Is the battle over how to control real property rights in Frederick County the core issue?

The Evil of the Victors … Anger lingers, I guess, when you and your fellow cohorts are still reeling from the major defeat you suffered in the 2010 Frederick County elections.

Since the last post of the Land Planning Game Show: Playing Politics with Land Use Planning on the Tentacle.com and the MacRo Report Blog, the defenders of the Frederick County Planning Commission’s mid-November motion to “Discontinue the proceedings of the 2011 County Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Review, as requested by the Board of County Commissioners, and to forward a recommendation to the Board …to continue the current plan and zoning in effect without change” have had a lot of angry words to say.

I must admit that after reading through the various comments that have popped up on various web forums on the Frederick News Post and Facebook, to name a few, it may very well be that the title theme should have been centered around quotes from the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll’s classic books from the mid late 1800’s Alice in Wonderland.

The Jabberwock, with eyes aflame,

Jaws that bait and claws that catch,

Beware the Jabberwock, my son …

It’s all about you, you know

(the Mad Hatter in the Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland 2010)

Back in those days, people who spent too much time in the profession of making hats became a bit deranged from the poison in mercury that was part of the felt-making process. It was apparently so common that “Mad as a Hatter” became a colloquial conversation phrase in referring to one deemed crazy.

Speaking of mercury, in Greek mythology, Mercury was also known as the messenger of the Gods. Over the centuries, the phrase “shooting the messenger” emerged as a reference to what one did to the couriers who delivered bad news.

County Planning Commission member Bob White stakes his claim as a planning procedural expert in complete comprehensive plan reviews having been involved in the last two – 2010 and also back in the 1990’s.

But like the chemical mercury, spending too much time making the “felt” for those plans may have generated such pride of authorship, which he and others so blindly believed in the perfection of their work, that they have been trying to defend the indefensible.

In an email to me after the last post, Mr. White refers to the MacRo posts as “deliberately slanted and blatantly erroneous” and he charges county attorney Michael Chomel with a “deliberate misrepresentation” of Article 66B of Annotated Code of Maryland.

Now I know that my views can be looked upon by certain people as being somewhat biased, but for Mr. White to make such a charge of a county attorney who has served multiple boards of commissioners, is truly taking a direct shot at the messenger.

Seeking a means of making a point by splitting hairs is a well-worn tactic, as Mr. White makes the claim that “the BOCC [Board of County Commissioners] does not have the power or authority to initiate the process” of a comprehensive plan review. He cites section 3.05 of 66B as stating that the Planning Commission solely “makes and approves a plan” that it may recommend to the board. Okay, but isn’t there a difference between “initiating” (ordering or requesting) and “making” a plan?

Now I’m not a lawyer, but I have read Article 66B, as well as the pertinent section of the Frederick County Code, and even after seeking legal advice for this post, it seems that there is no statement in the Frederick County Code or in 66B that restricts the Board of County Commissioners from making a request of the Planning Commission to take up a plan or zoning review.

Besides, there is plenty of historical precedence where previous boards of commissioners have asked the Planning Commission to review all or certain sections of a current comprehensive plan. Take for instance former County Commissioner John L. “Lennie” Thompson’s 2006 infamous out of sequence Geronimo Plan that sought to down zone the “low hanging fruit” in the New Market region within a year of a prior board’s adoption of the Comprehensive Plan.

A lot of noise was made of the fact that our post made no reference to the much heralded contents in the November 16th letter from the Maryland Department of Planning addressed to Frederick County Community Development Director Eric Soter. Seems it was mysteriously received by commission member Catherine Forrence before her chairman Mr. McClurkin and many others got a copy.

Defenders of the Planning Commission in their web rants have stressed the importance of this letter in that any new zoning changes will not be consistent with the 2010 County Comprehensive Plan.

When I read the letter, among many things I found it interesting that the author, Peter Conrad, who is the Director of Local Government Affairs, apparently did not support Mr. White’s claim that the Board of County Commissioners had no authority to ask the Planning Commission to take action on a 2011 Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Review.

It seems that Mr. Conrad must have accepted the idea that such a review can take place, because he actually recommends approval of one of the several countywide rezoning requests (CPZ11-MD-17 in Middletown from Agriculture to Residential). While the general tone of the letter attempts to throw cold water on the effort, he is surely not claiming that the action by the Board of County Commissioners in requesting the Planning Commission undertake a plan and zoning review is illegal or inappropriate.

With the Maryland Department of Planning being the hopeful center of controlling all zoning in the state through Gov. Martin O’Malley’s ill-conceived PlanMaryland, it would seem that this letter could have carried very strong support for the allegations of Mr. White and Ms. Forrence.

Mr. O’Malley is quoted as stating that local county elected and appointed officials often make “stupid decisions,” so he thinks his deeply-rooted team of bureaucrats centralized in Baltimore are more capable at planning.

Now that’s just “Mad!”

Part 2 of how an imperious majority of planning commission members foolishly twist facts to avoid fulfilling their responsibilities

In our last exciting episode of the Land Planning Game Show, our Frederick County Maryland Planning Commission superstars Catherine Forrence and Robert “Bob” White placed high reverence on the sanctity of the 2010 Comprehensive Plan … something they take great pride in playing a part of its assemblage.

Despite the County Commissioners request to reopen the plan, they each use their own form of logic to justify why such an act can not or should not be fulfilled.

Forrence claimed that comprehensive rezoning is not part of comprehensive planning.

White seemed to claim that since he and his fellow commission members have no desire to request the staff to pull data together for their review, they will not have any data to review!

White made a motion to Discontinue and then Cease and Desist any action by the Planning Commission to take any further action on that request.  Forrence seconded.

