(a) The general plan and any amendment to the general plan shall contain:
(1) the Commission’s recommendations for development within the regional district;
(2) any descriptive or supporting material that:
(i) the appropriate district council requires; or
(ii) the Commission determines to be necessary and feasible; and
(3) the elements required under Title 1, Subtitle 4 of this article.
(b) (1) In accordance with the procedure set forth in this subtitle, the appropriate district council may require the Commission to prepare the general plan, or any amendment to the plan, considering elements such as:
(i) existing and forecasted:
1. population, including population distribution and other appropriate characteristics;
2. amount, type, intensity, general location, and characteristics of commercial, industrial, and public sector facilities and related employment;
3. amount, type, need, and location of major public services, facilities, and utilities;
4. transportation needs, facilities, routes, and systems; and
5. housing demand and needs, and the amount, type, quality, and general location of housing;
(ii) existing land uses, forecasts of land absorption rates or markets, and analyses of the amount, general location, and interrelationships among different categories of land use;
(iii) staging or scheduling of development and capital improvements, and the fiscal or economic impact of those improvements;
(iv) physical resources and conditions, including topography, soils, geology and mineral deposits, hydrology and waterways, wetlands and shorelines, water and air quality, climate, noise, open spaces, scenic areas, vegetation, forests, agricultural lands, fisheries, wildlife and wildlife habitats, and other areas of environmental or ecological importance or sensitivity;
(v) sites, structures, areas, or settings of archaeological, historical, architectural, cultural, or scenic value or significance;
(vi) extent and general location of physically blighted or deteriorated areas and related factors;
(vii) evaluation of the probable consequences of major recommendations of the general plan on the general physical and social environment and population of the regional district;
(viii) estimates of the probable consequences on public revenues and expenditures of major recommendations of the general plan; and
(ix) any other matter that the appropriate district council or the Commission determines to be necessary and feasible to the preparation or presentation of the general plan.
(2) The appropriate district council may provide, to the extent necessary and feasible, that:
(i) the Commission shall:
1. consider various alternative concepts of growth or development in preparing the general plan; and
2. appropriately describe the alternative concepts considered by the Commission; and
(ii) the general plan shall include material to contain and explain the appropriate district council’s recommendations with respect to any matter in this subsection.
(3) The materials in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection are guidelines for the basis, content, and consideration of:
(i) the general plan;
(ii) a functional master plan;
(iii) an area master plan; or
(iv) any amendment to the plans.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5) of this subsection, a general plan, a functional master plan, or an area master plan or any amendment to a plan may not be deemed void, inapplicable, or inoperative on the ground that the basis, content, or consideration of the plan or amendment is inconsistent with this division.
(5) With respect to judicial review on the record of a governmental action concerning development, this section does not prevent the consideration of the reasonableness of a general plan or the appropriateness and completeness of a general plan in relation to the governmental action and review.
