Garrett County finally has a new comprehensive plan that will serve as a policy for decisions made by the county's government.

"This has been a long time coming," Commission Chairman Denny Glotfelty said during the commissioners' public meeting Tuesday. "The public comment over the last two years has been looked at and included in the plan."

While the county commissioners did approve a final plan, it was without the protection of ridge tops as sensitive areas. This had been an issue of contention for the commissioners when they discussed their opinions on the draft plan at the September planning commission meeting.

Their concerns were the lack of specification as to the definition of a ridge top or what kind of development would be prevented.

Instead, the revised version of the plan says that the commissioners are seeking legislation to provide for set-backs from other property and homes for wind turbines.

Other changes were made to allow for the extension of water and sewer services to rural and agricultural preservation areas in situations where there could be health or public safety problems.

Fred Holliday, commissioner, said that he felt there wasn't another plan in the state that would go under so much public scrutiny as this one had.

John Nelson, director of planning and land development, said that nearly every meeting or public session for the comprehensive plan was well-attended and people of all opinions spoke up about their vision for the plan.

"We tried to utilize those comments, and the resulting document is the product of those public comments," Nelson said. "Obviously, there was disagreement and the planning commission had to sift through these and come up with the best possible plan for future development in the county."

Nelson said that with the plan approved, the final version will be on the county's Web site at www.garrettcounty.org. He added that 50 copies would be printed out with the plan going to the local libraries for public access and to other county offices, with the remaining copies for sale to the public.