Apfo

Washington County officials are re-examining their philosophy on allowing developers to build homes in areas that have overcrowded schools. The issue centers around the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, which forbids such development but allows for mitigation agreements — typically payments made by the developer toward school construction — to allow projects to proceed. During a work session Tuesday morning, the Washington County Board of Commissioners agreed it needs to decide the purpose of that ordinance, which can be viewed either as a roadblock to growth in areas with crowded schools or as a tool to help fund schools and make way for growth in those areas.

gregs@herald-mail.com Members of the Hagerstown Planning Commission on Wednesday expressed concerns with the proposed county excise tax and related adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO) that could go into effect as early as July 12. Their comments will be forwarded to the Hagerstown City Council, which is scheduled to take action on the measures in late July. The county's building excise tax would collect between $13,000 and $31,000 on each new home, depending on the type of home and how many are being built at one time in a development.

tarar@herald-mail.com Washington County Commissioner John C. Munson on Tuesday said he wants residents who send their children to private schools to be exempt from a proposal that would charge developers per dwelling unit if they build in areas where elementary schools are at 85 percent capacity. County Commissioners Vice President William J. Wivell said in a phone interview later in the day that Munson's position is "not possible. It's not practical. It's not feasible.

daniels@herald-mail.com Hagerstown City Council members said Tuesday they might support an ordinance designed to control the pace of development within the city's borders, moving beyond earlier concerns that doing so would relinquish too much of that decision-making power to Washington County officials. The county has asked municipalities to adopt Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances similar to one the county adopted in 1990 and has made amendments to as recently as this past summer.

The Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to delay for two weeks a vote on changes to the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO). The proposed changes deal with the definition of a minor subdivision, school capacity designations and other amendments. The county's APFO helps ensure that roads, schools and other government services are adequate to handle growth.

HAGERSTOWN gregs@herald-mail.com Hagerstown City Council members on Tuesday disagreed with some wishes of the Washington County Board of Education, saying they will push for wording on a new law that will aid some downtown redevelopment as well as not create financial difficulties for developers or homeowners. At its Tuesday work session, the City Council took up a discussion on the city's proposed Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), which would in part link the ability to build new homes to the amount of available space in local schools for new students.

tarar@herald-mail.com A proposal by a Washington County Commissioner calls for halting development in areas where schools are designated as having "failing" capacities, saying any more enrollment growth might negatively affect the education of students who attend those facilities. The proposal by County Commissioner James F. Kercheval is part of several changes he recommended to the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO). He presented the recommendations to the commissioners on Tuesday.

tarar@herald-mail.com A public hearing on proposed changes to a Washington County ordinance dealing with growth regulations drew opposition about a related matter - the county's $13,000-per-unit building excise tax. "I was appalled to find out it was going to cost me $13,000 before I could stick a shovel in the ground," said Harlan Barnes, who lives outside of Hagerstown. He called the tax "too much of a burden for anyone to build a house. " Barnes was one of eight people who spoke Wednesday night at a public hearing held by the Washington County Commissioners.

An ordinance that allows Hagerstown to receive a portion of Washington County's building excise tax revenue was passed Tuesday and will take effect next month. The Hagerstown City Council unanimously passed the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. The ordinance says the city's planning commission shall not approve new development that doesn't have adequate public facilities to serve it - "unless the developer reaches an agreement with the Mayor and Council .... " In particular, public schools either must be sufficient to accommodate more students at the time of the residential development or through planned construction projects or redistricting.

The Washington County Attorney's office has dismissed wording that county and Hagerstown city officials each said marked their ability to trust each other. City Planning Director Kathleen A. Maher told the Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday that County Attorney Richard Douglas believed the wording was "contract wording," and that it was not appropriate to include it in governmental legislation. City Attorney William P. Nairn said he agrees with the argument, and he suggested alternate wording that he felt captured the same sentiment but would have more legal standing.

A discussion Tuesday about the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance served to illustrate why the Washington County Board of Commissioners is considering a new formula on how new residential developments should help pay for schools. Attorney Jason Divelbiss presented a plan to the board for The Reserve at Collegiate Acres, a 272-unit apartment complex. The plan offered no money for school mitigation, instead proposing a phase-in development over a period of years that would roughly coincide with the construction and opening of a planned West Side Elementary School.

The cost to developers for mitigating the impact of residential projects on schools is a negotiated process, but it would be replaced with a standard formula under a plan outlined Tuesday for the Washington County Board of Commissioners by Planning and Zoning Director Stephen T. Goodrich. Currently, under the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, or APFO, a developer with seven or more residential lots would pay a mitigation fee if the schools in its region were above certain thresholds for state-rated capacity, County Administrator Gregory B. Murray said.

