Facilities Ordinance

Chuck Ecker confesses political inexperience, and thus it is no accident that his administration has been plagued by questions about the executive's ability to handle the tricky political curveballs thrown by those with vested interests in county policy.Predictably, Ecker stumbled in the beginning -- first, by recommending developer John Mardall as his chief administrative officer, though Mardall's contracts with the county created the perception of a conflict of interest. And second, by appointing a close friend of Michael Davis, an Ecker campaign adviser, as personnel administrator, although her credentials remain in question.

Council member Shane Pendergrass fired the biggest salvo yet at the county's proposed adequate facilities ordinance -- but to no avail. The council is expected to pass the legislation intact next week.Pendergrass, D-1st, offered six amendments Monday night -- most dealing with points of clarification -- to the plan at the council's work session Monday night.She also sought to allow builders to defer payment of an excise tax until late in the process in order to hold down housing costs. Shereceived support for only one clarifying amendment.

If Howard's 11 state legislators vote as expected Wednesday to reject a plan to raise $215 million for needed school construction through a real estate transfer tax increase, the county will be facing a challenging new reality. Among the looming possibilities: Increases in property and/or income taxes. A long-term freeze on new development. Significant cuts in capital spending on highways, parks and long-delayed public facilities. Classroom crowding that could endanger Howard's reputation for educational excellence.

A move by Hampstead's new Town Council to hire a law firm representing residents challenging a zoning decision has drawn questions about a conflict of interest.In a 3-1 vote Tuesday night, Councilmen Stephen A. Holland, Wayne H. Thomas and Dwight W. Womer replaced longtime town attorneys Walsh and Fisher of Westminster with the firm of Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz of Towson.Thomas J. Gisriel of the Towson firm -- who replaced Richard C. Murray as chief counsel for the town -- also is representing Citizens for Adequate Facilities in North Carroll in a bid to stop construction on the North Carroll Farms Section IV development.

Hard not to be cynical about facilities lawEdward Lee's article "Panels to seek public's advice" (June 8) raised my blood pressure. It wasn't the reporter's words that caused my blood pressure to rise, but the comments of some of the people quoted.That article stated that only 14 residents spoke at a hearing on the Howard County Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) June 7.A previous article quoted a county official as saying, "They're expecting the government to keep an eye on development so they don't have to invest their Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights" ("Panels to seek public's advice," July 5)

Parents of pupils at three elementary schools in Ellicott City and Elkridge said last night that the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance has not prevented school crowding and has forced the redistricting of their children. More than two dozen parents who have children in the Ilchester, Rockburn and Worthington elementary schools urged County Councilman Christopher J. Merdon to strengthen the 1992 ordinance, which bars home construction around schools that have enrollments more than 20 percent over capacity.

Howard County's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance committee met last night to consider whether changes are needed to the regulation that attempts to ensure schools and roads are ready for population booms that come with new developments. APFO, passed in 1992, delays home building for a maximum of nearly four years in areas where crowding is projected in the elementary or middle schools. Developers must also pay for improvements to nearby roads that would not be able to handle extra houses.

THE ISSUE: All county elementary and middle schools regulated by the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance are expected to be below the law's crowding limit in 2010 and for several years beyond. Do you feel the county has done a good job at eliminating overcrowded schools? YOUR VIEW: Send e-mail responses by tomorrow to howard.speakout@baltsun. com. A selection of responses will be published Sunday. Please keep your responses short and include your name, address and telephone number.

The Annapolis city council last night approved a developer's plan to build 162 townhouses at Aris T. Allen Boulevard and Yawl Road over the objections of the county Board of Education.The unanimous approval, 8-0, was given without discussion, though aldermen debated at length late last month whether the city should collect nearly $500,000 from developer Rick Polm for school construction.After the vote, school board President Thomas Twombley urged the council to adopt an "adequate facilities" ordinance that would bar construction of new homes if schools, and possibly other public facilities, would be overburdened.

A NEW HOWARD County Council that vows to be mor careful about development should have no trouble supporting this idea: It should not renew a law that allowed some developers a free pass on studying the traffic impact of their projects under the county's adequate public facilities ordinance.The 6-year-old exemption is due to expire in April. Commercial development continues to grow in Howard, which has added nearly 5,000 new jobs in each of the past five years, according to state figures.The exemption allows projects whose site development plans were filed before the adequate public facilities ordinance was enacted in 1992 to avoid the law's required road volume tests.