At the request of Planning Commission Chairman McClurkin, County Attorney Chomel explained that the Commission is authorized to recommend a comprehensive plan or an amendment to such after holding hearings on any proposed comprehensive rezoning.  He stated that such an action requires a look at the comprehensive plan.

But a failure to act on the part of the planning commission does not stop the planning and possible rezoning process:

McClurkin: Alright … should the motion pass … what happens next?

Chomel: Well, the process moves forward. It would act as a non-recommendation, which the commissioners could then proceed with … frankly, it would be more appropriate for you to recommend no change to the comprehensive plan…

White: You just said Comprehensive Plan … you just now managed to talk both sides of what you said.  If we are not comprehensive planning, why did you say comprehensive plan?

Chomel: Well, your question assumes a fact that I am not willing to accept- that this is not a comprehensive relook at the comprehensive plan.

White: … I said you were saying that is or it is not?

Chomel: You are assuming that it is not … I am saying that I don’t agree with that assumption …

White: No … I’m saying that we don’t have the data …

Chomel: I think a more appropriate characterization would be to say that this is a comprehensive relook at the comprehensive plan … and the data you had for the [2010] comprehensive plan … adopted by the board … you’ve been through that process [recently] … you don’t need to have …

Forrence: Can I interrupt here? … Obviously there is nothing in Article 66B [of the Maryland Constitution] that defines what the planning commission has to do in undertaking a comprehensive plan review … are you saying now that this was a comprehensive plan … rewrite?

Chomel: Are you finished? Because, I don’t want to interrupt.

Forrence: Thanks … Yes, I had a lot to say.

Chomel: … the comprehensive plan … sets out the aspirational goals for growth over an extended period of time [which] are implemented through zoning and subdivision.  So when you are looking at zoning, you are also looking at the comprehensive plan.

Forrence: But it’s not!

White: … because what we are doing is not comprehensive planning …

Forrence: It’s a Farce!

White: Alright

Forrence: He He!

McClurkin: So … the options are … to proceed …or to end it now …

Forrence: Yep!

White: You can always undertake a comprehensive plan that is more appropriate … this is inappropriate … therefore; I feel that it is appropriate for us to cease and desist …

McClurkin: So your motion again was to … cease and desist with no recommendation …?

White: Correct…

McClurkin: Alright … Is there any further discussion?  …

Floyd: My only comment would be that as I read this …

Forrence: Okay, let’s go!

Floyd: I would really think that we should add to the motion … sending this all forward to the County Commissioners with no recommendation, period.

Forrence: That’s what we said!

McClurkin: Mr. Lawrence, do you have any comments?

Lawrence: Well, only that in reading what I got … it’s the Board of County Commissioners [who] voted to initiate a comprehensive plan and zoning review … any property owner will have the opportunity to request any change to the land use plan … and the application period will be open … and that was the extent from the information that I HAVE … It is not only a review of these cases tonight, but the entire … plan that was passed.  So … we are in the same process …

White: I want to clarify that I had not realized the inconsistency quite so clearly … until that pretty well coalesced in my mind …

McClurkin: Alright, Ms. Wolf …

Wolf: I’ll just listen to the arguments going back and forth.

White: He He! Poor thing. Ha Ha!

McClurkin: Any further discussion? …

White: One other statement …  County Commissioners can institute comprehensive rezoning.  They can not institute comprehensive planning.  Is that correct …?

Chomel: The issue is not strictly speaking: “Who can compel whom to do what?”  … You’re part of a process.  That process has been initiated by the Board … In a perfect world you would participate … to the best of your ability … If you want to make a statement by not undertaking what is properly your role … that goes beyond the scope of my advisory capacity to you.

White: Ha Ha Ha!

Forrence: We just need to make a decision!

White: You’re right …

Forrence: Stop! Let’s just …

Chomel: Let me respond to that.  It’s NOT your role to make decisions as to the propriety of initiating the review or not.  Your role is to accept the initiation and proceed with it.

Forrence: Which is why, I think … there is nothing wrong with this comprehensive plan… I just think it’s crazy!  … nuts! …

McClurkin: Alright!  Eric, do you have a copy of the motion…?

Soter: What I have is “Discontinue the proceedings of, the said, rezoning” … and Commissioner Forrence seconded …

White: To be added to that: “and to forward a recommendation to the Board …to continue the current plan and zoning in effect without change …”

Forrence: … and, if it is necessary, the planning commission can have one more public hearing … in front of the public …

White: Ha Ha

Forrence: Let’s just!!!

McClurkin: Okay … so we have a motion on the floor …

White: Ha Ha Ha!

McClurkin: … All those in favor …

Forrence: He He!

McClurkin: Signify by raising your hands.

White, Forrence, and Floyd raise their hands

McClurkin: All those opposed, please raise your hands.

McClurkin and then Lawrence and Wolf raise their hands.

McClurkin: Alright, so the motion carried 4 – 2

Lawrence: How did you [McClurkin] vote?

Forrence: Are you [McClurkin] for it or against it?

McClurkin: Ahh … I’m for it!

Forrence: Oh, he’s for it!

McClurkin: Ha Ha Ha!

Forrence: Oh, you’re for the vote?

McClurkin: Yeah. So …

Forrence: Okay, can you do the vote again, please?

White: Ha!!!

McClurkin: Please raise your hands again … if you are in favor of it …

White, Forrence, McClurkin and Floyd raise their hands

McClurkin: 1, 2, 3, 4 … all those opposed…

Lawrence and Wolf raise their hands.

McClurkin: Okay…  Motion carries four – two … Where does that leave us for the evening?

White: That leaves us to apologize to these people … He He He …

Thank you, Mr. Chomel, for explaining to our Planning Commission members how the process of Comprehensive Planning works!

What a joke!

He He He … Ha Ha Ha!

