will demonstrate how planners can work with stakeholders to identify re-use opportunities at sites with long histories and big potential, sharing information and resources to turn vision into reality.

Overcoming Obstacles to Foster Reciprocal Dialogue within Diverse Dynamics: The Port Towns Sector Plan - The Port Towns of Maryland (Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, and Edmonston) project team will discuss overcoming challenges and share what they have learned in striving for substantive citizen empowerment and governance over their community plan.

Plan Implementation - Data Visualization to Advance Accountability, Transparency, and Public Engagement - Five years after adopting the Livable Frederick Master Plan, the County discusses lessons learned and demonstrates its new user-friendly dashboard which displays data collected from tracking and measuring the implementation of every goal and action item outlined in the plan. 

How to Work with Your Local Indian Tribe - Explores best practices for planners, government officials, and citizens for effectively engaging and fostering inclusive partnerships with local Native American tribes. Panelists from diverse backgrounds share insights on successful collaborations, drawing from experiences in tribal relations, natural resources, arts, culture, and sustainable development, to impart a deeper understanding of the history, traditions, and governments of Maryland's tribes. CM Category: Equity

Acknowledging the Problem: A First Step Toward More Equitable Planning - Fair and effective planning solutions in any community must necessarily start at the beginning - identifying the problem and calling out the underlying challenges. Frederick County planning staff will share their experience in crafting a Foundational Acknowledgement Statement and provide hands-on guidance to drafting your own. CM Category: Equity

Connecting Data-driven Insights to Ensure Maryland is Longevity Ready Across Generations - Through an innovative and coordinated cross-agency project, the Maryland Departments of Aging and Planning have created an interactive data tool and dashboard to address the mega trends of falling birth rates and rapidly aging populations in Maryland. Facilitators will demonstrate how intersectional data can help to address the challenges and opportunities presented by longer life spans.

Collaboration and Creativity to Promote Transportation Demand Management in an Urbanizing Suburb: Downtown Columbia; Completing a Planned City - The Howard County Office of Transportation and Downtown Columbia Partnership are charged with implementing Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programming, strategies, and policies supporting travel by means other than solo driving for Downtown Columbia. As effective TDM programming requires robust transit and paid parking, largely non-existent in the area, the partners have developed innovative strategies to encourage alternative modes of transportation.

(Pro)Activist Planning Commissions - Panelists will delve into an area that is little discussed by planning commissioners in Maryland: “what level of activism can/should we take in shaping building codes and zoning regulations along with our local planning staff?” The panel will present case studies and lead a robust discussion to consider the question, its applicability to your own jurisdiction, along with ideas for achieving your aims.

Transforming Service through a Customer Bill of Rights - Improving customer service is a must not only for resolving issues referred by your manager or governing board, but also attracting economic development to your community. A three-year effort by the City of Rockville to achieve high levels of customer service through employee teams and a deliberative Customer Bill of Rights will be presented, with attendees invited to share their own challenges and solutions.  

Maryland’s Forest Action Plan—Shaping Maryland’s Forests for the Future - Beginning in 2010, the Maryland Forest Service developed a State Forest Action Plan to identify, refine, and provide strategies to achieve agency goals within three national themes outlined by the USDA Forest Service, including conditions and trends, threats, and priority areas in Maryland’s forests. Revised every 5 to 10 years, the Maryland Forest Service is seeking input in updating the plan’s goals and adding implementation strategies. CM Category: Sustainability & Resilience

Transportation Improvement District in Delaware: A New Approach to Planning for Growth - DelDOT’s Transportation Improvement District (TID) program was created over 10 years ago to better manage project reviews in areas experiencing a large amount of development. Now with 14 TIDs, the program has changed over time, growing rapidly in the past few years. Presenters will highlight these changes, program benefits, and improvements still needed.

Sponsor and Exhibitor Happy Hour - The “see and be seen” social event of the conference, this happy hour affords the chance to network with conference attendees and check out the array of services offered by the generous sponsors supporting the conference.

Awards Dinner - Maryland planners, both professional and citizen, devote endless hours to their communities. Join us in recognizing and celebrating the work of these dedicated planners from across the state over a delicious dinner! 

