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The
Community Planning Division conducts specialized
planning
studies, manages the Planning Department's comprehensive
planning and sectional map amendment process and
coordinates
the Planning Assistance to Municipalities and Communities
(PAMC) Program.
Specialized Planning Studies are usually conducted
at the request of local government and can cover such
topics as land use, economic development, housing, revitalization,
and urban design. Planning studies are not official
plans; however, they often lead to the preparation of
a master plan or amendment to the Zoning Ordinance.
Comprehensive Plans vary in scale and detail
from the General Plan for the entire county,
to functional master plans that cover a specific topic
for the entire county, to subregion master plans for
multiple planning areas, to area master plans for individual
planning areas down, to Sector master plans for an area
that is smaller than a planning area or that consists
only of portions of several adjacent planning areas.
Sectional Map Amendments (SMAs) are comprehensive
rezonings adopted for most plans with the exception
of the General Plan and the functional master
plan. Unlike zoning map amendments, comprehensive rezonings
are not undertaken for individual properties. Instead,
all of the zoning within an entire geographic area,
such as a subregion or planning area, is examined.
The Planning Assistance
to Municipalities and Communities (PAMC) Program offers
planning and design assistance in response to specific
requests from local municipalities and community organizations.
Staff or consultant services are available to complete
an existing project, or a phase of a multi year project,
within each fiscal year. The County Council sets the
total amount of assistance available through its annual
budget process.
The division's planners and urban designers also monitor
development activity in their planning areas, review
development proposals for consistency with master plan
recommendations, act as a planning liaison to various
groups and organizations in their planning areas, and
coordinate with Prince George's County government, the
State of Maryland, the federal government and neighboring
jurisdictions on land use and development issues.
The Division has two sections: the Master Planning Section
and the Strategic Planning Section.
Master Planning Section
The Master Planning Section is the planning area team
for the northwestern portion of the county and focuses
on the division's comprehensive planning and sectional
map amendment (SMA) work program. The staff serves on
interdisciplinary planning teams and works with citizen
advisory groups and the general public to prepare master
plans, design guidelines, and implementation strategies
at many geographic scales.
Strategic Planning Section
The Strategic Planning Section is the planning area
team for the southeastern portion of the county, conducts
specialized planning studies, and administers the Planning
Assistance to Municipalities and communities (PAMC)
Program. The section also conducts program activities
and special projects that address countywide growth
management issues and the implementation of the General
Plan.
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