Don’t believe it?  Watch it or read the full text for yourself!

The author: Rocky Mackintosh, President, MacRo, Ltd., a Land and Commercial Real Estate firm based in Frederick, Maryland. He also writes for TheTentacle.com and Want2Dish.com

While the sky has fallen over the real estate industry, it seems the relevance of anti-growth voices have met the same fate.

Maybe it’s an expression of some repressed childhood anger, or is it about trying to remain relevant after an embarrassing defeat in the last election?

Whatever it is, the local wanna-be mover and shaker named Janice Wiles has been shaking her angry fist at anything that has the finger prints of her victorious former opponents – more notably the Honorable Blaine R. Young, President of the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners.

Now, she probably would not refer to Mr. Young as “honorable”, but that is how one is supposed to refer to an elected official who has earned that capacity.

What would this have to do with a world that has suffered from a catastrophic economic recession, where real estate values have been in a tail spin and land development has come to a screeching halt?

There is an irony here. It seems that the relevance of the Executive Director of the Friends of Frederick County and her organization is directly related to the waves of the real estate economic cycle.

This not only holds true for her, but also her conspiring collaborator former County Commissioner Kai Hagen, who now heads the recently formed “non-profit, non-partisan organization” known as Envision Frederick.

Ironically, it was back at the peak of the real estate boom in 2006 that Mr. Hagen rose to a position of power with a victory in that year’s county commissioner election.  Much of his platform was bolstered by the ruckus that Wiles and her “friends” rose over what they claimed as poor County Commissioner comprehensive planning in New Market, among other regions.

The fear that was cast into the electorate at the time was that “the county’s rapid growth during the past decade was not inevitable, but instead was caused by approvals for far more houses than the market demanded during that time period,” according to Wiles.

In other words, she claimed that by building houses, land developers create demand. In fact, what really happens in a real estate economic cycle is that buyers create demand.

As it turned out at the time, Frederick County was issuing permits in the early 2000’s at an annual rate of about two-thirds of what occurred over the previous 20 years.

Even still the irony was that demand for developed real estate was strong.

With the victory of achieving a pro-no-growth board of commissioners under her belt and law suits being filed against anything having to do with real estate development in Frederick County, Maryland, Wiles and her friends threw their anger at a number of annexations that the City of Frederick approved.

Her friends in Winchester Hall at the time, supported her with an extremely rare reversal of city-county government etiquette by opposing the annexations.  Meanwhile, Hagen supported Wiles in her unsuccessful petition drive to overturn the City’s decision.

Ironically, that was 2009 and the housing market was in full decline mode.

In keeping with evaporating real estate values, the relevance of the “not so friendly” Ms. Wiles waned as well.

Just prior to the 2010 county elections, a new comprehensive plan was passed by the Honorable Jan Gardner, President of the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners, and her pro-no-growth majority that included Mr. Hagen.

The plan down-zoned nearly 500 properties throughout the county with what the Board believed was just cause.  In addition, using their own version of “Fuzzy Math”, the Commissioners figured out how the county would be able to meet the State’s mandate of providing for about 34,000 housing units for the next twenty years.  This is a task that is unlikely to be fulfilled when one considers what is proving to be a very slow housing recovery.

In her effort to remain relevant with the next election around the corner, Wiles climbed on board of the Kai Hagen Express. The anticipated unbeatable slate laid out a goal “to continue to fight against costly sprawl development, tax increases, traffic jams, a strained school system and the degraded environment that come with it.”

Ironically, with the real estate market in the tank, it seemed that voters are more concerned with getting rid of wasteful government actions, finding jobs and preserving what equity they had in their real estate.

Not surprisingly, the Hagen Express was not the “Little Engine that Could.”  It was stopped in its tracks with a load of angry poultry that renewed their rants that the Young Board will make the sky fall over Frederick.

Behind the scenes, refusing involvement in the petition drive to overturn the Commissioner appointed Charter Board, Wiles and Hagen threw their anger into authoring fear-mongering and intellectually dishonest statements in material claiming the group is heavily tied to land developer interests.

Their controversial approach to garnering signatures ended in rejection and another law suit, which will likely die like the others- thereby wasting taxpayer money.

With all her defeats mounting, the real estate market remains stagnate.

Unrelenting, there is yet another battle to wage for Wiles.

The latest is over Young’s desire to fulfill a campaign promise allowing those 500 land owners to have their down zoned property “reconsidered” by the new board.

Her fight comes at the same time the Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley formally introduced his version of a “Dream Act.”  Known affectionately as Plan Maryland, it stakes out a goal to have all land use decisions stripped from local jurisdictions and placed in the hands of the State.

And who said we don’t need a Big Brother?

Pulling out her “Fuzzy Math” calculator and her experience at being intellectually dishonest, Wiles and more of her Friends recently sent a plea to Mr. O’Malley to use his powers to stop Young, who “vowed to reclassify and rezone thousands of acres of farmland and open space …”

Ironically, while she continues to claim that the sky is falling, residential real estate values continue to fall as well.

Based upon the current state of the real estate market, it’s a safe bet that the only place that the sky will fall with this effort is wherever Wiles is standing.

Maybe someday the sky will really fall on Frederick, but likely not in her lifetime.  If it does, Ms. Wiles can raise her angry fist from the grave and claim “I told you so.”

The irony is that Janice Wiles only seems to have relevance when everything she is angry about — the real estate development market — is in a boom cycle.

Rocky Mackintosh, President, MacRo, Ltd., a Land and Commercial Real Estate firm based in Frederick, Maryland. He is an appointed member of the Frederick County Charter Board. He also writes forTheTentacle.com and Want2Dish.com.

It’s called PlanMaryland – It is a comprehensive state wide land use plan presented beautifully on a website that gives the visitor a real warm and fuzzy feeling of protection from evil real estate development interests.

