Will Gov.-Elect Hogan Embrace Smart Growth?

ANNAPOLIS, MD—In advance of his inauguration into office on Jan. 21, smart growth advocates are wondering just where Gov.-elect Larry Hogan stands on the issue and whether policies instituted since the late 1990s will be embraced.

Hogan, a Republican real estate developer, will be taking office later this month and has recently stated that he intends to at least look at instituting land use reform in the state.

"Certainly there has been a lot of concern expressed over whether we're going to see a wholesale rollback," says Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1000 Friends of Maryland, a smart-growth organization.

Hogan has reportedly expressed skepticism about funneling development around the Red and Purple light rail lines, a staple of smart growth policy. He has also spoken of the need to review the state's central planning policy, Plan Maryland, which is designed to funnel state resources to areas with existing infrastructure and populations, according to the Baltimore Sun.

After announcing some cabinet appointments late last week Hogan said, "There's been a lot of concerns and consternation by local government that the current planning office tried to usurp a lot of their authority and take away their zoning and planning decisions. That's something we're certainly going to take a look at."

However, smart growth advocates have made the case in the past of the economic benefits of smart growth and believe the incoming Hogan administration will not abandon them.

"We don't see any reason for a huge defensive move," Schmidt-Perkins says. "We're not seeing slash-and-burn on these critical programs because we don't see how it fits the goals that the governor-elect ran on and articulated so forcefully." See story in the Baltimore Sun.