Mobile Tour: Downtown Columbia - Developed in the late 1960’s, Columbia was envisioned to be a new kind of city, one founded on the ideals of racial and economic diversity where nature and the built environment exist in harmony. By the mid-2000’s, Columbia had become a “better suburb,” but never reached the vision of creating an urban core, and in 2010, a new 30-year downtown plan was enacted to develop the 391-acre parcel of land that comprises Downtown Columbia. These issues and more will be discussed during the tour.

Understanding and Implementing House Bill 538 - Sponsored by Governor Moore and passed in2024, HB 538 modifies the Land Use Article to create categories of qualified housing projects, relative to the underlying zoning code, to which local governments must grant density bonuses. This workshop will provide guidance on implementation, including providing an overview of the bill and answering audience questions. CM Category: Law

Cultivating Community Planning Academies (CPAs) in Maryland - Community Planning Academies (CPAs) have been proven to help diverse communities improve their land use literacy and to aid residents, professional and citizen planners in doing a better job. CPAs can serve as catalysts for shaping and transforming current planning to be more economically smart, just, and equitable by providing a forum for elevating and reconciling the “inherent tensions” and miscommunications surrounding land use decisions. CM Category: Equity

Balancing Conflicting Priorities - This panel will address the symbiosis of municipal planning and private development for the benefit of the community, with an eye toward the seemingly conflicting priorities of limiting or controlling growth while seeking revenue to maintain infrastructure.

Sustainable Communities in 2024: The Future of Sustainable Growth in Maryland - The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is updating its Sustainable Communities program to better integrate equitable development, community resilience to climate change, and public health in community development. Learn about the program from DHCD staff and a local government representative, test pilot the updated Sustainable Community Action Plan, and help beta test a new indicators mapping-tool at this interactive workshop. CM Category: Sustainability & Resilience

Ethics Session – Gain an overview of the types of complaints your Ethics Officer might be getting and understand the processes of seeking advice and reporting violations via several participatory skits. Themes in this popular session include Ethics Cases of the Year, Ex Parte Engagement, and the Why and How of Recusal.  CM Category: Ethics

Cultivating Happier Citizens Through the Planning Process - How can planners, planning commissioners, and community leaders help shape happier places throughout Maryland amidst growing rates of mental illness and a stark rise in self-reported loneliness? Planning is a powerful tool for strengthening well-being in our communities; attendees will learn how happiness can be promoted through planning and placemaking strategies.

Advocacy Planning in Suburbia: Applying an Equitable Development Scorecard - Tools developed while conducting a UMD planning studio focused on Riverdale, a majority low-income, renter, immigrant, Latino, and Black bedroom community Prince George’s County, will be presented. Riverdale faces significant challenges, including a lack of new housing construction and deteriorating commercial and residential building conditions Anticipated reinvestment with the future Purple Line but also its potential to displace residents physically and culturally will be addressed. CM Category: Equity 

Why is that Building Vacant? - With the national and state housing shortage, adaptive reuse of vacant spaces is an obvious solution. Are owners or building codes holding back the potential? Hear the results of a recent survey on sprinkler requirements in building codes and their impacts on the reuse of mixed-use buildings in Maryland Main Streets as well as panel of preservationists’ and planners’ experiences and suggested solutions going forward. 

Finding Columbia's North Star: Strategic Planning in a Diverse Community in the Wake of the Pandemic – Following the pandemic, the Columbia Association (CA) is reevaluating its role in a changing community and setting a new course, while continuing to implement a vision, first-articulated by James W. Rouse, now six decades later. Lessons learned from CA’s 2024 strategic planning process and its applicability to other Maryland communities will be addressed. CM Category: Equity

Leveraging Intergovernmental Support Agreements (IGSAs) for Improved Military-Community Partnership - Intergovernmental Support Agreements (IGSAs) offer unique avenues for the Army to collaborate and achieve win-win partnerships with state and local governments. This panel delves into the benefits, requirements, and results of IGSAs, revealing their cost-saving potential, efficiencies, and sustainable support services for military installations.  

