Anne Arundel County has a list of scheduled "pre-submission" meetings, for developers to meet with residents about upcoming plans, HERE. The county also keeps maps and charts of subdivision activity HERE, to give you a sense of what's going on where. The Office of Planning and Zoning is at 2664 Riva Road in Annapolis, 410-222-7450.

Baltimore City has a site HERE that lets you look up permits issued since 2002. The Department of Planning has neighborhood master plans and other planning publications HERE. Need more information? You can call a community planner -- their contacts are HERE -- or visit the department at 417 E. Fayette St., 410-396-7526.

Baltimore County keeps its community plans, zoning maps and similar information HERE. You can sign up for a quarterly e-newsletter about approved plans HERE (and find other e-newsletters, some related to development, HERE). The county is also in the process of adding detailed information about proposed "planned unit developments" HERE. The county Office of Planning is at 401 Bosley Ave. in Towson, 410-887-3211.

Carroll County keeps a list of approvals, submittals and recordations HERE. The information is more than six months behind, last I checked, but the county says it's working to catch up. The Department of Planning is at 225 N. Center St. in Westminster, 410-386-2145. Incentive to go in: The county has a mapping program on a computer set aside for public use that lets you see subdivisions in process and a lot of other useful things, like school district boundaries and zoning.

Harford County has updates to regulations HERE and to its zoning code HERE. It lists development meetings HERE with some details on the developments being discussed. The Department of Planning and Zoning is at 220 S. Main Street in Bel Air, 410-638-3103.

Howard County offers more information for people who want details on individual developments. Click HERE for a searchable tool that lets you see site development plans and subdivision plans near any address you choose (or HERE for a different tool). If it's been approved, you can see a PDF version of the plan documents. HERE you can find a list of pre-submission meetings. The Department of Planning and Zoning is at 3430 Court House Drive in Ellicott City, 410-313-2350.

Remember: If you live in a municipality with its own planning powers -- Carroll has eight, for instance -- you'll most likely want to turn to your city for information.

We're still a ways away from seeing all public documents on all development plans with the click of a home-computer mouse, but your local officials might hop to it if you ask. Arnold F. "Pat" Keller III, Baltimore County's planning director, encourages residents to email planning@baltimorecountymd.gov with ideas for Planning's website.

"If people feel like we could improve it or would like different types of information, email us," Keller says. "No joke."