March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 48 F

Schuh signs order to reorganize land use departments to make government more friendly

Steve Schuh
Steve Schuh, Anne Arundel County Executive

Continuing in his effort to make county government more customer friendly, County Executive Steve Schuh today signed an executive order to reform land use in Anne Arundel County.

“For far too long, our county’s land use departments have been a source of frustration for our citizens,” said Schuh. “The actions we are taking today will improve a permitting and zoning approval process that is often bogged down by red tape, inefficiencies, and too many layers of bureaucracy.”

Executive Order Number 82 begins a major land use department reorganization. The order moves engineers to the Department of Inspections and Permits to remove an unnecessary barrier of bureaucracy, and transfers zoning enforcement personnel to the Office of Planning and Zoning to improve enforcement  and oversight efforts. The order also empowers land use team leaders within all land use departments to make critical decisions to move projects forward and reduce permit and zoning approval times.

The County Executive also announced a land use legislative reform package, including measures to:

  • Allow citizens to hire outside, third party engineers certified by the county to independently review projects and cut down on project review times.
  • Reduce the number internal reviews by Planning and Zoning of a project from 3 to 2.
  • Reorganize the major subdivision process by moving the public works agreement phase after the recordation of the Record Plat. 

The announcement took place at a gathering of Schuh’s transition team at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis. More than 150 members of the 2014/2015 transition team then took part in a department-by-department update on the Administration’s progress on the more than 700 individual transition recommendations.

[do action=”blackwall-hitch”/]

Previous Article

2 arrested in Linthicum double stabbing

Next Article

Police make arrest in South County armed robbery

You might be interested in …