Maryland's planning department has formed yet another task force to study the impacts of growth on the state, and recommend changes to the state's once-pioneering Smart Growth laws.

"Maryland is at a crossroads concerning future growth,'' state Planning Secretary Richard E. Hall said in a statement announcing the 21-member panel's formation.  "We cannot continue to grow the way we have for the past 40 years without dire consequences.  The declining health of the Chesapeake Bay, the loss of forests and wetlands and the encroachment of development into our rural lands are signs that we must grow smarter."

The task force, originally authorized by a 2006 law and given expanded duties by the 2007 legislature, will hold its first meeting Jan. 28 in Annapolis.  It's expected to submit a report and recommendations by Dec. 1, but will continue to advise the governor's Smart Growth "subcabinet" through 2010.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has said he'd like to enhance the state's 11-year-old Smart Growth laws, which rely on state funding to encourage development in and around existing communities.   Launched in 1997 by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, Smart Growth has had mixed success to date, and has generally failed to halt the spread of low-density suburban development farther into the state's rural reaches.

But Smart Growth is expected to take a back seat this year, as the governor and legislature continue to wrestle with a fiscal crisis, and environmental priorities focus on reforming the state's 24-year-old Critical Area law regulatilng development along the Chesapeake Bay's edge. 

The chairman of the task force is Jon Laria, a Baltimore real estate lawyer who served on O'Malley's transition committee, where he chaired a group focused on housing and community development.

Task forces can help pave the way for major reform efforts, but they also frequently serve as delaying tactics.   It remains to be seen which this is.   Stay tuned.