Questing for Atlantis

Marylanders, take note. The Maryland Department of Planning is looking to expand the scope of its authority.

In fact, I would wager this the beginning of an effort to create a State Planning Commission and eliminate local Planning Commissions.

Now, for the record, I’m against all central planning of the economy, for the reasons so aptly noted by Hayek in The Use of Knowledge in Society and other works:

If we can agree that the economic problem of society is mainly one of rapid adaptation to changes in the particular circumstances of time and place, it would seem to follow that the ultimate decisions must be left to the people who are familiar with these circumstances, who know directly of the relevant changes and of the resources immediately available to meet them. We cannot expect that this problem will be solved by first communicating all this knowledge to a central board which, after integrating all knowledge, issues its orders. We must solve it by some form of decentralization.

I’m with Hayek that price signals are the best means of sorting and disseminating the disparate knowledge of the many actors in our economy, so even local planning commissions are unnecessary. I think the failure of central planning with regards to land use policy is also born out by the facts.

But if we’re going to have some entity centrally planning land use policy, it damn well ought to be done locally. There is simply no possible way that a state level entity can do a better job of compiling, understanding, and acting on the necessary information than a local group, inherently better aware of local conditions and needs can do.

Even more importantly, the bigger something is, the more likely it will fall victim to special interest concerns. In Maryland’s case, it means that land use policy will come to be completely dominated by Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Baltimore counties. We’ve already seen the result of this – just look at the Critical Area law passed a couple of years ago. An arbitrary and egregious assault on private property rights, it fell most heavily by far on Eastern Shore residents.

Regardless of how you feel about land use policy, everyone should object to it being decided by a distant authority, unaware of local conditions and needs, and far more prone to being captured by special interests. I encourage everyone to pass on the word about these meetings and attend as many as possible and speak out against any further consolidation of land use policymaking power in the hands of the State.

Here are the currently announced meeting dates and locations:

WHAT: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. – Open House, meet State and local officials and community groups 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. – Public Forum including an interactive “Keypad polling” activity and table discussions

WHERE and WHEN: Thursday, March 4th Prince George’s County Bowie State University Center for Learning & Technology, Auditorium – Room 102 (#2 on campus map) 14000 Jericho Park Road · Bowie, MD 20715 (driving directions) Also easily accessible by MARC Commuter Rail Penn Line and Metrobus Tuesday, March 9th Carroll County and Baltimore County (west) Carroll Community College “K” Building Auditorium (campus map), ample parking near ampitheatre 1601 Washington Road · Westminster, MD  21157 (driving directions) Thursday, March 18th Baltimore City Coppin State University Talon Center, Dining & Meeting Hall (#4 on campus map), parking in Lot F 2500 West North Avenue · Baltimore, MD 21216-3698 (driving directions) Also accessible by MTA Metro and Bus Wednesday, March 24th Montgomery County UMD Universities at Shady Grove Building II, Multi-Purpose room (campus map) 9630 Gudelsky Drive · Rockville, MD 20850 (driving directions) Also easily accessible by Public Transportation Save the date.  Click here to RSVP. (RSVP is not required but will help us plan for space and attendance) For more information, call MDP today: (410) 767-4500

UPDATE: The Maryland Department of Planning has posted an updated list, including confirmed and tentative meeting dates for what looks like almost the rest of the state (Mid-Shore is one of the regions still missing). Here are the additional dates and locations;

Thursday, April 8 – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
College of Southern Maryland
Center for Business and Industry, Atrium (campus map)
8730 Mitchell Road · La Plata, MD 20646 (driving directions)

Wednesday, April 14 (tentative) – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Community College of Baltimore County, Essex Campus
Campus location TBA (campus map)
7201 Rossville Boulevard · Baltimore, MD 21237 (driving directions)

Wednesday, April 21 (tentative) – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Anne Arundel Community College
Community College Center (interactive campus map or print)
101 College Parkway · Arnold, MD 21012 (driving directions)

Thursday, May 6 – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Salisbury University
Guerrieri University Center (campus map), parking in Dogwood Lot D or Camden Lot E
1101 Camden Avenue · Salisbury, MD 21801 (driving directions)

Wednesday, May 12 (tentative) – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Washington College
Campus location TBA (campus map)
300 Washington Avenue · Chestertown, MD 21620 (driving directions)

Wednesday, May 19 (tentative) – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Frostburg State University
Campus location TBA (campus map)
101 Braddock Road · Frostburg, MD 21532 (driving directions)

Wednesday, May 26 – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Cecil College
Technology / Conference Center (D on campus map)
1 Seahawk Drive · North East, MD 21901 (driving directions)

OTHER REGIONAL LOCATIONS TO BE SCHEDULED – KEEP POSTED