# COMAR Title 27 — Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays

## Subtitle 01 — Criteria for Local Critical Area Program Development

### Chapter 08 — Natural Parks

**Authority:** Natural Resources Article, §8-1808(d), Annotated Code of Maryland

**Administrative History:** Effective date: May 13, 1986 (12:24 Md. R. 2352)

**Administrative History:** COMAR 14.15 became effective upon the enactment of Resolution No. 37 (SJ 9), Acts of 1986.

**Administrative History:** COMAR 14.15.08 recodified to COMAR 27.01.08 in August, 1992

**Administrative History:** Regulation .03 amended effective January 20, 2025 (52:1 Md. R. 19)

#### Regulation .01 Definition.

*COMAR 27.01.08.01*

“Natural parks” means areas of natural habitat that provide opportunities for those recreational activities that are compatible with the maintenance of natural conditions.

#### Regulation .02 Policy.

*COMAR 27.01.08.02*

It is the policy of the Commission to encourage the creation of opportunities for interaction between people and natural environments without destroying the fragile components of natural habitats.

#### Regulation .03 Criteria.

*COMAR 27.01.08.03*

In developing and updating its Critical Area program, a local jurisdiction shall use all of the following criteria:

A. A local jurisdiction shall identify areas within its Critical Area where natural parks could be established, and consider conserving these features through acquisitions, easements, designation, or other appropriate means. Parks should not be chosen to preserve only natural curiosities, but they should be planned to include examples of coastal ecosystems that are found within the jurisdiction, each with its geological and biological resources intact. Park boundaries should be based on biological necessity rather than administrative convenience.

B. Plans developed for the use of parks should recognize that all natural terrain has a finite capacity to tolerate human disturbances and, therefore, should limit the number of park visitors in any park at any one time or in the course of a season.