The Queen Anne’s County Department of Planning and Zoning recently won a prestigious award for producing the county’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan. The Plan won 3rd Place in the “Great Plans” category of a statewide competition sponsored by the Maryland Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA).

“Only planners in the state were eligible to vote on the plans therefore it was a particularly high honor to be chosen for this award by professional planners throughout the state,” said Helen M. Spinelli, AICP, Principal Planner for Queen Anne’s County Department of Planning and Zoning.

Commissioner David L. Dunmyer nominated the county for this award. He said the county’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan, adopted September 7, 2010 by the Queen Anne’s County Commissioners, is a landmark document for a jurisdiction of less than 50,000 people. It creates a new standard of preservation through a compromise reached with farmers to preserve their equity in the land, a framework for collaboration with the County’s eight municipalities to share growth through the support of “Town Fringe” annexation areas and to provide for “Sustainable Smart Growth Management Strategy” to allow for an enhanced Transfer Development Rights (TDR) and Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs. It creates watershed based planning through a Water Resources Element, the potential preservation of 119,000 acres of agricultural land in the Priority Preservation Element and access to housing that is affordable to all our residents through the Workforce Housing Element. This Plan is truly a comprehensive step forward for Queen Anne’s County, Maryland.

The following vision was the foundation for launching the Plan. It states: “The vision for the future of Queen Anne’s County has remained constant with emphasis on maintaining and enhancing a predominantly rural county with small towns connected by creeks and county roads through fields and forest – a great place to live; – a county that encourages agriculture, seafood and maritime industries, tourism and outdoor sports, small business and high tech enterprise – a good place to work; – a county that is a faithful steward of its natural and cultural heritage – a good neighbor for the Bay and other Eastern Shore counties; – a county in which development by some does not impair the quality of life enjoyed by all – a community that protects the expectations and opportunities of all its citizens; and – a county that supports the highest quality of education to fully prepare its citizens for the future.”