One hundred feet. That's how close you can build, clear, or disturb land next to tidal water in Somerset County without running into a stack of state and county regulations that can easily…
More than $40 million from the Maryland Department of the Environment is flowing toward aging water mains — but every dollar targets Montgomery and…
A Somerset County public hearing notice can look like a small legal announcement, but it may be the first public signal that a zoning rule, land-use…
According to ADU Zoning, the mandate derives from HB 1466, signed by Governor Moore on April 22, 2025 and effective October 1, 2025 as Chapter 197…
A Montgomery County government announcement says Councilmember At-Large Laurie-Anne Sayles joined Maryland and county housing leaders at the 2026…
NBC4 Washington reports that The Garage, a DIY punk and hardcore music venue operating since 2023 on Honey Acres Farm in Boyds, faces a Montgomery…
You see "Planning Commission Work Session" on the agenda outside the County office — sandwiched between items like a zoning text amendment, a sketch…
The Maryland Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program establishes a regulated land-use zone extending 1,000 feet landward from the mean high water line…
According to Wicomico County, Maryland, the county has launched a new website for the update of its Comprehensive Plan. The site is intended to give…
The Maryland Living Shoreline Protection Act of 2008 establishes nonstructural shoreline stabilization as the default for coastal erosion control…
According to Tech Policy Press, a data center moratorium is most useful when treated as a defined study period rather than an indefinite prohibition.
When a home is affordable only for the first buyer, a community can lose that affordability as soon as the property is resold. A community land trust…
As Somerset Live reports, new UK planning rules taking effect October 31 will shift many housing development decisions away from public committee…
A community survey can collect hundreds of responses and still produce little useful direction. Somerset County’s initial Comprehensive Plan survey…
According to The Southern Maryland Chronicle, St.
A project can be modest in physical size and still fall under Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Critical Area rules. A new access path, shoreline work, tree…
The pile on the planning staff’s desk gets sorted before the meeting starts, not after. Written testimony that arrives during the public comment…
Ever wonder what a reporter's trip to Shanghai has to do with what happens at the next Somerset County zoning hearing? Stick with me, because the…
Maryland’s Living Shorelines Protection Act of 2008 establishes the governing presumption for shoreline stabilization in tidal wetlands…
Crisfield's revitalization pipeline keeps choking on the same mistake: people mistake a council discussion for a state application. A town can spend…
A notice about a meeting on the future of an old factory site can look ordinary until you start asking what happens after the meeting. The same is…
At the 2026 MACo Summer Conference, Maryland Department of Planning Secretary Rebecca Flora joined a panel moderated by Delegate Lorig Charkoudian to…
The City of Richmond released Version Three of its Code Refresh zoning update following an Aug.
A notice about a changing shoreline can sound abstract until the water reaches a road, a field edge, or the forest behind a tidal marsh. In Somerset…
Somerset County’s housing market operates under a measurable affordability constraint. Median household income is $64,943, while Maryland’s statewide…
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the package combines local Program Open Space grants with conservation easements designed…
A private pier can look like a straightforward improvement: a walkway from the shore, a platform for tying up a boat, perhaps a few slips for family…
Under Town of Princess Anne Code, Chapter 88, exterior alterations within the Princess Anne Historic District require historic preservation approval…
The Baltimore County Department of Planning has formally launched Small Area Plan 5, designated as the county's first rural-focused Small Area Plan…
A planning commission agenda can look deceptively simple: a site plan, a rezoning request, a floating zone application, and a recommendation from…
Per an EIN Presswire notice dated August 18, 2026, the Maryland Public Service Commission has opened a public comment period on a 5.0 megawatt solar…
The ledger does not lie. Three years after a property owner along Somerset County’s tidal creeks spends tens of thousands of dollars on Spartina…
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development just opened a new funding stream that puts transitional housing within reach for…
Floodwater does not need to leave visible mud inside a well to make the water unsafe. A submerged well can take in bacteria, sewage, fuel…
If you've driven past a vacant storefront on Main Street in Crisfield or walked by an empty lot near Princess Anne's downtown and wondered why some…
When our neighbors in Worcester County open the door to hazard planning public meetings, as CoastTV reports, it's worth pausing for a second.
There is one hearing room for Somerset County land-use matters: Room 111 of the Somerset County Office Complex, 11916 Somerset Avenue in Princess…
A drainage project on your Somerset County property can begin with something that looks very small: a new downspout, a gravel swale, a patio, a shed…
The Maryland Public Service Commission has docketed Case No.
