OCEAN CITY -- The Town of Ocean City’s Planning and Community Development Department, in partnership with the Ocean City Development Corporation, would like to invite the public to attend a meeting to gather input on the Sustainable Community Plan. The meeting will be held on April 24, at 6 p.m. at the Red Doors Community Center on 3rd Street and Baltimore Ave.

“The goal of this meeting is to receive public input as the community applies for the designation as a Sustainable Community,” said Matt Margotta, Planning and Community Development Director. “We are currently in the process of updating the existing Community Legacy Plan and it is important for us to incorporate input from the citizens of Ocean City for the plan of action.”

The Sustainable Community Plan is the result of a January 2010 report, “Sustainable Maryland: Accelerating Investment in the Revitalization and Livability of Maryland’s Neighborhoods.” The report, which developed at the request of the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland, reviewed Maryland’s tool kit for revitalization and the impact of these tools over the last 15 years.

The report found that the Maryland communities that have made the most revitalization progress share the following characteristics; A specific local target area that has attained multiple State “designations” that make the community eligible for maximum access to State revitalization funding; a strong local leadership and partners from the public and private sectors that coordinate and leverage financing to implement ongoing initiatives; and, a multi-year investment strategy that is both realistic and ambitious, providing a road map for local stakeholders to create a more sustainable economy and livable community life.

“The findings of the Sustainable Maryland report recognized the importance of local leadership with locally driven and targeted plans,” Margotta said. “Our Sustainable Community Plan will include a range of revitalization strategies and projects that prevent or reverse the decline of or disinvestments in the Sustainable Community Areas (SC Areas) through improvements in residential, commercial, or other public or private properties and resources and can also result in reduction of community environmental impacts.”