Dig into it deeper and it’s all about our state government being granted the powers to usurp the land use authority of county, city and town officials in the name of protecting the land and its citizens against “stupid decisions” that they may make (as our Governor has said).

This is especially important in rural counties west of Baltimore and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Once again the elitism of the environmental and land conservation forces are showing their true colors by dressing up a proposed state wide land use plan that essentially says “Big Brother” knows better than those “Stupid” hicks in the sticks.

The MacRo Report Blog raised a red flag over PlanMaryland back on October 4, 2010 in a piece entitled Does Mr. O’Malley have a Septic Problem? While we outlined the entire “Plan” as it was developed at that point, the focus was on what we saw as a means of declaring rural septic systems to be bad for the environment — all in the name stopping sprawl in rural areas.

Then in February of this year, this prediction became reality as we discussed in Farmland and Rural Building Lots face new threats from EPA. O’Malley revealed at that time his vision to ban septic systems throughout much of the state as a means of saving the Chesapeake Bay from excessive amounts of nitrogen that leach into the soil through septic drain fields.  With the aide of the EPA it was declared that Maryland must be put on a “Pollution Diet.”

Of course many local community and government leaders, as well as state representatives came to the conclusion that this radical plan was nothing more than the state seeking a method to take control of land use planning throughout the state.

The proposed legislation that was released stated that despite the state’s efforts in 1997 to direct “growth in and around existing cities and towns … 78% of statewide acreage associated with residential development has been located out of [these] Priority Funding Areas.”

To put it another way, former Governor Parris Glendening’s highly touted Smart Growth Plan that attempted to socially engineer the type and location of housing that people should live in throughout Maryland, didn’t have enough teeth in it.  Not to mention the fact that while it was often attempted in the non-metropolitan counties of Maryland, it was almost always rejected by neighboring communities made up of single family residents who claimed NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) to such high density land development projects.

But the dream lives on within the core of the Maryland’s land planning and environmental bureaucracies.

So after the defeat of Republican Governor Erhlich, O’Malley decided to dust off the failed Smart Growth initiative, change the name and find a way to give Big Brother more teeth and cloak him in sheep’s clothing – thus PlanMaryland was born.

Over the last couple of weeks, Mr. O’Malley has now revealed those teeth with the full revelation of his grand plan.

In an article entitled Land Grab, the Editors of the Frederick News Post quoted our state leader as saying if the State doesn’t like land use decisions of local communities, it may retaliate by withholding funding for schools, roads and other essential services unless the community complies.  “This is not a law that prohibits counties from making ‘Stupid’ decisions,” said the Governor. “But we’re not going to subsidize it anymore.”

Why would such ‘Stupid’ people ever want to make a decision on their own without first receiving the blessings from the Higher Power of the all wise and all knowing Governor and His people?

Forgive us, O-Wise One!

The desire to preserve rural lands is a worthy one for sure, and such efforts are vital to a well balanced community.  But aren’t these decisions best left to local governments that are most intimately familiar with the people,  the land and the comprehensive plan it lays out for itself?

In speaking with BOCC (Frederick County Commissioner) member C. Paul Smith, he stated that at last week’s Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) meeting the Governor through deliberate vagueness made very clear his determination to have the state control land use.

When asked by Board President Blaine Young if this was Mr. O’Malley’s intention, he consistently avoided a direct answer, said Smith.  “They kind of really went at it … but in a professional way,” he said.  Young ended by saying to the Governor, “You never really answered the question.”

“And he never did,” said Smith.

Not only is this vagueness apparent in Mr. O’Malley’s verbal presentation, but also in the written plan according to Smith.

Keeping language vague leaves things open for interpretation — and that is great for bureaucrats!

The commissioner drafted a five page memorandum outlining his concerns about the PlanMaryland proposal on August 16th.  From his interpretation it seems pretty clear that the ultimate goal is for the state to eventually eliminate the use of private septic systems throughout the state and lock down all rural lands (zoned agricultural, conservation, rural reserve, etc.) as no longer usable for any residential or other commercial developable uses.

“With another one million people expected to move in to the state in the 25 years, the Governor is saying rural lands are off limits … leaving the only way to accommodate that kind of growth by promoting new multifamily housing (apartments, condos and town houses)  in and around the cities and towns,” said Smith. “A future for new single family housing within Maryland is clearly not part of his plan.”

In addition this could conveniently wipe out the need for any state and local agricultural and land preservation funding programs – no longer will there be a difference in values between farm or rural use and subdivision potential.

Since last week’s meeting, a number of the county leaders – as many as 19 out of the 23 in Maryland – have been in touch with each other in an effort to form a possible coalition against O’Malley’s plan according to Commissioner Billy Shreve.  Other organizations like the Maryland Farm Bureau and possible municipal leaders are also ready to jump on board against this “Wacky Idea” said Shreve.

There is no question that the Governor is relentlessly pursuing a Big Brother approach to controlling the planning and zoning decisions made at a local level.

Obviuosly the Gov is not happy with the results of the last legislative session where most of  his “key environmental initiatives — including legislation to limit septic systems and build an offshore wind farm — failed to win approval in the General Assembly,” according to the Baltimore Sun.  So why not just repackage all this and give it a warm and fuzzy presentation.

One would have to be really “Stupid” to fall for that one!

Rocky Mackintosh, President, MacRo, Ltd., a Land and Commercial Real Estate firm based in Frederick, Maryland. He is an appointed member of the Frederick County Charter Board. He also writes forTheTentacle.com and Want2Dish.com.

