EASTON, Md. - Easton’s effort to map out the future of its East End cleared another step Thursday, as the Planning Commission voted to send the East End Small Area Plan to the Town Council with a favorable recommendation.
The vote followed a public hearing that drew a strong turnout and included both support for the overall vision and concerns about what the plan could mean for the neighborhood moving forward.
Planning and Zoning Director Miguel Salinas said the document is intended to serve as a long-term guide for the East End, not as an immediate regulatory action.
“It’s a visionary document with guiding principles and concepts that focus on certain areas of the East End area,” Salinas said after the meeting.
Town officials have said the draft plan is built around several major goals, including strengthening the Dover Road corridor for small businesses, improving pedestrian safety and guiding future redevelopment opportunities near the Rails to Trails corridor.
Salinas said the broader aim is to set a future vision for one of Easton’s most diverse areas.
“It’s taking our most diverse neighborhood in the town of Easton, diverse economically, culturally and ethnically, and it’s setting a vision for its future,” Salinas said. “A vision that will help support a vibrant retail corridor and our small businesses, a vision that will ensure that pedestrians can safely walk throughout the corridor, and a vision that helps guide future redevelopment opportunities of older industrial sites that are along our Rails to Trails.”
Several people who spoke during Thursday’s hearing raised concerns about the proposal, but Salinas said the discussion showed why public participation is critical during the planning process.
“Oh my God, it’s so important,” Salinas said of the public input. “I was really happy to see this room filled up. Oftentimes we don’t get that. And so it was great to see that. It was great to be able to get everybody in a room and talk about what the plan really is.”
He said one of the challenges is helping people understand the difference between a planning document and a rulemaking document.
“A lot of times people don’t understand what a plan does in terms of setting policy and vision,” Salinas said. “They think it’s a regulatory document and it’s not.”
The proposal is expected to return to the Planning Commission for approval of a formal resolution before it is sent to the Town Council. Salinas said the council will then hold its own evening public hearing before taking a final vote on whether to adopt the plan.
Salinas said the effort matters not only for the East End, but for Easton as a whole.
“To have an economic and vibrant neighborhood is important for the fiscal health of this community,” he said.