Stakeholders Meetings and Public Hearings

Stakeholders Meetings and Hearings Scheduled

The Bowie City Council believes that residents and business owners should be kept informed of nearby development projects that have the potential to affect them or their properties in some way. As part of its Development Review Guidelines the City Council has adopted the Stakeholders Meeting process described below.

Stakeholders Meetings are intended to occur as soon as possible and may correspond to the phases and scheduling of a development proposal as it moves through various levels of application review (i.e. zoning, subdivision, site plan, etc. as applicable). Meetings will not only provide the developer an opportunity to discuss the proposal in general, but also provides for very early input from Bowie residents. There is no set number of meetings.

Notification of Potential Development or Re-Development

City staff will be responsible for notifying stakeholders of a Stakeholders Meeting. Confidentiality of the developer’s plans must be respected. Accordingly, a Stakeholders Meeting will be held as soon as the developer and City staff have determined that issues of confidentiality no longer apply. This notification will occur before an application has even been filed, if possible. In addition to notifying the Bowie Responsible Growth Coalition (BRGC), Chamber of Commerce, and neighbors (i.e. those within 500 feet of the subject property), City staff will determine what other stakeholders should be notified of a stakeholders meeting (e.g. potentially affected business owners, homeowners associations, additional residents, etc.). This will depend on factors such as the nature, size, or type of application and the site’s location. The greater the impact of the proposal, the greater will be the extent of staff notification. When possible, staff will use all media available to advertise stakeholders meeting, such as posting notices in the local newspaper and on the City’s cable TV channels (10- Verizon, 71- Comcast) and the City's website.

Logistics of Stakeholders Meetings

Stakeholders Meetings will be convened and run by City staff. Meetings will be held in the evening at City Hall, or other locations closest to the affected community, if possible. Whenever possible, two (2) week’s notice of the meeting will be provided to stakeholders. At least one week’s notice will be given in any event. The notice may include information about the basic concepts of the proposal (such as the location, size, and type of development) if such information is available. City staff will prepare a list of topics or concerns discussed at the meeting and will append it to the City staff report prepared for public hearings.

To learn more about a project you may view the meeting notice. Please click on the links below. (The files are in pdf format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.)

updated 5/8/08