Home > Master Plan > Municipal Growth Elements > General Information

Comprehensive Master Plan
Municipal Growth Element
  
General Information

1. What is the Municipal Growth Element (MGE)?
The MGE is a new requirement of Article 66B of the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland HB 1141. The provision requires that an MGE be added to a jurisdiction’s Comprehensive Master Plan. The MGE incorporates the following components:

• A Development Capacity Analysis that provides a projection of the City’s future population growth;
• The impacts of that growth on the provision of the following public services: Police; Fire and Emergency Medical Services; Public Schools; Parks and Open Space; and Water and Sewer Facilities;
• Potential areas of municipal boundary expansion. 
• Should a jurisdiction not meet this requirement, the jurisdiction would not be permitted to change the zoning designation on any property.

 
2. Is the MGE the plan for Rockville’s Growth?
No. The MGE includes a projection of Rockville’s growth based on existing zoning and an assessment of the long-term market for development and redevelopment in Rockville. It is not a new plan for Rockville. It reflects elements of the Master Plan and the Zoning Ordinance that have already been approved.

3. Does the MGE provide a plan for the public services mentioned in Question 1?
No. The State of Maryland’s guidance for the MGE distinguishes between the MGE and the Community Facilities element of a City’s Master Plan. The MGE identifies impacts. The Community Facilities element provides details on how to respond and plan for those impacts. The City plans to engage in the questions that lead to an updated Community Facilities element as it works toward a revision in the overall Master Plan beginning later in 2010 and through 2011.

4. The City of Rockville does not control public schools or fire/EMS services. Why are these topics in the City’s MGE?
The purpose of the MGE is to link the projected growth to impacts on public services. The City, Montgomery County, and the State of Maryland will collectively identify resources and strategies to address the impacts of growth. For public schools, for example, the City will be able to use the MGE to discuss with Montgomery County Public Schools how to address the projected growth and ensure that Rockville’s children receive excellent services.

5. What is the City’s Maximum Expansion Limit (MEL), and what is its role in the MGE?
The City’s MEL is land adjacent to, but just outside of, the City’s boundaries. They are areas that the City would consider annexing if the property owner were to petition the City to be included, which is the State-required process for initiating annexation. The City has had in place the same MEL since 1970, which can be seen in Figure 10 of the Public Hearing Draft of the MGE. The public hearing draft proposes that new areas be added to the MEL. Adding these areas would not indicate the City’s intention to annex these properties. It would indicate the City would consider an owner’s petition to be annexed.

6. Are there general principles for an MEL?
The City has established principles in the past, which were discussed in the 2002 Comprehensive Master Plan. They include:

• Creating a logical City boundary
• Creating a compact City for the efficient delivery of public infrastructure and services
• Proximity to existing public infrastructure or services
• Assisting in the management of future development in an orderly and controlled manner
• Increasing the commercial and industrial tax base
• Inclusion within an existing service district that receives public water and/or sewer
• Precautionary measure for areas that may experience failing wells or septic systems