County plan proposes protections for prime farmland, adds MALF scoring near transmission lines

Staff said the comprehensive plan emphasizes protecting agricultural land from incompatible non‑agricultural uses and suggested specific implementation tools. "Minimize large scale non agricultural uses on the designated prime farmland and farmland of statewide importance to protect those valuable soils," Planning and Codes staff said when describing resource-conservation policies. The plan proposes updating the county MALF ranking criteria to add points for properties in the Priority Preservation Area or within two miles of electric transmission lines as a way to discourage utility‑scale solar and similar uses on prime farmland.

Staff said the Maryland Department of Planning review was supportive of the two‑mile consideration and that the county will coordinate with towns to align growth-area boundaries and water and sewer planning. Those coordination efforts aim to direct development toward municipal growth areas and away from agricultural land, and staff indicated that subsequent zoning‑code updates will implement these policy choices.