The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a bi-county agency that administers parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

History

The commission was formed in 1927 by the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...

(Chapter 448, Acts of 1927). Since 1970, the commission also has operated the Prince George's County recreation program, funded by a separate countywide recreation tax. In addition, the commission provides services and educational programs relating to conservation and nature, local history, and the arts, and offers recreation classes. The commission successfully defended the constitutionality of its maintaining the Blandensburg Peace Cross before the Supreme Court of the United States in '' American Legion v. American Humanist Association'' (2019).

Organization and Functions

The commission is divided into seven departments, two for Montgomery county: the Department of Parks and the Department of Planning; two for Prince George's County: the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Planning; and three that are cross-county: the Department of Human Resource Management, the Department of Finance, and the Office of the General Counsel. While these counties and departments are all within one commission, day-to-day operations, for the most part, are separate. Interaction among general staff across counties and departments is rare.

Parks

The commission manages over of parks in the two counties. Within the Maryland-Washington Metropolitan District, the commission is empowered to acquire, develop, maintain, and operate parks systems. In all areas except Laurel, the Commission may spend public funds to acquire park land. Subject to county government approval, it also may sell

general obligation bond A general obligation bond is a common type of municipal bond in the United States that is secured by a state or local government's pledge to use legally-available resources, including tax revenues, to repay bondholders. Most general obligation ple ...

s to fund park acquisition and development. All other expenses, including debt service, are paid from a park tax levied within the District. Prince George's Stadium in Bowie is built on park property.

Planning

Taking into account all factors of urban, suburban, rural and

regional planning Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land ...

, the commission prepares and administers a General Plan for the physical development of the Maryland-Washington Regional District. All of Prince George's County (except

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

) and all of Montgomery County (except Rockville, Gaithersburg, and several small municipalities) are included in the district. For the portion of the district within their county, each planning board makes

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

recommendations to its county council. To enact zoning ordinances and change the zoning map, the planning boards have exclusive responsibility for subdivision approval, location and grades of streets, location of public buildings and

utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...

, and street naming and

house numbering House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the num ...

. Administration and operating expenses of the commission are financed by

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inhe ...

es levied by the two counties.

Park Police

The Commission supervises the

Maryland-National Capital Park Police The Maryland-National Capital Park Police (MNCPP) is the law enforcement branch of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) and has two divisions, one in Prince George's County and one in Montgomery County in Maryland. ...

, which patrols the parks in both counties. The M-NCPPC Park Police is divided into the Montgomery County Division and the Prince George's County Division.

Governance

The Commission's ten members include five residents of Montgomery County and five of Prince George's who serve four-year terms. The five members from each county make up the county planning board. In Montgomery County, members are appointed by the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

and confirmed by the

County Executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

. In Prince George's County, the

appoints all five members subject to County Council confirmation. Of the members from each county, no more than three may be of the same political party. The appointing authority names the planning board chair. The Commission chair alternates each year between the two planning board chairs. The alternate becomes vice-chair. The Commission appoints the Executive Director, General Counsel, and Secretary-Treasurer. In Prince George's County, the Parks and Recreation Director and Planning Director are appointed by the County Planning Board. In Montgomery County, the Planning Board appoints a Director of Parks and a Planning Director.

External links

*
Montgomery County Planning BoardMontgomery County Department of ParksMontgomery County PlanningPrince George's County Department of Parks and RecreationPrince George's County Planning BoardPrince George's County Planning Department
*

References

{{Authority control Prince George's County, Maryland Montgomery County, Maryland Metropolitan planning organizations 1927 establishments in Maryland Local government in Maryland Organizations established in 1927