How Strong is Your Vision? Can You See Your Community 25 Years from Now? The Impact of Masonry Ordinances on Local Communities - A University of Michigan empirical study on masonry ordinances, tested the hypothesis that imposing masonry ordinances and setting standards for construction quality will enhance the durability and aesthetic value of individual properties and communities, benefiting residents and businesses alike. The latest RSMeans market data for building materials across various Maryland housing markets will also be discussed.

Placemaking In Suburbia - Embracing the Challenges – Using Prince George's County as an example, this session shines a light on suburbia, specifically how planning departments can benefit from a dedicated placemaking section/division to work in with community partners in areas with underserved or no formal civic spaces, successfully harnessing community energy to further a sense of identity and belonging.

Retrofitting Campus Settings for bikes and scooters University of Maryland Case Study – Increasingly, new academic buildings and dormitories on the University of Maryland College Park (UMD) campus have been constructed on existing parking lots resulting in a shortage of parking and a modal shift away from cars towards walking, biking, and increasingly, scootering. To respond to this shift, UMD has initiated a comprehensive, campus-wide design effort to retrofit the campus to include dedicated spaces for pedestrians, cyclists and scooter users.

The AICP Certification Process - This session will provide a synopsis of the AICP certification process, what AICP certification means, and why it is important for professional planners. This will include the AICP exam outline, different study resources, test day expectations, experience assessment, continuing education requirements, and the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. If you are curious about taking the AICP exam to further your professional planning career, this session is for you!

Emerging Planners Speed Mentorship Breakout Session - This is an opportunity for conference attendees to take a break from the conference to find potential mentors or mentees. The goal of the session is to facilitate connections between experienced professionals and students/emerging planners in a series of interactive rapid-round conversations that are designed to build professional networks and inspire the next generation of planners. 

Growing Greener Together - Land conservation is one of the most effective tools for managing growth, protecting water quality, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. By sharing best practices and lessons learned from Maryland counties and nonprofit organizations involved in planning and implementing green infrastructure, conservation, and restoration, participants will learn to address barriers that arise and to better coordinate efforts across jurisdictional boundaries. CM Category: Sustainability & Resilience

Protect and Preserve: A Broadened Approach to Integrating Historic Resources into Hazard Mitigation Planning - How do we protect historic properties from hazards while preserving their historic significance? This session offers an approach to incorporate historic resources and human-caused/technological hazards to enhance community resilience by highlighting the process in Howard County. An interactive activity enabling participants to first identify then formulate plans and necessary actions to both protect and preserve at-risk historic resources will be featured.

Joy and Lamentations: Emptying Houses of Worship - A tsunami of emptying houses of worship is washing across the U.S. and Canada—up to 100,000 over the next several years—with Maryland as no exception. Presenters will examine what can be called “The Great Mismatch” between small, aging congregations and large, deteriorating buildings, including its causes, barriers to reuse and redevelopment, and hopes for the future in Maryland’s communities.

You Have WHAT in Your Backpack? - Come join this engaging session exploring the built environment through the lens of pedestrian mobile LiDAR technology and discuss the data collected, both as citizen and professional planners working together to shape sustainable development. Learn how emerging technologies and real-life applications are resolving community challenges and increasing public understanding.

Top Sex Reasons to Spell Check Your Pubic Documents - Planners are a raunchy bunch! At least, one might assume so, given how often words like "asses" and "sex" show up in our pubic—err, public—documents. These commonly misspelled and misplaced words will make you think twice before hitting send!

Planning Accessibility: Solving Challenges – This session is an introduction to federal and state digital accessibility standards and the basics of universal document accessibility. Attendees are invited to bring documents or ask questions about challenges they have encountered, and presenters will work to remediate documents and discuss solutions and additional resources. 

Freight Impact Mitigation Study for Portside Environmental Justice Communities in Baltimore – The freight impact and environmental justice study addresses the Port-adjacent communities of Curtis Bay, Brooklyn, and O’Donnell Heights in Baltimore City. These neighborhoods have predominantly low-income and minority populations experiencing disproportionately high environmental impacts on their streets such as noise, odor, vibration, and traffic safety related to daily freight movement from the nearby industrialized waterfront.