This post is compliments of the “Knowledge Edge,” a weekly newsletter provided by Rodgers Consulting, Inc., a leading land planning and engineering firm to real estate and land developers throughout the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

Frederick County:

Green home development opens in Frederick

June 23, 2011
Gazette

The first green home development is open for business along Bentz Street, the North Pointe development features 55 zero-energy homes built by Nexus Energy Homes.

Frederick County ethics ordinance set for overhaul

June 22, 2011
Frederick News-Post

More stringent ethics regulations covering financial disclosure and lobbying are in store for Frederick County’s elected officials. The county must have a new ethics ordinance in place for the county Ethics Commission to certify by Oct. 1, according to Linda Thall, assistant county attorney. A 2010 revision to the state ethics law requires the county to revise its own ethics ordinance based on one of two models, she told the county commissioners Tuesday.

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Montgomery County

New Member Sworn in for Montgomery County Planning Board

June 23, 2011
MC Gov’t

Silver Spring resident Casey Anderson, an attorney and community activist, was sworn in today as a commissioner on the five-member Montgomery County Planning Board.

Clarksburg Crossing set to break ground today

June 22, 2011
Gazette

Ground broke this past Wednesday on the first new commercial building in the Clarksburg Historic District, Clarksburg Crossing- an event five years in the making.

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Western MD / WV:

City council tables resolution on annexation of 95 properties

June 22, 2011
Herald-Mail

The Hagerstown City Council said it wants more time to consider annexing some or all of the 95 properties split by the city boundary. The city has until the end of July to approve any portion of the annexation, City Planner Alex Rohrbaugh said previously.

This post is compliments of the “Knowledge Edge,” a weekly newsletter provided by Rodgers Consulting, Inc., a leading land planning and engineering firm to real estate and land developers throughout the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

Frederick County:

Frederick commissioners adopt tax credits for new, expanding businesses

June 16, 2011
Gazette

Companies looking to open or expand in Frederick County could qualify for a tax break under new legislation commissioners approved today. The Frederick Board of County Commissioners in a 4-1 vote adopted legislation today that gives tax credits to new or expanding businesses in hopes of attracting more jobs to the county.

Report: Outsource county services

June 16, 2011
Frederick News-Post

A report delivered Wednesday night to the Frederick County Commissioners states that the county could save up to $109 million during a five-year contract period by outsourcing core services that it indicates are now provided by more than 500 government employees. The core areas include management services, public works, interagency information technology, community development services, human resources, financial administration, parks and recreation, court and internal audit, according to a 27-page report by a Georgia-based company that has helped other local governments develop public-private partnerships.

Access issues stall Fort Detrick area groundwater study

June 16, 2011
Frederick News-Post

As the Army tries to launch a new round of research to answer residents’ questions about groundwater contamination near Fort Detrick, the very thing keeping them from progressing quickly is residents themselves. The Army created highly detailed plans for how to study surface and underground water flow in the area of Fort Detrick, looking at a variety of depths and keeping records of everything from contamination levels to where cracks in the bedrock are.

East Frederick group to plug vision

June 15, 2011
Frederick News-Post

The East Frederick Rising Task Force wants to get more people behind its vision of mixed use neighborhoods with places to walk to work, shop, eat and live in Frederick. On Tuesday, Krista McGowan, outgoing task force president, and the rest of the group expressed a sense of urgency to share the vision among property owners and developers so that they can make their plans along the lines contained in their document “A Vision for East Frederick.”

Friends of Frederick County questions development mitigation fee plan

June 15, 2011
Frederick News-Post

The nonprofit organization Friends of Frederick County is questioning whether a proposed school mitigation fee would be enough to cover the cost of needed public school improvements. Executive Director Janice Wiles spoke about the issue Tuesday with three concerned residents and Commissioner David Gray at C. Burr Artz Public Library. But the president of the Frederick Land Use Council said the fee would be more than enough because it is calculated, together with a separate impact fee already in place, to cover 115 percent of the state and county school construction costs generated by new development.

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I-95 Corridor

School redistricting returning to Howard after four-year lull

June 15, 2011
Baltimore Sun

After four years without moving school district boundaries, Howard County parents and children can expect numerous rounds of redistricting for the rest of this decade, school officials told County Council members at a meeting Wednesday morning. The change comes because of housing trends, in which the recession cut off the previous decade’s fast growth in western county schools. That left scores of seats empty in new school buildings as homebuyers concentrated on lower-priced townhouses and condominiums going up in the redeveloping eastern county, where thousands more new homes are expected.

Alternative development technique brings controversy in Balto. Co.

June 14, 2011
Baltimore Sun

The proposed Thistle Landing project is small, but it is part of a larger argument that has been unfolding for years across Baltimore County over the “planned unit development,” or PUD. In Catonsville on the west side, in Bowleys Quarters on the east side, and in other county communities, such developments have triggered battles between developers and residents. Supporters say the flexible approach makes room for projects that suit a community even if zoning doesn’t permit them. Critics say the approach gives developers leeway to bypass rules. The County Council has revised the law repeatedly over the years, but that has hardly settled all disputes.

Transit and town center projects set to transform College Park

June 13, 2011
Baltimore Sun

The University of Maryland, College Park could look considerably different by 2020 if plans for a light rail line and a town center development on the east side of campus roll forward this year. Preliminary engineering for the $1.93 billion Purple Line, expected to run through the heart of campus, could begin this fall if federal transit officials grant permission. The initial phase of the East Campus development, which would include a hotel, restaurants and retail shops, could also come up for approval by the Board of Regents if campus leaders can reach an agreement with the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos.

