Do you plan ahead with your $$$…how much do you have and how much is left after paying the bills? Is your home important to you? How much can you pay in rent or mortgage, and what style of housing suits your needs? What else is most important?  Schools, minimizing traffic on your commute, protecting our natural resources, frugal government spending, building more apartments and shopping centers?

How will Calvert County address these key issues for ALL OF US in the next 20 years until the year 2040? That is the big question that the Calvert County Comprehensive Plan will try to answer. It is the OFFICIAL policy document that touches every decision. The Planning Commission (PC) will hold a work session tomorrow evening, Wednesday August 22nd at 7pm at the Calvert Pines Senior Center at 450 West Dares Beach Rd in Prince Frederick. Come and listen. Comp Plan Chapter 6 on Housing, Chapter 8 on Economic Development and Chapter 2 on Key Issues identified by the citizens will be studied. Please attend to see if the PC is representing you.

What? No one asked YOU what the key issues are for Calvert County? That is because the Comp Plan update process has not effectively sought out the opinion of Calvert citizens. Sure, the info is posted on the county website but you are expected to visit the site yourself, unearth the info, read it, and provide feedback via e-mail to pz@calvertcountymd.gov. Who has time for that? How about an online survey, a postcard in the mail, someone taking notes on a tablet, 30 second video interviews at local events, being able to ask questions at a meeting and getting a response on the spot? Nope, none of that. But the private groups who have taken the initiative to say what they want, seem to have been heard loud and clear. Will their needs benefit the rest of us?

We estimate a 1,000 people have thus far attended workshops and open houses or written in comments, and a bunch of those are actually the same few people, like the Huntingtown Citizens Association(HCA) leadership. According to page 2-1 of the plan, Calvert’s population is projected to be about 94,000 people and will be over 100,000 people by 2040.  SPEAK UP!  Will there be housing that is affordable and attractive to young folks just starting out and housing suitable for older folks, with universal design features, one level living, etc? Or will there just be more of the same houses, townhouses and apartments? How the the local government gain tax revenue and what types of business do we want to locate here?

Here is the Comprehensive Plan May 2018 2nd draft (Too many pages…just pick the chapter you find most important.) Send your comments to pz@calvertcountymd.gov with “Calvert 2040 comments” in the subject line.

Here is the 8/22 Planning Commission Agenda containing links to the written comments submitted by citizens thus far.  Want to see how critical most of your fellow citizens have been thus far about this Plan and the process to get here, read citizen comments here.

Concerned about the Environment & Natural Resources, Water Resources, or Government and Community Facilities… ALL THIS will be discussed during the next PC work session Wednesday 9/19/2018. Plan to be at this one…seems like a lot to cover in just one night. Here is the upcoming work session schedule of topics.

Finally, please share the Huntingtown Citizens Association(HCA) with neighbors and friends. We are always looking for assistance. We send e-mail updates to those who sign up on our web page http://www.huntingtowncitizensassociation.com and we also have a FB page you can like or follow. We can be reached by e-mail at huntingtowncitizens@gmail.com