The city of Hagerstown will keep its Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance for schools, which prevents the approval of new development in areas where schools are over capacity, the Hagerstown City Council decided Tuesday in a discussion propelled by the county's vote to cut the excise tax last month. The discussion to keep or repeal the city's APFO follows the Washington County Commissioners' March 26 vote that lowered the cost of new construction by cutting the excise tax on residential construction from $3 per square foot of habitable gross square footage to $1 per square foot, and on new residential retail construction from $3 per square foot to $1 per square foot on the first 15,000 square feet, and $3 per square foot thereafter.

Scheduled meetings this week of the Washington County Commissioners and Hagerstown Mayor and Council (the Washington County Board of Education is not scheduled to meet): WASHINGTON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS County Administration Building 100 W. Washington St., Hagerstown Tuesday, April 9, 11 a.m. Agenda • 11 a.m.: Public hearing - Modification of water and sewer rates and certain other fees FY 2014 • 11:15 a.m.: Joint public hearing - Modification of charges, rentals and fees at the Hagerstown Regional Airport • 11:30 a.m.: Sole source contract award for one SPX Genfare's Vendstar ticket vending machine for use by the Washington County Transit Department - County Commuter • 11:45 a.m.: Depart for 401 Museum Drive • noon: Tour and luncheon meeting with The Museum of Fine Arts Board County Administration Building 100 W. Washington St., Hagerstown, Room 227 Tuesday, April 9, 1:45 p.m. Agenda • 1:45 p.m.: Real property acquisition - 334 E. Oak Ridge Drive • 2:15 p.m.: Budget discussion - General fund budget • 3 p.m.: Closed session (to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, compensation, and/or performance evaluation of appointees, employees or officials over whom the public body has jurisdiction; to discuss other personnel matters that affect one or more specific individuals; to consider a matter that concerns the proposal for a business to expand in the...

Washington County officials are re-examining their philosophy on allowing developers to build homes in areas that have overcrowded schools. The issue centers around the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, which forbids such development but allows for mitigation agreements — typically payments made by the developer toward school construction — to allow projects to proceed. During a work session Tuesday morning, the Washington County Board of Commissioners agreed it needs to decide the purpose of that ordinance, which can be viewed either as a roadblock to growth in areas with crowded schools or as a tool to help fund schools and make way for growth in those areas.

County Commissioners deserve our thanks To the editor: I would like to commend the current Board of County Commissioners for so boldly eliminating the excise tax doubling . While I do see a need for new development to generate revenue to help offset infrastructure costs, there is one fundamental issue with the excise tax that was overlooked as the fee structure was developed. Those of us who have lived, worked, raised our families and paid taxes for our entire lives in Washington County are seeing our children forced to live and purchase homes out of state.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Gary Rohrer, Washington County's first director of public works, retired Sept. 30 after a 20-year career with the county that included advocating for strong policies to manage growth, overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars in capital projects, and devising policies and procedures to bring fairness and efficiency to the growing county. Rohrer, 62, a Washington County native who had worked for Frederick and Howard counties, was hired by Washington County in 1989 as director of planning and review.

SMITHSBURG - A developer's plan to build 90 homes southeast of Smithsburg suffered a setback Tuesday night when the Smithsburg Town Council voted 4-1 against annexing the development into town. Annexing the land would have allowed the development to use Smithsburg's water and sewer systems and might have helped the developer, Cloverly Hill LLC, get around county zoning rules that limit the number of homes allowed on the property, Cloverly president Daniel Cross said. Councilmembers Thomas L. Chiarizia, Shirley D. Aurand, Dennis "Jack" Wenthe and Jerome Martin voted against the annexation of the 63-acre site after citizens expressed concerns about the impact the development would have on the town's schools, utilities and other infrastructure at a public hearing Sept.

The cost of new classroom space in Washington County is between $30,000 (elementary) and $50,000 (high school) dollars per seat. Currently, we have an excise tax that collects, at most, $10,000 of this cost. Taxpayers are currently subsidizing new development to the tune of $20,000 to $40,000 for every new house approved. Last year, there were more than 1,000 new homes approved in this county. This is a $20 million to $40 million dollar shortfall that should have been collected from developers.

Rapid growth is managed through a coordinated application of management tools and political courage. Washington County's present toolbox includes: a comprehensive plan, rural zoning, an Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (APFO), along with an excise tax. The following four enhancements could improve the results of these land-use planning tools. 1. Our comprehensive plan must be updated to reflect the reality of water and sewer limitations under the new and more restrictive state and federal regulations.