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Northern VA/ DC:

The east versus west side story

June 14, 2011
Loudoun Times

It’s a battle between the east and the west over an area of land that is meant to marry the two. The land in question is 194 acres east of Sycolin Road and north of the Dulles Greenway near Leesburg. Presently, the plot is heavily evergreen: housing 150-foot tall electric transmission lines, an underground natural gas line, an expanse of forest comprising hardwoods and evergreens and a colony of wood turtles. But, Stonewall Creek LLC hopes to develop the area into a 4.9 million square foot secure business park. The land could potentially be home to 3.9 million square feet of data centers as well as another 1 million square feet of non-data center uses including; office space, warehousing, health and fitness centers, a carry-out restaurant and a firearm range, among other uses.

Inside the rush to build Washington apartments, early signs of a bubble

June 12, 2011
Washington Post

It has attracted developers from out of town, developers with other specialties and developers who previously had very different plans. It is the Washington market for apartment buildings, by most accounts the strongest in the country. After a period when very few new units were built due to the sagging economy, developers are now erecting dozens of apartment buildings, with others hustling to finalize financial agreements and approvals from local governments so they can join in. Builders broke ground on 4,400 new units in the second half of 2010, according to the Alexandria research and advisory firm Delta Associates, more than five times the total in the second half of 2009. Work on another 4,200 units began in the first quarter of 2011.

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National/ Other:

Senate to trim ‘land bank’ of office space

June 13, 2011
Federal News Radio

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is examining legislation to make it easier to sell off more than 14,000 unused federal properties. The problem, said Robert Peck, the commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Building Service, is the federal government hoards more office space than what it needs. Jeffrey Zients, the deputy director for management in the Office of Management and Budget, said the process of shrinking real property holdings would be modeled after the Defense Department’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission.

Rocky Mackintosh shared his blog strategies at a FCBA/ SMC Meeting at Dutch’s Daughter 6/14.

This past Tuesday, MacRo, Ltd. President Rocky Mackintosh had the honor of presenting at a local Frederick County Builders Association (FCBA) / Sales and Marketing Council (SMC) breakfast meeting. Rocky discussed his experience blogging and the successful strategies that he has used to generate leads, increase public awareness and enhance the brand of his company- MacRo, Ltd.

The main tips Rocky offered were:

• If you start a blog be prepared for the large amount of time investment required for it to be successful
• Utilize relevant keywords and tags in every post to help with SEO
• Add links to every post that will send visitors deeper within your website
• Keep your blog content relevant- otherwise your subscribers will disengage
• Make sure to advertise your blog postings throughout the social media world via postings on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin

Rocky Mackintosh, President, MacRo, Ltd., a Land and Commercial Real Estate firm based in Frederick, Maryland. He is an appointed member of the Frederick County Charter Board.  He also writes for TheTentacle.com and Want2Dish.com.

This post is compliments of the “Knowledge Edge,” a weekly newsletter provided by Rodgers Consulting, Inc., a leading land planning and engineering firm to real estate and land developers throughout the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

Frederick County:

BOCC Advances APFO Amendment

At today’s work session, the BOCC voted 4-1 (Gray opposed) to advance an amendment to the County’s APFO which would expand the definition of “housing for older persons” to its pre-June 2008 requirements. Staff presented an expanded definition which included both the “age 62 and older” option as well as the option related to “housing intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older.”

Frederick charter drafters reach out to residents

June 9, 2011
Gazette

Bob Kresslein does not want to strike out in Frederick County’s latest effort to change its form of government. As a member of the charter-writing board, Kresslein told a gathering of the Frederick County United Democrats Monday night that he was involved with two failed attempts to change the structure of county government to one that gives it more authority to govern itself. A special election in 1991 on changing from a commissioner form of government to a charter met with overwhelming defeat, and a 1984 attempt did not even make it to voters. Kresslein does not want to fail again. This time around, Kresslein said, the nine-member board tasked with writing a charter is taking its show on the road. Engaging people in the process up front, Kresslein said, will guide the board when it begins writing the charter this fall, and hopefully ensure its success at the polls in November 2012.

Frederick chamber, city officials focus on growth, Golden Mile

June 9, 2011
Gazette

Maintaining the city of Frederick’s rapid business growth while improving key sectors such as the Golden Mile and the East Street corridor were the hot topics as city officials and business leaders got together Friday to exchange ideas about the city’s economic health and future. The Frederick County Chamber of Commerce hosted the gathering at City Hall, where members also heard Mayor Randy McClement (R) and the Board of Aldermen discuss the new Wegmans grocery store, which opened Sunday in the Clemson Corner Shopping Center on Wormans Mill Road. New businesses such as Wegmans and the other new stores in Clemson Corner are “the start of what we hope will be more growth,” McClement said.

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Montgomery County:

Rockville OKs residential development near Shady Grove Metro

June 8, 2011
Gazette

Rockville is taking steps to add new housing near the Shady Grove Metro station. The city council on Monday approved an exemption to its growth law that allows Silverwood/Shady Grove LLC to plan residences on 4.4 acres at the intersection of Route 355 and the Shady Grove Metro station access road, across from the King Farm community. Monday’s exemption passed with a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio and council member Bridget Newton opposed.

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I-95 Corridor

Development of rural areas challenges advocates, planners

June 1, 2011
Baltimore Sun

Such battles over rural land have been fought in every suburban county in the Baltimore area, and this year the spotlight is on Anne Arundel, which is considering proposals in its once-in-a-decade rezoning. In addition to the Crandall Cove project, developers are seeking permission to increase density of homes two-fold in a single-family home neighborhood and to allow more people to live on boats. In Anne Arundel and around Maryland, local lawmakers have broad latitude in determining the future of their districts. But land use advocates say letting local governments control zoning changes, which have lasting effects on the environment and character of communities, can have mixed results.

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Western Md/ West Virginia:

County might up definition of ‘adequate’ school crowding

June 7, 2011
Herald-Mail

Washington County officials on Tuesday discussed raising from 90 percent to 100 percent the capacity level above which elementary schools would be considered overcrowded for the purpose of requiring developer mitigation. The proposal, which would make it easier to build new subdivisions in many areas, was one of 17 potential changes county staff have suggested as part of an effort to bring clarity and consistency to the county’s acceptance of school mitigation payments.

