Prince George's Planning Academy graduates 58, boosts civic engagement

Prince George’s County is putting more residents in position to influence the zoning fights, redevelopment reviews and neighborhood changes that shape daily life. The Spring 2026 Neighborhood Planning Academy graduated 58 representatives at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex in Landover on Wednesday, April 15, bringing the program’s total participation to more than 300 since it launched in fall 2023.

The academy was built to make the county’s planning framework easier to understand, from development review to the community comments that can sway projects before they move ahead. In a county divided into 36 planning areas under state land-use law, that kind of knowledge can determine whether residents can keep up with a proposal in their area or only react after key decisions are already made.

Planning Board Chairman Darryl Barnes said the academy is more than a class, arguing that informed communities can shape their own future. Acting Planning Director James Hunt made the same case in institutional terms, saying the goal is to demystify planning so residents understand how their ideas become real outcomes. Hunt, who was named acting planning director in December 2025 after serving as acting deputy planning director of operations, has overseen a department that previously included 140 planners, managers and specialized staff across community planning, countywide planning and development review.

The program is not built as a small insider track. Applicants are selected from each councilmanic district for geographic diversity, and this spring’s class drew participants from all regions of Prince George’s County. The free, seven-week course ran Wednesdays from March 4 through April 15, with the first six sessions held virtually through Microsoft Teams and the final session staged in person as a graduation and capstone presentation.

The academy’s growth has been rapid. The Spring 2025 class graduated 62 people and pushed cumulative participation to nearly 200 by May 2025. Less than a year later, the total had climbed past 300, a sign that the county is treating planning literacy as a civic function, not a side project.

That matters when residents face proposals that can change traffic patterns, housing density, park access or commercial corridors. A graduate who understands the county’s planning process is better positioned to respond if a rezoning or redevelopment request lands in Landover, Largo or another planning area, and to do so before the most important decisions are locked in.

The county said the academy was researched and designed beginning in December 2020, with exploratory stakeholder work running from February to April 2021 before the program launched in 2023. It has since earned outside recognition, including a 2025 National Association of Counties Achievement Award for Civic Education and Public Information, along with two 2024 Maryland planning awards tied to the academy.