Priority Funding Areas

The Indicator

The 1997 Smart Growth Areas Act established certain areas as Priority Funding Areas, deemed suitable locations for State funded projects such as road improvements or support of school construction. Areas specified in the legislation were existing municipalities, Baltimore City, areas inside the Baltimore and Washington Beltways, Revitalization Areas designated by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Enterprise Zones, and Heritage Areas.

This legislation allows Counties to designate additional areas as Priority Funding Areas if they meet specified requirements for use, water and sewer service, and residential density:

• Areas with industrial zoning;


• Areas with employment as the principal use, which are provided with, or planned for, sewer service;


• Residential areas which have an average density of 2 or more units per acre, are within designated growth areas, and are served by water or sewer systems;


• Rural Villages designated in the comprehensive plan before July 1, 1998;


• Areas that reflect a long term policy for promoting an orderly expansion of growth and an efficient use of land and public services;


• Areas planned to be served by water and sewer systems; and


• Areas with permitted density of 3.5 or more units per acre for new residential development.

This indicator is based on mapping completed in 2000 combined with forested areas derived from the National Land Cover Data (NLCD) set. One caveat: there is a grey area where localities have proposed priority funding areas that the Maryland Department of Planning, responsible for maintaining the data for this indicator, has not approved. State funding in this area must be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Normalized to watershed land acreage, this indicator suggests areas where forestry or agriculture may not be, or remain, viable economic activities. Decision makers interested in restoration activities, such as restoration of free fish passage in a stream, may find opportunities associated with various public works construction projects in watersheds with priority funding areas. Where forest land is found in Priority Funding Areas, it may be considered especially valuable for its aesthetic appeal and its water and air quality benefits. Alternatively, blocks of forest land, lacking other development impediments such as steep slope or wetland status, may be seen as choice building sites if they are of substantial size.