Apfo

A site plan for a 130-unit development off Robinwood Drive received preliminary approval Monday from the Washington County Planning Commission. The site plan is for a subphase of the second part of the Rosewood development being built by developer Manny Shaool. The Planning Commission granted the preliminary approval contingent upon Shaool working out agreements with Washington County to pay Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) fees, among other provisions. Shaool plans to build 130 residential units and a 22,712-square-foot medical and dental office building.

You can't blame developer Manny Shaool for trying to get a break on the $2.2 million in fees the Washington County government wants him to pay for a development in the Robinwood area. Just a few months ago, the County Commissioners agreed to cut the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance fee by 75 percent for a proposed office complex in the Maugansville area - for an unnamed developer who wouldn't say whether the 100 jobs the building would hold were new, or just relocated from another part of the county.

tarar@herald-mail.com WASHINGTON COUNTY - A Washington County developer will have to pay more than $2 million in building fees to construct a planned residential and commercial development off Robinwood Drive. The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) fees, adopted by the Washington County Commissioners late last year, will go toward road improvements and to increase school capacity in the Robinwood Drive area. Under the ordinance, developer Manny Shaool will have to pay $1.24 million in transportation APFO fees, according to county documents.

Builders will pay fair share, if it is fair By Debi Turpin In the May 15 edition of The Herald-Mail, Joe Lane wrote a column titled "Developers get a free ride on the backs of the taxpayers. " Unfortunately, the article contained several gross inaccuracies that must be addressed. The first is an explanation of the "lots of record" that were exempted by grandfathering from making the Adequate Public Facility (APFO) contribution for schools. This number may be alarming, and from reading this article one would make the logical assumption that these are approved "building lots.

Consider the plight of a businessman who believes he could make more money if he owned another piece of excavating equipment. Unfortunately, the price tag of $60,000 is more than he wants to pay for the equipment. No problem. Complain to the dealer that the price is unreasonable and offer a "fair" price of $15,000. Fearing unfavorable publicity and loss of the account, the dealer immediately caves in and accepts the buyer's offer. Right? Wrong. Employing somewhat less abrupt terminology, the dealer tells the customer to go fly a kite.

tarar@herald-mail.com The fees Washington County charges to developers to offset the cost of growth may be going down again. County staff asked the Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday to change the formula through which the fees are generated, a move that would lower the charge to developers. The change would apply to the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) for schools, which requires residential developers to pay a $6,500 per unit fee if they build in areas where schools are at 85 percent capacity, County Attorney Richard Douglas said.

tarar@herald-mail.com WASHINGTON COUNTY - Developers who construct office buildings in Washington County will be paying lower facilities fees to do so, and other types of businesses also may get a break on the charges. Tim Troxell, director of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission, asked the County Commissioners to lower the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, or APFO, fees for specific types of businesses. The fees are charged to developers in the Long Meadow Road/Maugans Avenue and Robinwood Drive areas.

On Tuesday evening, Jan. 6, the (Frederick) Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held a public hearing on an application to rezone 138.7 acres of land at the intersection of Elmer Derr Road and Ballenger Creek Pike from an Agricultural classification to a Planned Unit Development ("PUD") classification. A majority of the BOCC voted to approve the application. The rezoning will allow new development consisting of 763 dwelling units. At the hearing, two Montgomery County lobbyists, Mark Friis and C. Robert Dalrymple represented the applicant for the rezoning, Ausherman Development.

tarar@herald-mail.com Developers who want to build homes in areas where schools are at 85 percent of capacity will have to pay thousands of dollars to Washington County beginning Jan. 1. The Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously decided that developers will be charged about $6,500 per dwelling unit, money that will pay for projects that will increase capacity in schools, such as building new schools or additional classrooms....

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.