Apfo

The City of Hagerstown will let the Washington County Commissioners decide whether a plan for almost 50 condominiums on East Baltimore Street can move forward without meeting APFO requirements. The City Council agreed by consensus at its work session Tuesday to allow the County Commissioners to pass judgment on whether the 47-unit Potomac Square development qualifies for the revitalization exemption to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. According to information provided to City Council and Planning Director Kathleen A. Maher, the City Council can waive the APFO if the development under consideration revitalizes an area or provides affordable housing.

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.

Development puts PU in PUD To the editor: The recent Herald-Mail article concerning the court ruling in the case against the proposed Black Rock PUD (Planned Urban Development) was accurate, but did not present the whole story. Together with some of our neighbors, we filed an appeal to the decision of the Board of County Commissioners to approve what was originally proposed to be the third largest "town" in Washington County. Only Boonsboro and the City of Hagerstown would have had larger populations.

HAGERSTOWN The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday approved the introduction of an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance that largely echoes the county's requirements for school capacity. The city's ordinance includes no requirements for fire, water, sewer or other services. According to a schedule provided by the city, the council could vote on approving the measure next month, which would make the city eligible to retain 28 percent of excise taxes collected within the city.

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.

Town eligible for excise tax revenue SMITHSBURG -The town of Smithsburg is eligible to receive a portion of Washington County's excise tax revenue, Mayor Mildred "Mickey" Myers announced Tuesday night. Smithsburg is eligible for the money because the county approved the town's recently revised Adequate Facilities Ordinance (APFO), Myers said during the town's monthly council meeting. According to Washington County's Excise Tax law, municipalities can receive a portion of the county's excise tax if their APFOs meet certain criteria.

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.

daniels@herald-mail.com Two members of the Hagerstown City Council and a Washington County commissioner brokered a tentative deal Sunday that could allow the city to maintain substantial control over its rate of growth while continuing to receive county excise taxes. City Council members Lewis C. Metzner and Kristin B. Aleshire reached the agreement with James F. Kercheval during a private meeting. The three announced the agreement during a council work session Tuesday that was attended by the commissioners and county staff members.

The Hagerstown City Council's doubts about enacting an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance just to get a share of county excise taxes need to be resolved quickly, for several reasons. The first is that both governments should be working to standardize the requirements for development. Creating a separate impact fee within the city limits would not only be confusing from an economic-development standpoint, but could also lead to what we've seen previously - developers trying to play the two governments against each other.

HAGERSTOWN daniels@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown City Council declined to act on an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, saying Tuesday night it would be willing to walk away from nearly $500,000 in tax revenues to retain the city's right to set its own course. "Are we willing to give up certain rights to the county in order to get money?" Councilman Lewis C. Metzner asked, summarizing the concerns of Councilman Kristin B. Aleshire. During the council's work session, Aleshire said the city might be better off walking away from county tax funds and establishing its own impact fees to regulate development.