Somerset County secured $350,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for state fiscal year 2026, supporting rehabilitation work for an…
Per the City of Boston, the Planning Department this month recommended approval of new zoning for Small Clean Energy Infrastructure, advancing the…
Somerset County planning commission meeting tracking is not a single task. It requires separating four different information channels: the regular…
A septic drainfield is a simple machine. Wastewater leaves the tank, moves through perforated pipes laid in trenches or beds, and enters the…
A twelve-month moratorium on data center approvals is under consideration by the Talbot County Council, according to The Gazette. The measure, if…
Maryland Land Use Code §3-203 requires a local planning commission to hold at least one formal public hearing before recommending adoption or…
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has let us know that the Maryland Critical Area Commission has released a staff report addendum on the…
A downtown can have historic buildings, local businesses, community pride, and still struggle to turn those assets into steady economic activity.
Maryland Land Use Code §3-203 requires every local planning commission to convene at least one formal public hearing before recommending adoption of…
According to the Maryland Office of the Governor, Governor Wes Moore announced that the Maryland Department of Health is awarding $80 million in…
A tax ditch easement can be easy to miss until you want to place a shed, fence, driveway, pond, septic feature, or landscaping project near a…
Somerset planning commission public hearing testimony is not a general statement of support or opposition. It is part of an administrative land-use…
According to reporting from Baltimore Brew, hundreds of local government leaders from across Maryland gathered in Ocean City last week for the annual…
A road does not need to disappear under a hurricane to become a serious transportation problem. In Somerset County, a high tide on an otherwise calm…
Somerset County’s median household income is $64,943, compared with $103,678 statewide. Its poverty rate is 20.3%. Those figures establish the…
Somerset County closed its primary Comprehensive Plan community survey in mid-2024 with more than 360 responses — a number that beat the county's own…
According to Citizen Portal reporting, the Calvert County Planning Commission has advanced a set of critical-area revisions at the direction of the…
Somerset County adopted a FEMA-approved 2022 Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, preceded by its 2021 Flood Mitigation Plan and followed by a 2024 Nuisance…
Walk through Crisfield's older blocks or the modest lots scattered around Princess Anne and you'll see the same thing: roofs losing their shingles…
A development notice, a request to clear trees, or a new driveway proposal can look like an ordinary zoning matter—until the property is near tidal…
For Maryland’s FY2027 rural grant cycle, the Rural Maryland Council has $6,047,464 in allocated legislative funding. The principal deadlines are…
A proposed community solar project is moving into its public comment phase, and according to the Maryland Public Service Commission, neighbors across…
A public records request can begin with a simple question: what happened to the road project, zoning decision, property file, or planning discussion…
County Planning Commission is advancing efforts to align the county's growth plan with the municipal growth plan adopted by the Town of Emmitsburg…
Shore Transit buses do not roam freely through Somerset County. They run established corridors and published schedules, with limited room to leave…
A notice about a new housing project, a vacant downtown building, or a long-discussed streetscape improvement can leave residents with the same…
Maryland Land Use Article §3-203 requires formal public hearings for proposed comprehensive plans and amendments. The statutory process includes…
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Governor Wes Moore announced on August 11 that Maryland has achieved nearly all of its…
A tree-removal project can look small from the driveway: a few leaning trees, a strip of overgrown brush, perhaps a plan to widen a yard or stabilize…
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development has committed more than $2.2 million through the Maryland Housing Counseling Fund to…
Crisfield’s commercial blocks are deteriorating in plain sight. Paint is peeling from brick that has not been tuckpointed in decades. Storefront…
Per Southern Maryland News Net, the proposed ordinance would suspend approvals while the Department of Planning & Zoning reviews zoning text…
Under Maryland’s Land Use Article, a planning commission and a board of zoning appeals are not interchangeable bodies. One develops and administers…
Somerset County loses measurable marsh acreage every year to erosion along the lower Chesapeake and its tidal creeks — and a substantial share of…
A historic renovation in Princess Anne can become complicated before the first wall is opened. A new porch, replacement windows, exterior paint, roof…
Maryland’s Land Use Article establishes the comprehensive plan as the principal policy document for local growth, land use, transportation…
Somerset County sits under five feet of elevation across most of its landmass, and roughly a third of the county falls inside the Chesapeake Bay…
According to The Maryland Wire, Maryland counties and municipalities with zoning authority must permit Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on…
Crisfield’s Low Income Housing Initiative illustrates the central problem in municipal revitalization: the city must select a development partner…
The Charles County Planning Commission convened to consider changes to review boards, according to SoMdNews.com. The August 8 session signals a…
According to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the Fiscal Year 2027 application round for the Catalytic Revitalization…
The Somerset County Planning Commission does not broadcast its meetings. There is no YouTube channel, no public access feed, and no Zoom recording…
A field can remain productive for years and then begin changing faster than a property map can keep up. Ditches hold saltwater longer after a storm…
Maryland Land Use Article §3-102 requires Princess Anne and Crisfield to include municipal growth elements in their comprehensive plans. Beginning…
A planning hearing can turn on a few lines of draft text, a map boundary, or a notice that most residents never read closely. That is the physical…
If you've stood on the bank of the Wicomico or the Manokin and watched a foot of marsh quietly disappear between last summer and this one, you…
A qualifying homeowner in Somerset County may claim a Maryland state income tax credit equal to 20% of eligible historic rehabilitation expenses.
