FAQ Category: WHQC SMA

No. A sector plan is aspirational and outlines goals and makes recommendations for the future of a planning area over a 25-year period. Sector plans do not take any ownership away from or impose development mandates on residential property owners. If a property owner wants to redevelop a property after the County Council approves and…

If your property is recommended for rezoning through this plan and SMA, you will be notified through US mail. Plan recommendations are evaluated through:

If the plan process recommends rezoning, that will happen at the very end of the plan through a legal update to the zoning map. Even if a property is rezoned, nothing can physically happen to the property unless the owner initiates a change (e.g., sale or redevelopment). Keep in mind that sector plans only produce…

The Countywide Map Amendment (CMA) will change the zoning of every property in the County, outside of the City of Laurel, to implement the County’s adopted 2018 Zoning Ordinance. This sector plan and SMA are proceeding under the expectation that the 2018 Zoning Ordinance and the CMA will take effect on April 1, 2022 while…

A sectional map amendment (SMA) is a comprehensive rezoning amendment for properties within an entire geographic area, such as a subregion, planning area, or part of a planning area. The purpose of an SMA is to revise zoning patterns to conform to the recommendations of the applicable master or sector plan. SMAs are adopted for…