Consultant Services for a Comprehensive Update to the Critical Area Ordinance

The Dorchester County Council, hereinafter referred to as "County Council" or "County", will accept sealed proposals from qualified consultants, hereinafter referred to as "Interested or Successful Consultant" for a complete update of the Dorchester County Critical Area Ordinance (County Code Chapter 68).

The County has received a grant award from the State of Maryland's Critical Area Commission in the amount of **$25,000** for a comprehensive review of the County's local Critical Areas Program.

Timetable and Project Coordination

The Successful Consultant shall include in their proposal a project timetable for completing the ordinance update, ensuring that all work is completed and the updated Critical Area Ordinance is effective by **June 30, 2027**.

Task #1 – Plan Consistency

The Successful Consultant is expected to review pertinent background documents and data, including, but not necessarily limited to, the Zoning Ordinance, Comprehensive Plan, Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan, Solid Waste Plan, and Subdivision Regulations to:

1. identify inconsistencies between these plans and the Critical Area Ordinance;
2. provide a list and description of each plan inconsistency; and
3. provide solutions to achieve consistency between the Critical Area Ordinance and other local plans, programs, and ordinances.

Task #2 – Potential Map Amendments

The Successful Consultant will comprehensively review the County's existing zoning ordinance, zoning map, and Critical Area designations to identify any potential map amendments that may be pursued by the County consistent with Natural Resources Article §8-1809.

Task #3 – Resource Inventory

The Planning and Zoning staff will request an updated Resource Inventory from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service, and the Successful Consultant will incorporate this document into the updated Critical Area Ordinance.

Task #4 – Growth Allocation

The Successful Consultant will work with Planning and Zoning staff and with the Critical Area Commission to determine an accurate recordation of growth allocation accounting to be incorporated into the updated Critical Area Ordinance.

Task #5 – Element Review

The Successful Consultant will comprehensively review certain elements and incorporate them into the revised Critical Area Ordinance, including, but not limited to:

• A forest and woodland protection program, including provisions for the IDA
• A mineral resources plan
• An agricultural protection plan
• A habitat protection plan
• A water-dependent facilities planning process for identifying suitable areas
• Renewable energy plan

Project Deliverables

Draft revised Critical Area Ordinance for review by staff which reflects best practices; the project's goals; is clear and user-friendly for the general public, stakeholders, elected and appointed officials, and the development community; incorporates graphics, illustrations, charts, and tables; is legally sound; eliminates inconsistencies, conflicts, overlaps, redundancies, and outdated provisions; minimizes nonconformities; implements modern development standards and best practices; and improves and streamlines the County's entitlement process to remain economically competitive.

Provide GIS data as noted above.

The Successful Consultant will meet with Planning and Zoning staff on at least a monthly basis, and with Critical Area Commission on at least a quarterly basis to provide updates and discuss elements of the review.

Submission

Interested Consultants are required to submit an original and three (3) copies of their proposal at the time of submission. Proposals shall be submitted to the Dorchester County Council, 501 Court Lane, Room 108, Cambridge, MD 21613 no later than **3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2, 2026**. All copies of the Proposal Documents will be enclosed in a sealed envelope marked "Proposal for Dorchester County Critical Area Ordinance Comprehensive Update". Facsimile and electronic copies of proposals will not be accepted.

The body of the proposal should be limited to no more than ten (10) pages.

Evaluation Criteria

• Scope and quality of services provided and the demonstrated ability of the Interested Consultant to provide all services identified in this RFP: 30 points
• Past experience with Critical Area Ordinance updates for other Maryland counties: 20 points
• Interested Consultant's current total workload and capacity to complete the work by the stated deadline: 20 points
• The cost to complete this work: 20 points
• Responsiveness of the firm to the submittal format instructions contained in this RFP: 10 points

Payments

Monthly itemized invoices from the Successful Consultant shall be approved by the County based on a percentage of completion of the approved delivery schedule, less 10% retainage to be paid at the completion of the project upon receipt of all deliverables.

Insurance

A copy of the certificate of insurance must be filed with the County prior to the time this Contract is executed, providing coverage in the amount of $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 general aggregate, and $500,000 for property damage.