Braveboy names Kevin Anderson to lead Prince George's planning board
Aisha Braveboy tapped former Commerce Secretary Kevin A. Anderson to run the county planning board as zoning fights and land-use approvals loom. The move follows Darryl Barnes’ ouster.
Aisha Braveboy has picked Kevin A. Anderson, the former Maryland secretary of commerce, to chair the Prince George’s County Planning Board, placing a well-connected economic development figure at the center of decisions that shape neighborhoods, housing and traffic across the county.
The appointment matters because the planning board sits inside the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the bicounty agency created by the Maryland General Assembly in 1927. In Prince George’s County, the board is appointed by the county executive with County Council consent and serves four-year terms, giving the chair a hand in the land-use process that guides where housing, offices, roads and major projects can move forward.
Anderson arrives with a resume built around real estate and economic development. He served as Maryland secretary of commerce under Gov. Wes Moore, and county economic development officials have already put him in the field alongside one of the county’s major business targets. A 2023 Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation release showed Anderson touring National Capital Business Park with PGCEDC President and CEO David Iannucci, a sign of his familiarity with large-scale development pitches in Prince George’s County.
The selection also comes after a leadership shake-up at the planning board. WJLA framed Braveboy’s move as support for a new chair after Darryl Barnes’ ouster, underscoring that the board’s direction has already become part of a broader fight over how county land is managed and who gets to decide it.
That gives Anderson an immediate test. Prince George’s County is one of Maryland’s fastest-growing jurisdictions, and the planning board helps steer the approvals that can determine whether residents see more housing near transit, more commercial development along major corridors or more pressure on roads and schools. Any signal that the board is leaning toward faster approvals will be watched closely by residents in communities that have been wrestling with growth for years.
The timing also places the new chair in a county planning system that remains difficult for the public to access in person. The Prince George’s County Planning Department offices at Largo Headquarters are closed to in-person visits because of building construction, leaving Anderson’s leadership to take shape while the board’s normal business continues under added scrutiny.
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