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Northern VA/ DC:

Washington again tops housing data

June 9, 2011
Washington Business Journal

Washington is at the top of the latest report on housing prices, and it’s a report that finds a welcome turnaround in many other cities. Truckee, Calif.-based real estate data firm Clear Capital’s monthly Home Data Index Report says quarter-over-quarter home prices continued to decline in June, but the 2.3 percent decline was half the quarterly drop recorded in May. Bank owned houses fell 0.6 percent.

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National/ Other:

Chesapeake Bay lots sold to D.C. investors

June 8, 2011
Baltimore Business Journal

A team of Washington, D.C.-area investors has acquired 357 lots on 72 acres surrounding the Hyatt Chesapeake Bay Resort in Cambridge. The partnership is between Herndon, Va.-based Crimson Partners and D.C.-based real estate investment companies Rock Creek Property Group and the Bernstein Cos. The team, called River Marsh LLC, bought the land for an undisclosed sum in an off-market transaction with Wachovia Bank and plan to market the development sites individually or in clusters. The sites include “shovel-ready” lots for 34 single pad sites, 48 condominium units, 175 townhomes and 100 villas, which are lower-rise attached single family homes.

Office Owners Seek to Cash In

June 8, 2011
Wall Street Journal

Owners of big-name office buildings in some U.S. cities are racing to put them up for sale to exploit surging prices before it is too late. In recent weeks, owners of the Willis Tower in Chicago, Constitution Center in Washington, the Seagram Building in New York and numerous other large properties have put all or portions of them on the block. They are hoping to cash in on the near-boom-era prices being paid by yield-hungry investors discouraged by the volatility of stocks and low interest rates in the bond market. The surge comes as the U.S. economy shows new signs of weakness, raising questions about the direction of office rents and vacancy rates.

Where does the money come from to improve old schools and build new ones?

The debate over whether residential real estate growth pays for itself has been reignited over the last few months.

The Frederick County Board of County Commissioners have been moving forward with a school mitigation proposal for future housing projects that have been stuck in the “catch 22″ of its very strict Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO).

The County Commissioners have sought buy-in and feedback from the Board of Education and the leaders of the county’s 12 municipalities. In particular, Frederick City has been seeking to generate revenue to assist in the specific needs of County public schools within city limits, such as Frederick High School, which has not had a major renovation in over 40 years.

The basis of the County program is that developers of new housing projects will be given the option to move forward under the county’s APFO.  In cases where a proposed residential development is within a district with projected overcrowded schools, the land developer will now have the opportunity to pay a “Construction (mitigation) Fee” for school improvements, renovation or expansion in addition to the traditional impact fee used for new school construction.

In the land development world this is known as Pay-Go or Pay and Go — simply put, pay an extra fee to proceed.

The APFO School Mitigation plan proposes to assess an upfront mitigation fee at  the time of plat approval on all planned housing units in the development. The impact fees will continue to be assessed at the building permit stage.

Currently, if even one of the schools within the district of the proposed development is projected to be overcrowded, the developer can either foot the bill to build a new school, or an addition to resolve the problem… or just wait for what can often be years (or even decades) until the problem is resolved by other means.

Small residential developments of 6 lots or more typically have suffered from the latter scenario, but large projects of over 2,000 units can often find the margins to address school needs.

In the real estate bubble days about five years ago, the developer of Linton Farm on Ballenger Creek Road was able build $10 million worth of Tuscarora High School to satisfy the APFO test.

That was then… this is now.

In today’s reality, zoning within Frederick County and its twelve municipalities have been planned such that the days of the large planned unit/neighborhood development projects are almost over.  In addition county-wide, we are experiencing some of the lowest housing starts in several decades:  fewer than 800 permits in 2010, which less than 50% of what previous Board of County Commissioners’ president Jan Gardner approved in its 2010 Comprehensive Plan — 36,000 housing units within twenty years (1,800 per year).

The other reality: it is a fantasy to anticipate that there will be another real estate bubble of insatiable housing demand and exponential price increases within the next twenty years.

So, you ask, why should Frederick County be concerned if it does not meet the housing permit benchmarks set in the Gardner Comp Plan?

The sad truth is that “Frederick County needs the money!“ as stated by current commission president Blaine Young.  Previous boards worked very hard to curb the number of new homes from a 25 year average of about 2,600 units to the target of 1,800 per year.  Since the county’s APFO plan was adopted in 1991, school impact fees from all those units have been used to fund any number of new schools throughout the county.

In anticipation of state reimbursements, as well as a steady stream of impact fee income, previous boards floated bonds to forward fund this new construction. However, with state money now only trickling back to the county coffers the impact fee income is vital to covering the bond debt service on past projects, much less the banking of funds for future school construction for alleviating overcrowding problems.

While the real estate market was living the good life up to 2006, and even on much of its down slide thereafter, previous boards were spending beyond their means. To make up the spending difference they siphoned money from various rainy day funds to cover expenses — creating a serious structural deficit.

But now those accounts are nearly dry, property tax revenue is off and impact fees are more critical than ever before to cover the cash flow needs. As one local land use attorney told me, “the dirty little secret is that Frederick County is now addicted to impact fee income.”

Without a steady flow of school impact and mitigation fees from new homes, the school problems this county faces will likely persist. The only way the county can generate more impact fee income is to create a method of allowing projects to pass or mitigate the school test provision of the APFO.

But won’t this mitigation proposal open the gates and flood the already existing, overcapacity schools to higher levels of congestion?

