Planning and Growth
The Mayor and Council recently approved Brunswick Forward, the City’s new ten-year comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan is a guideline for development. Brunswick Forward has a worthy vision: it sees Brunswick as a unique city where people can work and live, not just as a suburb.
But because the plan is just a guideline, it is vague. How Brunswick actually grows and develops will depend on the details in the next ten years. The two big factors we will have to continually re-assess are expansion and density.
Top image: Future land use map from the Brunswick Forward comprehensive plan.
Expansion
Brunswick will have to expand horizontally to some extent as Frederick County grows.
That’s almost certainly a fact of life. The questions are where will it expand, at what pace, and what will go there.
The Brunswick Forward plan sets an outer growth boundary near Othello Park. For now, that’s mostly so that Brunswick can have a say in what gets developed near us. That seems wise: we don’t want to get boxed in by something we don’t want to live next to.
Because we insist on a say doesn’t mean that we should reject anything out of hand. Housing developments, shopping centers, industrial sites—even dreaded data centers—might have benefits that could outweigh the costs if done deliberately, but could be a disaster if done hastily.
The key is to pace ourselves and not overcommit.
The key is to pace ourselves and not overcommit. We should study a project, decide how to do it, and then see how it turns out before committing to another similar one. We need to not outpace our utilities. We need to be able to maintain what we build. And we need to preserve what we can of the forests and streams that ring our town.
If elected, I won’t try to block all expansion. But I’ll insist on thinking it through. Sometimes that will mean saying no. A lot of times that will mean saying “Yes, if…” What comes after the “if” makes a lot of difference.
Density
Brunswick will also have to grow internally and, to a limited extent, vertically.
A town of more than 10,000 people needs some apartments and other multi-story buildings if it’s not going to sprawl all over. Apartments also give people a less expensive option to live in, and Brunswick needs that in order to be a balanced city.
But that doesn’t mean tall buildings sprouting up everywhere. One of the things that attracts people to Brunswick is our scenic views of the mountains and the river. There’s a reason why they’re on the city logo. Our scenery is a unique asset we need to preserve.
So, we need to be thoughtful about what type of large buildings we permit in our zoning ordinances and where we put them. The rule of thumb should be to avoid obstructing scenic views. Apartments should also go where adequate parking can be provided for them, so that they don’t crowd up street parking.
We need to be thoughtful about what type of apartments we permit and where we put them.
High-rises aren’t appropriate for Brunswick. But mid-sized buildings can be made to fit into town. Take as one example the unobtrusive three-story apartment building on the corner of 6th Ave and H St—you might not even know it was there.
Converting existing large buildings into apartments or for other uses also works well, if done with care. That was the case with the historic East End School at the bottom of 6th Ave, which now houses apartments but remains a dignified old building to the passing eye. The Mayor and Council also recently looked at a plan to turn the old Kaplon building downtown into a restaurant with a rooftop bar, which seems great if it can be pulled off.
Apartments and large buildings are a need we can meet successfully. It takes judgment and care. My career began with learning to place artillery shells precisely on a target from miles away without causing harm to friendly troops—judgment and care are things I bring to my work.