2013 Comprehensive Plan Page
The 2013 Comprehensive Plan:
Charting a Bold Vision for Cumberland's Prosperity!
Although the City of Cumberland's 2004 Comprehensive Plan was just updated in 2009, the City has not comprehensively reconsidered its basic planning strategies since 1996, when the foundation for the 2004 plan was originally written. The City's current long-range planning strategies were actually devised in 1996 and updated in 2004 and 2009. Maryland Planning Law (Article 66b of the Annotated Code of Maryland) requires that local planning commissions review the Comprehensive Plan at least once every 6 years and, if necessary, revise or amend the plan to address the State's planning goals and the basic requirements of the law (Section 3.05 [b] [2]). The Cumberland Planning Commission has complied with this law by periodically revising and amending the plan (as was done in 2004 and 2009) and by supplementing the plan with special plans and studies (like the 2008 Cumberland Trails and Bikeways Master Plan).
However, many significant changes have occurred in Cumberland and the broader economy since the original Comprehensive Plan concept was designed in 1996. Among these changes are the development boom of the first few years of the 21st Century, the severe Economic Recession of 2007-2009, and significant legislative changes to Article 66b in 2006 and 2009 that affected the basic planning requirements for local government Comprehensive Plans. The City also created a new City Planner position in 2007, which is the first dedicated planning function that the City has established since the early 1990's. With all of these important changes, the City recognized the need to more comprehensively re-evaluate its planning priorities and identify new strategies to continue and advance the City's future vision. Consequently, the Mayor and City Council and the Planning Commission determined that a new Comprehensive Plan should be developed, beginning in 2010. Preparations for this planning effort are already underway.
In determining how to develop the City's next Comprehensive Plan, two important decisions were made. Now that the City has a dedicated City Planner, the Mayor and City Council decided that this new plan could be coordinated and written using existing staff resources, rather than relying on outside consulting services. In addition, the Mayor and City Council decided that the plan should be developed in two components--a Neighborhood Element that identifies and addresses critical issues and needs at the neighborhood level, and a City-Wide Element that creates a coordinated development plan for the City that will address the most critical neighborhood needs and satisfy the statutory planning requirements in Article 66b. While the in-house development of the plan will reduce the cost of the project to the City and its taxpayers, it will require more time to complete without overtaxing those staffing resources. That is why the plan is proposed to be prepared, reviewed, and adopted over an extended time period beginning in January 2010 and ending in December 2013. This will provide adequate time for extensive public input at the neighborhood level, the research and writing of two plan documents, and the statutory adoption process required by Maryland Law.
This page has been created on the City's official Web Site to inform citizens about the progress on the plan, to provide basic information about the plan and the timing of public forums, and to provide opportunities for direct interactive input into the planning process. Citizens and other interested individuals are encouraged to monitor this page frequently and review the information contained within it to take full advantage of your opportunities to be an active participant in the development of the City's next Comprehensive Plan.
If you would like to learn more about Planning and Maryland's Planning laws, please:
Click here to access an Overview of the Comprehensive Plan & Smart Growth;
Click here to learn What Is Planning and Why Should I care?
Click here to learn What Planners Do
If you would like to submit your comments or questions regarding the City's new plan or the planning process, please contact David Umling, City Planner, by dialing 301-759-6503 or you may send an e-mail message to dumling@allconet.org. You may also contact Mr. Umling by mail at the following addresses:
Mailing Address: 57 North Liberty Street
Cumberland, MD 21502
Please click here to Return to the City's Main Planning Page
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING PLANNING IN CUMBERLAND!
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