My friends (all 1000 of them) back in Maryland posted this item recently, and wouldn’t it be nice here in Idaho! According to a relatively new Maryland law, all key land use decision makers are now required to take an on-line training course in planning and zoning.
We skimmed the course materials (here — a large pdf) and were impressed with the breadth and clarity and organization of the course, developed by the state’s Department of Planning. Some of the concepts are very particular to Maryland, but some are relatively universal. It seems like such an excellent idea and easy to implement — a simple course to explain the terms and concepts of land use law and planning would probably be an enormous benefit to the often inexperienced elected and appointed officials here in Idaho.
As the Kootenai County Commissioners are scheduled to continue their stunningly slow slog through the draft update to the Comprehensive Plan on Monday, maybe a quick review of the Maryland materials would be a good refresher.
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