The Wicomico County Council voted unanimously on August 5, 2026 to impose a one-year moratorium on data center proposals, according to Bay to Bay…
Maryland Land Use Code §3-203 requires a local planning commission to hold at least one formal public hearing before recommending adoption of a…
In Somerset County, a septic system can fail long before the tank reaches the end of its service life. The weak point is often the soil beneath the…
If you're a Somerset County landowner considering selling an agricultural easement to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, you've…
Maryland Land Use Code § 3-203 requires a local planning commission to hold at least one public hearing before recommending adoption of a…
According to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the state has launched a new process designed to weave energy efficiency…
A notice about a septic upgrade, a wetland project near Crisfield, or a new Chesapeake Bay restoration effort can feel like three separate stories.
Somerset County received $350,000 in Fiscal Year 2026 federal Community Development Block Grant funding for a countywide housing rehabilitation…
A Somerset County property transaction can look complete on paper and still be missing a document that deals directly with how the property may be…
A notice about a proposed subdivision, a new solar facility, or a zoning amendment can arrive in a form that feels designed for people who already…
A Somerset County tax ditch maintenance request cannot be routed correctly until the drainage system is classified. The county’s jurisdiction…
Neighborhood BusinessWorks loans in Somerset County come with two dates and a hard ceiling. The competitive application window opens August 17, 2026…
You get a notice in the mail — a public hearing on a proposed annexation, or an open house about the town's comprehensive plan. You flip it over…
More than 360 residents responded to Somerset County’s initial Comprehensive Plan survey, exceeding the county’s target of 300 responses. That result…
The SFY27 competitive round closed on Monday, July 6, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. sharp. Once that deadline passed, the submission window was closed; a late…
A proposed use can fit the general character of a Somerset County property and still require more than a standard zoning certificate. That is the…
Per The BayNet's reporting on the meeting, the application was due at the Department of Housing and Community Development by Aug.
A Somerset County public records MPIA request is not a casual email sent into a general government inbox. It is a written records demand directed to…
If you've stood on your own property here on the Eastern Shore and tried to make sense of the shaded strip running along the water's edge — or…
Maryland's economic development framework operates on a layered incentive architecture. At its foundation lies the Priority Funding Area (PFA)…
“Grandfathered zoning” sounds permanent. It is not.
That notice in your mailbox, or the small line in the back of the local paper, telling you that a developer wants to put a 40-unit project on the old…
Somerset County adopted its Critical Area Program on September 10, 1988, pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Act. The program's regulatory…
Three downtown Crisfield businesses secured inaugural Project Restore 2.0 grants in March 2025, drawing from a $150,000 state block grant subgranted…
You got the postcard in the mail—the cream-colored envelope from the county, the one with the map on the back and the meeting time in fine print.
Somerset County Ordinance No. 93 establishes a Flood Protection Elevation (FPE) defined as the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) plus one foot of freeboard.
The Washington County Division of Planning & Zoning announced on August 7 the permanent preservation of a 256.57-acre farm on Taylors Landing Road in…
You’ve probably been there: you walk past a house on your street in Princess Anne, the one with the wraparound porch and the dentil molding along the…
Section 8.15b(3) of the Somerset County Zoning Code mandates site plan approval for every new commercial development within the unincorporated areas…
A public hearing in Somerset County is not a single moment when residents either speak or stay silent. For many zoning, legislative, and land-use…
If you've driven down to the bay lately and watched the marsh grass pulling back from the waterline—foot by foot, season by season—you've probably…
Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, establishes the framework for tenant-based rental assistance nationwide. In Somerset…
One hundred point three eight acres of Somerset County land sat on the wrong side of the zoning map for years. In January 2020, Gary King filed a…
You pulled the building permit packet off the counter, and somewhere between the cover sheet and the third sub-folder, the word "stormwater" started…
For a Somerset County homeowner, the first question is not whether the roof leaks, the wiring is unsafe, or the house needs an accessibility…
Seven lots. That is the hard line drawn in Somerset County's Subdivision Ordinance between a process you can handle administratively and one that…
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Board of Public Works approved more than $6.38 million in grants for…
If you're running a nonprofit on the Lower Eastern Shore and you've sketched out a plan to expand a community kitchen in Crisfield, rehab…
Maryland Land Use Code §3-203 mandates that a local planning commission hold at least one public hearing before recommending the adoption of a…
The 100-foot Buffer does not negotiate. Neither does the possibility of a fine of up to $10,000 per day when Somerset County treats a Chesapeake Bay…
In Somerset County, a zoning variance is not a general request for permission to build something the zoning code does not allow. It is a narrowly…