County staff included in the proposal an overcrowding cap of 120%. Any applicant within a school district that meets or exceeds this figure will have to wait until that percentage drops. This may not address the issue in full, but there are other tools out there.

Frederick County Public Schools system-wide operates at an 88% student capacity; however, in a number of overcrowding cases  there are schools close to each that have a major spread in student occupancy.  But the system seems unwilling to make the very unpopular decisions necessary to redistrict students.

Frederick County families have a tradition of being extremely loyal to their schools and are typically not happy with redistricting plans. While the difficult task of redistricting is by far not the only means of solving the problem of overcrowding, in trying financial times like we are experiencing now, sacrifices are being made in all sectors of economic and personal lives.

In the end it comes down to a fiscal balancing act. The Frederick County School population will continue to grow even if all new housing ceases tomorrow. The problem of overcrowded schools and deteriorating structures will persist.

“I’ve asked at least 21 times now in various meetings,” Blaine Young stated to me, “and to date no one else has come up with another idea on how to generate the needed funds.  If we do nothing we will be lucky to be able to address the needs of only 2 schools within the next ten years.” 

There is no question that the debate will wage on as to whether housing pays for itself, but the reality of the current financial struggles in Frederick County is that a plan to allow a modest increase in housing will go a long way to providing needed funding for improving public educational facilities.

The author: Rocky Mackintosh, President, MacRo, Ltd., a Land and Commercial Real Estate firm based in Frederick, Maryland. He is an appointed member of the Frederick County Charter Board.  He also writes for TheTentacle.com and Want2Dish.com.

This post is compliments of the “Knowledge Edge,” a weekly newsletter provided by Rodgers Consulting, Inc., a leading land planning and engineering firm to real estate and land developers throughout the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

Frederick County:

BOCC Approves Reduction in Permits & Inspections and Development Review Fees

At today’s Administrative Business session, the BOCC voted 3-1 (Gray opposed) to approve a resolution adopting a revised Fee Schedule for Permits & Inspections and Development Review functions. The revised Fee Schedule addresses many of the issues presented in the Board’s Business Friendly Improvement Areas.

Frederick County Moves Forward With Amendments to the Forest Resource Ordinance (FRO)

As part of the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners’ “business-friendly” initiative, staff will be recommending changes to the County’s Forest Resource Ordinance. The recommended changes include repealing the 1:1 forest replacement requirement, modification of the conservation thresholds, modifications to incentivize street trees and landscaping by providing additional FRO credits, reduction of the off-site forest mitigation ratio to incent forest banking and creation of an option for applicants to reduce their bonding requirements by pre-planting. The recommended changes will be brought to the BOCC within the next month and will be considered for approval later this summer.

Commissioners to restore some development rights

May 26, 2011
Gazette

Frederick County property owners will soon have the opportunity to ask commissioners to restore development rights the previous board took away last year. Commissioners began the process to accept requests for zoning changes at the May 19 meeting by a vote of 3-1. Commissioner David P. Gray (R) voted against the plan and Commissioner Kirby Delauter (R) was absent. An application for a review of zoning is expected to be posted on the county’s website in the next week and applicants have until July 15 to submit their requests.

Frederick County vies for state transportation money

May 24, 2011
Gazette

Frederick County is looking to the state for money to help relieve traffic congestion and improve safety for the thousands of motorists who travel daily on its major highways. County officials are asking the Maryland Department of Transportation for money to build a new interchange at U.S. Route 15 and Monocacy Boulevard, and at Interstate 270 and Md. Route 85. They also want money to widen the lanes on Interstate 70, from Interstate 270 to Mount Phillip Road.

Pennsylvania county hires Frederick planner

May 24, 2011
Frederick News-Post

Professional opportunity has pulled planner Nick Colonna from his post overseeing projects that affect Frederick city residents, historic sites and businesses, he said. Colonna, manager of comprehensive planning, said Friday that his last day with the city will be June 17. He will become planning director for Adams County, Pa.

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Montgomery County:

Potomac developer sues Rockville for $750K

May 25, 2011
Gazette

A Potomac company is suing Rockville and former and current city officials for $750,000 for their roles in preventing industrial development on a 10-acre site adjacent to Lincoln Park. Westmore Development LLC, which used to own a majority of the property at 1000 Westmore Ave., filed the suit Feb. 18 in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Westmore claims Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, Councilman John Britton, former mayors Susan Hoffmann and Larry Giammo, and former Councilman Robert Dorsey improperly hampered its efforts to further develop the property. A hearing for Rockville’s motion to dismiss the case is scheduled for June 14.

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I-95 Corridor

National Harbor adds $100M Tanger Factory Outlet complex

May 23, 2011
Daily Record

National Harbor will be adding a $100 million retail outlet as part of a plan by its developers to expand the convention and resort complex into a one-stop shop for visitors. Tanger Outlets at National Harbor is expected to be home to about 80 outlet designer and name-brand stores in a 350,000 -square-foot center on 40 acres, according to plans announced Monday. The outlets are just one part of plans by The Peterson Cos., developer of National Harbor, to create a family-friendly attraction at the sprawling complex on the shore of the Potomac River in Prince George’s County.

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Western Md/ West Virginia:

Yale Drive extension project OK’d; Funkstown bypass pushed back

May 24, 2011
Herald-Mail

The Washington County Board of Commissioners Tuesday voted 4-1 to approve a capital improvement budget that includes an extension of Yale Drive through Mount Aetna Farms but delays the Funkstown bypass project known as Southern Boulevard. The “no” vote came from Commissioners President Terry Baker, who opposed the level of borrowing in the plan and has spoken out against using taxpayer funds to extend Yale Drive. Residents filled the audience during the vote, many of them holding signs in support of a senior center project, while others sported signs protesting roads through Mount Aetna Farms.