The Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee met on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 10:24 AM in Committee Room 2027. Chair Wala Blegay presided with Council Members Shayla Adams-Stafford, Thomas Dernoga, and Eric Olson present; Vice Chair Krystal Oriadha was excused. The committee considered three items: CB-023-2026 (Rental Licenses), CR-039-2026 (Rural Promotion for Agri-tourism), and CR-040-2026 (Agritourism and Winery Promotion Pilot Program). All three items were disposed of with unanimous votes.
All right, good morning. We're calling Planning Housing and Economic Development Committee to order. Um, can we please take the roll? Chair Blagay present. Council members Adam Stafford. Present. Councilmember Denoga. Councilmember Olson. Here. Four members present. Roll call. All right. All right. Now we are going to start with CB 23. And I believe we are holding this bill, so I will turn it over to Councilmember Denoga. Yes, I'd like to hold this to the next session. Motion to hold. Right. We have a motion and a second. Can we please call the roll? Chair Blagay. Aye. Councilmember Adam Stafford. Aye. Councilmember Denoga. Councilmember Olsen. Aye. Motion to hold for zero. Thank you. All right. So the next um bill that we will have is CB 20 CR 39. Um, and this bill um is a bill that I um have a passion for after meeting with a lot of the leaders down in District 9 and our rural tier. And um, so I want to start off with my presentation from committee staff. Good morning, uh, madam chair and members of the PHED committee. Uh, this resolution will encourage partnerships between state and local entities, such as the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Program, the Soil Conservation District, and the Economic Development Corporation by promoting agro-tourism areas within Prince George's County. Mr. David Nodo is here to provide a fiscal and policy impact statement on the proposed legislation. I wanted to bring to your attention that the planning department provided several comments on the proposed uh legislation, which are on pages 13 through 14. Some of their uh comments were that the planning department was not named, uh, that there's some regulatory barriers, and that no MWBEs were named. Uh, also you have a list of sign up persons signed up to speak, um, Chair Blaget, and I'd like to turn it over to Mr. Nodo. Thank you. Good morning, Chair Blige and members of the PHED committee. My name is David Noto, and the following is an overview of CR 39 2026 resolution concerning a promotion for agritourism. You'll find this report on page eight of your virtual binder. Prince Rudis County has seen a steady decline in the number of county-based farms since the tobacco buyout in 2000 as a result of pressures on the agricultural economy. There's been a steady trend towards alternative agricultural endeavors, including agro tourism. Adoption of CR 39 could have a positive indirect impact on the county's tax base as additional support for agritourism within the county could lead to additional tourism dollars spent in the county, thereby strengthening and diversifying the county's economy. One item for committee consideration that Ms. Hightower uh alluded to is that there are additional organizations that could be beneficial to partner with that would support agritourism, including um the Prince George's County Farm Bureau, uh, the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission's Food Systems Planning Section, uh, Destination Prince George's and the Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce.