Community and Master Plans

Howard County launched its master plan process for Ellicott City and its watershed in 2017. The May 2018 flood required the county to take a renewed look at the master plan. This master plan effort will help define a comprehensive community-driven vision for rebuilding a stronger and more resilient Ellicott City. The plan will take a fresh and creative look at potential long term flood solutions and strategies. 

The Downtown Columbia Plan Amended is an amendment to the Howard County General Plan and creates a 30-year master plan for the revitalization and redevelopment of Downtown Columbia. Specific land use, transportation, environmental, community conversation and housing policies are presented.

Downtown Columbia Monitoring Report

This report, completed in the fall of 2018, provides the first update for the implementation of the 2010 Downtown Columbia Plan. Focused on development, transit and transportation, arts and culture, and the environment, this report provides a status update regarding the implementation of the goals and vision laid out for Columbia's downtown in the 2010 master plan.

Downtown Columbia Monitoring Report (2018)

From Vision to Reality: Revitalizating Downtown Columbia

This dynamic story map complements the 2018 monitoring report by providing users with a dynamic guided tour through Downtown Columbia, reviewing the key aspects of the 2010 master plan and showing neighborhood by neighborhood how the vision laid out several years ago is coming to life. (Click the heading to access the story map)

Design Guidelines

• Downtown-Wide Design Guidelines
• Crescent Neighborhood Design Guidelines
• Lakefront Core Design Guidelines | Lakefront Core Implementation Plan
• Merriweather-Symphony Woods Neighborhood Design Guidelines
• The Mall Neighborhood Design Guidelines
• Warfield Neighborhood Design Guidelines

Environmental Studies

• Best Management Practices for Symphony Stream and Lake Kittamaqundi Watersheds
• Merriweather and Crescent Environmental Study

Transportation Studies

• Part 1: Downtown Transit Center and Circulator Shuttle
• Part 2: Downtown Columbia to Oakland Mills Multimodal Connection
• Broken Land Parkway/US Route 29 North-South Connector Road
• Little Patuxent Parkway/US 29 Interchange

Other Downtown Documents

• Downtown Columbia: A Community Vision

Village centers serve as focal points and gathering places for the villages of Columbia. PlanHoward 2030 encourages village center property owners, village boards, and residents to develop and implement plans for enhancing or redeveloping older village centers to maintain them as attractive focal points for the villages. Eight of the nine village community associations have prepared Village Center Community Plans (excluding Dorsey's Search), which are master plans for each village center. Special initiatives are underway for some of the village centers.

Resources by Village Center

Harper's Choice

• Harper's Choice Village Center Community Plan (2013)

Hickory Ridge

• Hickory Ridge Village Center Community Plan (2011, Addendum 2016)

Kings Contrivance

• Kings Contrivance Village Center Community Plan (2013)

Long Reach

• Long Reach Village Center Master Plan (2012)
• Reimagine Long Reach Village Center (2016)
• Long Reach Rising

Owen Brown

• Owen Brown Village Center Community Plan (2011)

Oakland Mills

• Oakland Mills Village Center Community Plan (2015)
• Oakland Mills Village Center Master Plan (2007)
• Oakland Mills Feasibility Study (2017)
• Oakland Mills Feasibility Study (website) (2017)

River Hill

• River Hill Village Center Community Plan (2013)

Wilde Lake

• Wilde Lake Village Center Community Plan (2010)