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Regulatory
Changes
The City of Hagerstown's principle goal for
regulatory action is to assure rapid and efficient review of development
and redevelopment projects in Hagerstown and the vicinity, while maintaining
protection of amenities, visual qualities, and environmental resources.
In order to achieve this goal, the Plan identifies the following strategies.
- Restudy the definition of the Hagerstown Urban
Growth Area.
To a great extent urban sprawl in the Hagerstown region has been exacerbated
by the very large growth area delineated by the County General Plan.
This area will accommodate several times the current population of Hagerstown,
far more growth than can be expected in the next twenty years. The revitalization
of the City and its core cannot be accomplished unless the existing
regulatory framework is redesigned to discourage further sprawl. Therefore,
the Plan has defined a new Urban Services Area, as distinct from the
Hagerstown Urban Growth Area. The Urban Services Area is designed to
accommodate the growth for the next ten to twenty years, to protect
sensitive areas, and to take advantage of existing public-utility patterns
and economical extensions of these patterns.
- Make regulatory changes to encourage more
development within urban areas.
The Plan recommends closer coordination of land development policies
between the City and the County. One suggestion includes a joint effort
to consider modifications to the County Zoning Map within the Hagerstown
Urban Growth Area, including areas to the north at the airport, Sycamore
Heights to the east, I-70 to the south, and Cedar Lawn to the west.
This is recommended as a means to ensure maximum utilization of the
existing infrastructure, to concentrate municipal services, to discourage
greenfield development in rural areas, and to encourage development
which contributes to the revitalization of the urban area of Hagerstown.
- Provide regulations for more flexible development.
In order to facilitate this strategy, the City's Zoning Ordinance has
created two special zoning districts: a floating zone used for planned
unit development projects and a creative district called Conversion
District. The Plan highlights this last district as worthy of special
attention. The Conversion District was created to give developers some
flexibility in their efforts to adaptively reuse the City's existing
nonresidential structures, while at the same time, encouraging the preservation
of the City's architectural assets and urban character.
- Make regulatory changes to reflect Comprehensive
Plan policies.
The Plan recommends that the Subdivision Regulations be reviewed and
revised to allow more traditional types of development, as exemplified
by the "neo-traditional" layouts of the New Urbanism movement.
- Make a comprehensive study of annexation,
aimed at the logical provision of City services and improved control
of development affecting the City.
As a means of creating a more logical boundary for urban neighborhoods
and allowing for the more efficient provision of public services, the
City should consider annexation in a number of areas and in particular
where the boundary lines have become muddled. Priority should be given
to areas which would also provide attractive development opportunities
for the City and which would expand the City's tax base. For each of
these areas, annexation cost-benefit studies should be carried out and
land use plans developed in cooperation with current residents.
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