County Planning and Zoning Commission halts Pathways progress
October 22, 2009
Eric Villard

The Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted Oct. 20 to halt work on the much-debated Carroll County Pathways Plan.

Instead the commission will shift its focus to revising the County’s Master Plan, a document adopted by the county in December of 2000. An initial revision of the plan is to be done by the end of November, with a 60 day public review to follow.

But why the sudden decision to reject the plan? David Brauning, chairman of the planning commission, offered a few reasons at the meeting Tuesday.

For one, Brauning said the economy played into the equation. “We must change, perhaps, our perspective on the proposals we have been discussing as part of the Pathways plan,” he said. “Basically, in short, the economy is a game changer.”

He added that an upcoming change in political climate had the potential to negatively effect the progress on the plan. “We know from experience that elections can really change plans in a hurry,” he said.

In short, Brauning said, “We need to make a change in direction.”

Wasted time?

While those opposing the plan likely herald this as a victory, others might be left wondering what will happen to all of the work county officials put into drafting the documents, a process which started in 2005. Vivian Laxton, public information administrator of the county government, said that the time put into the plan will not have been wasted.

“We’re going to be able to use a lot of the feedback that we’ve gotten from the public,” Laxton said. “It’s never useless to get information from what residents want to do with the county – I think it’s still going to be very helpful.”

What about the zoning changes?

The aspect of the Comprehensive Plan that most concerned Eldersbrug residents was the proposed changes to zoning codes that would alter the allowed use of some of the property within the town. While work on the plan has been halted, this does not mean the proposed changes to the zoning code have been tossed out.

Laxton mentioned that zoning changes had to be separate from the plan document, and that any zoning changes would have to go through the county commissioners.

“The zoing changes would have been tools to implement the plan,” she said. “What the plan did was say ‘We think you ought to rezone this, we think this land should be used this way.’”