Rural Villages: Boundaries & Villages Designated as Priority Funding Areas
The "Smart Growth" Areas Act of 1997, Chapter 759 of the Laws of Maryland of 1997, required the State to target funding for "growth-related projects to Priority Funding Areas (PFAs) beginning October 1, 1998. Growth-related projects are defined in the legislation and include most State programs which encourage or support growth and development such as highways, sewer and water construction, economic development assistance, and State leases and construction of new office facilities.
. . . The Act gives local governments flexibility to identify and determine the boundaries of the communities, rural villages, and other public investment centers that will constitute Priority Funding Areas . . ." ("Smart Growth: Designating Priority Funding Areas," Managing Maryland's Growth: Models and Guidelines, Maryland Office of Planning, pg. 1, November 1, 1997)
"The Smart Growth Areas Act allows counties to certify rural villages as Priority Funding Areas if they are designated in the Comprehensive Plan by July 1, 1998.
The Act defines a rural village as an ". . . unincorporated area that is primarily residential, including an area with historic qualities, that is located in an otherwise rural or agricultural area and for which new growth, if any, would derive primarily from in-fill development or limited peripheral expansion." Each county has an opportunity to certify rural villages as PFAs without having to meet the density and infrastructure requirements that the law required of other county-certified PFAs." ("Smart Growth: Designating Priority Funding Areas," Managing Maryland's Growth: Models and Guidelines, Maryland Office of Planning, pg. 19, November 1, 1997)
The Board of Carroll County Commissioners originally adopted the boundaries of the Rural Village Priority Funding Areas (PFA) on June 2, 1998. These boundaries are generally indicated on this plan's land use designation map. For more detailed descriptions and boundary maps, refer to the report "Rural Villages: Boundaries & Villages Designated as Priority Funding Areas."
The report is available for download by clicking the links below. Viewers with faster connections may choose to download the entire document (52 MB) at one time. Those with slower connection speeds may wish to view individual sections at a time. They are divided by individual Rural Villages.