Facilities Ordinance

The Howard County Council last night unexpectedly rejected resolutions that regulate development in communities near crowded schools. Council Democrats, who hold a 3-2 majority, voted with Republicans in rejecting charts that project school enrollments and regulate housing allocations for builders. The council votes on school enrollment and housing allocation resolutions each year as part of the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance to establish how many houses may be built in the county and how many school districts will be closed to development in three years.

BRAC and traffic: The thousands of new employees coming to military-related jobs in Harford County in the next three years will likely grapple with traffic congestion caused by inadequate roads, failing intersections and insufficient mass transit. Maryland's revenue shortfall has delayed several key projects that were designed to relieve commuter traffic to and from Aberdeen Proving Ground, which is expected to grow by about 10,000 jobs within the next three years. Columbia plan: Now that a mound of paperwork has been turned over to the county, the effort to redevelop Columbia is officially under way, and it promises to set in motion an intensifying public debate over the project and the approval process.

(From the Maryland Politics blog) Baltimore based Cordish Cos. has received approval from Anne Arundel County to begin the construction process At Arundel Mills mall on what is expected to be the states most lucrative slots parlor. The Anne Arundel County Department of Planning and Zoning has approved Cordish's site development plan -- a first step in the construction approval process -- for its 4,750 slot parlor casino. Cordish plans to construct the project in two phases -- the first a temporary casino in the first floor of an approximately 8-story parking garage with 2,000 slot machines, which is slated to open late next year.

Public facilities ordinance has noticeable slantThis letter addresses the adequate public facilities ordinance that the board of commissioners is about to enact.First, a few facts. Because Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown seems to have been the most involved in crafting the new ordinance, I'll start by pointing out some interesting items in it.Even though this letter focuses on Mr. Brown, it in no way absolves our other two commissioners of the part they played in the ordinance. Let me refresh your memory with the following.

Voters in the northwest Carroll County town of New Windsor re-elected incumbent Councilman Steve Farkas yesterday in a runoff election against career firefighter Byron Welker. The candidates had finished in a tie in the May 8 municipal election, but yesterday Farkas received 113 votes to Welker's 66, Town Clerk Donna Alban said. The clerk said 179 New Windsor voters cast ballots in the runoff contest - 46 more than the turnout for the May 8 election. The town has a population of about 1,500 and 823 registered voters, according to the Carroll County Board of Elections.

Editor: County Executive David Craig's claim that he opposes the planned Walmart on Route 924 but can't do anything about it rings somewhat hollow to those familiar with his past dealing with developers. When Ryan Homes was told by the Development Advisory Committee that the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance would not allow them to proceed with a large condominium and town home project at Monmouth Meadows (see DAC meeting minutes, 11/03/10, 5/4/11), they confidently continued to sell the condo units.

The overview of the Plan Howard 2030 General Plan states: "The purpose is to articulate policies and actions to move us to further sustainability while enhancing the quality of life. " The question is: What is Howard County's true vision? I ask because as comprehensive rezoning has taken place to date, it appears the vision is to merely grow, grow, and develop, regardless of inadequate infrastructure. Refer to Section 8 of Plan Howard 2030 — "Public Facilities and Services" as infrastructure comprises not only roads and schools, but other categories such as transportation, police, fire, health services, water and sewer, solid waste, etc. The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance should be expanded to include all these categories to achieve accountability.

Rouse Co. says its proposal to expand Columbia by 89 acres would satisfy the requirements of the county's draft adequate facilities ordinance.The plan also includes a request to rezone another 175 acresfor apartments, single-family homes and open space. Most of the annexation and rezoning would take place in the Village of Long Reach.Rouse asked the zoning board Wednesday for permission to add eight parcels totaling about 22 acres to the village. Most of the addition -- 17.2 acres -- would be used for offices and retail shops.

Yawns and caffeinated beverages were plentiful at a late-night meeting of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Committee last week, but the group finally plowed through the schools issue of a 7-year-old law that links development to capacity in schools.Ending their meeting 10 minutes shy of midnight Thursday, 16 members of the committee compiled several key recommendations that drew generally favorable reactions. Member William Waff did not attend because he was at a Board of Appeals hearing.

A Howard County citizens committee last night edged closer to recommending a middle school crowding test for new home development, though a final vote was postponed until next month. In a key vote, the committee appointed last year by County Executive James N. Robey unanimously agreed to recommend a change in the way development can be limited - using county planning districts instead of school district boundary lines. In that way, committee members and Joseph W. Rutter Jr., county planning director, said the law would regulate developers based on the adequacy of all public facilities within that planning district.