Baltimore City Planning Department       ( BCP)

Table of Contents

Nature and Type of Records:  

Noncurrent and semicurrent correspondence cartographic records, case files, computer printouts, consultant reports, federal grant applications, housekeeping records, memoranda, newspaper clippings, photographic files, position papers, reference materials, staff reports, survey returns, and working papers. 

Volume: 153 linear feet. Please note Series I through IV and Series VI are only available in microform.

Inclusive Dates: 1929-1973 

Condition of the Records: 

The records are generally in good condition because of their recent generation except for the real property plats in BCP 1 35-36 and BCP II 1-4 and the Master Plan files in BCP III 17-23. Gaps in the records are discussed in the guides to each series. The Special Collections Department has made every effort to retain the order of the records exactly as received from the Department of Planning. 

Administrative History: 

At the Special Collections Department, the collection of the Department of Planning, Baltimore, Maryland, (BCP) is presently comprised of five series. The first four series (BCP I, BCP II, BCP II, BCP IV) represent the original Special Collections Department accession and the sequentially numbered accretions to it. Series five (BCP 5) contains cartographic records acquired with BCP I, BCP II, and BCP IV). The collection encompasses the years 1939-1973, but the period 1963-1969 is covered most intensively. 

The Department of planning is the professional staff of the Baltimore City Planning Commission. In Baltimore before 1918, a Topographic Survey Committee performed many of the tasks today associated with city planning. Then in 1918, the Board of Estimates named a quasi-official City Plan Committee of three members to take over the planning duties. But by 1932 the Committee's lack of authority had become evident, especially in zoning matters, and that year the * one of the periodic descriptions of its work issued by the planning Commission disputed this statement and claimed that according to the City Charter, the Commission is an integral part of the Department. However, subsequent publications of the Commission and Department have continued to make the distinction cited above. Board of Estimates created a stronger Commission on City Plan. Although the new Commission possessed greater legal power than its predecessor, its authority too proved insufficient for effective planning. 

On May 2, 1939, Baltimore voters ratified an amendment endowing the Commission on City Plan with greater power and status under the City Charter. The amendment established a commission of nine members, three public officials serving ex-officio and six additional "residents and taxpayers of the City of Baltimore". Further, the amendment required that the commission appoint a Secretary-Engineer and "other assistants and employees" pursuant to Civil Service regulations. The commission received full power to investigate land uses and zoning and to prepare plans for physical development of the entire city. To carry out the latter task, the commission was to adopt both a Master Plan of all future public improvements and buildings and a more precise Official Detailed Plan for each proposed use of land for public transportation. Additional duties of the Commission on City Plan included subdivision regulation and proposing to City Council amendments to the Baltimore City Zoning Ordinance. The first Secretary-Engineer to serve under the new amendment was John J. Lang. 

In 1947 another City Charter Amendment curtailed to some extent the Commission's powers as set forth in the amendment of 1939. The 1947 amendment also established the positions of Director and Deputy Director within the Department of Planning. Arthur D. McVoy became Director and John J. Lang, Deputy Director. 

The Zoning Commission staff became part of the Department of Planning in 1958 although the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals continued as a separate entity. Also that year Philip Darling took office as Director. At that time the department's duties still centered around preparation of the Master Plan. However, the Department of Planning was also beginning to work with a growing number of other agencies and organizations. Following creation of the Baltimore Urban Renewal and Housing Authority (BURHA) the Department of Planning was obliged to provide BURHA with an overall framework of general planning for each urban renewal area. Specifically, the Planning Commission acquired responsibility for the original delineation of urban renewal areas and for approving urban renewal plans in light of the Master Plan, subdivision regulations and zoning proposals. In 1957 when the Regional Planning Council (RPC) began operation, serving Baltimore City and five surrounding counties, the Chairman of the Planning Commission and the Director of the Department of Planning started working cooperatively with a private, non-profit consulting firm, the Planning Council of the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), and GBC Planning Council Projects such as Charles Center. Under the direction of Philip Darling the Department of Planning began to implement the reorganization recommended in 1959 by consultant John T. Howard of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among the innovations was the addition of a second Deputy Director. In 1961 Mr. Lang left the department and Joseph M. Axelrod filled his position as Deputy Director. 

The attached organizational charts and lists of sections chronicle departmental structure during the years most relevant to the Special Collections Department. Eventually, Assistant and Associate Directors replaced the two Deputy Directors. In 1966 Larry Reich succeeded Mr.Darling as Director. As of 1970 the Department of Planning had grown to include nine sections each headed by a section chief as well as two special projects, Model Cities and the Community Renewal Program (CRP). The Model Cities project provides planning services to the Model Cities program while CRP is a federally funded joint effort of the Planning Department of Housing and Community Development to assess Baltimore's needs with respect to housing and neighborhood services. The Department of Planning~'s 1970 statement of its role in the governmental process emphasizes that the department is an advisory agency rather than an implementing agency. Its job is to determine the city's needs, to develop plans to meet those needs and to devise and recommend methods of financing the needed programs. By 1970 the department had begun carrying out its Master Plan obligation through the comprehensive planning process. After assessing city needs, planners translate them into goals and policy statements and, then into a series of city-wide comprehensive plan maps embodying the Master Plan. Subsequently, the department draws up a six year capital development program which shows the budgeting of resources to realize the Master Plan. Under Current Planning the department keeps the Master Plan up to date and coordinates its goals and programs with those of other city agencies and citizen groups. Current Planning also assumes the department's duties regarding subdivision regulation. Furthermore, zoning ordinances now require the board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals to request the recommendation of the Planning Commission on all appeals. Similarly, the City Council usually refers to zoning and other ordinances to the Planning Commission for advice. In December, 1973, the Department of Planning consisted of thirteen sections under the leadership of the Director, two Assistant Directors, and an Associate Director who also served as the Mayor's Development Coordinator. At that time a reorganization was proposed to take effect in January, 1974. As of August, 1974, lack of budget authorization delayed filling the administrative positions indicated for full implementation of the proposal, but the Department otherwise functioned largely as depicted in the attached chart. More detailed versions of this summary of the Department of Planning's administrative history appear in: Publication of the agency in the Special Collections Department 

(BCP I 26:12, 26:22, 27:61; 28:77, BCP II 28:17, BCP 4, box 20). 

Organizational charts and related materials available with the 
Finding Aid to Special Collections 

  • The report of consultant John T. Howard in the Special Collections Department (BCP III 3:41 1). 
  • Various editions of the City of Baltimore Municipal Handbook. The Department of Planning staff manual and back issues of its publication Baltimore Plans in the department's office library. Related Baltimore City agencies and other organizations whose own archives or, in some cases are in the Special Collections Department likely contain relevant data include: Board of Estimates before 1939 
  • Department of Housing and Community Development (successor of Baltimore Urban Renewal and Housing Agency) Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals Model Cities Agency 
  • Regional Planning Council 
  • Greater Baltimore Committee 
  • Urban Observatory 

Important individuals mentioned in the collection

  • Warren T. Anderson 
  • Joseph M. Axelrod 
  • John M. Backer 
  • David W. Barton 
  • Bernard L. Berkowitz 
  • Michael Brennan 
  • Philip Darling 
  • John J. Lang 
  • Arthur D. McEvoy
  • Larry Reich
  • Ali Shebanyi 

Restrictions on Use: None