 |
| Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner |
George
Wenschhof
Democratic Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner’s
amendment to Developer Rights and Responsibilities Agreements (DRRAs) has moved
forward with Councilmember Steve McKay (R-District 2) introducing it to the County
Council on March 5, 2019.
McKay, who stressed the need to amend DRRAs in his
campaign, said he was pleased to introduce the amendment that will cover
several areas. First, it will change the minimum requirement to be considered
to 1,500 homes. Second, it defines an enhanced public benefit to be included in
agreement, which is above and beyond Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance
(APFO) requirements. It will also limit the length of agreements to five years
with a five-year option and put limits on what is frozen.
The Maryland General Assembly in 1995 passed enabling
legislation for DRRAs to address in part, late vesting of development projects,
often defined as when foundations are built, the pendulum swings on how to
manage growth resulting from changes in local elected officials and to provide
some assurances to both developers and local government in zoning and
regulations over the length of the development.
DRRAs are intended to be a benefit for local government and developers
by providing benefits for each that would not be available without the
agreement. The state legislation does
not limit the length of the agreement, restrict the number of homes or define a
public enhancement that is above and beyond what is required by APFO review.
During the 2010-2014 board of county commissioners led by
president Blaine Young(R), 13 DRRA’s were entered into, including one with 43
units that does not expire until 2034.
These agreements cover a total of 13,097 housing units, have an average length of twenty years and are the only
approved DRRAs in Frederick County.
Gardner said, “I introduced this same bill during the
term of the prior County Council. While the prior council debated it, they
ultimately let the bill time out and made no decisions.
“I fully support my proposed legislation, which would
require any future developer agreements to include an enhanced public benefit―like
a school, regional road improvement, fire station―and prohibit the freezing of
fees. The agreements should provide a benefit to existing residents and
taxpayers.”
Gardner added, “I believe the five-year timeframe is
appropriate because the county should reserve the right as it historically has
done to review a development project if it does not proceed in a certain period
of time because circumstances change including school overcrowding, road
capacity, fire service needs and so forth.”
Gardner felt “DRRAs should be reserved for larger
developments that will take longer to build and have the capacity to provide
enhanced public benefits. Smaller developments do not have the financial
capacity to make major infrastructure improvements and they can build out over
a much shorter period of time.”
In regard to the number of units, she said “I am open to
some flexibility in the 1,500-unit number, but these agreements should only be
available to large projects for the reasons stated.”
Eric Soter, president of the Land Use Council of the
Frederick County Building Industry Association and former Frederick County planning
director, said, “The county already has the ability to accept or reject any
DRRA right from the beginning as it is not a ‘by-right’ type of tool. So they
are merely tying their own hands if the right project comes along.”
He noted, “There are no 1,500-unit developments on the
horizon, there is not any ground right now that is planned in the County to
accommodate that many units for one project. There is only one project
with more than 1,500 units that is currently active and that is Lake Linganore.”
Frederick County Councilmembers Steve McKay (R-District 2), Phil Dacey (R-at-large), Kai Hagen (D-at-large), and Jerry Donald (D-District 1) all said they were willing to discuss the 1,500 minimum unit requirement.
Furthermore, Soter said, “Even if there ever is a future
project that would meet the criteria, the five-year timeframe doesn’t typically
get you through the approval process. Perhaps some mass grading may begin, and
some initial infrastructure, but with the State of Maryland being a ‘late-vesting’
state, there are no assurances that zoning could be removed for all or a portion
of a community at any time without such a tool.”
The public hearing of the proposed DRRA amendment will be
April 2, 2019.
