MacRo shares a campaign platform wish list from a commercial real estate perspective.

In “Mayor, Mayor, on the Wall, Who’s the Strongest of Them All?” I gave an overview of the candidates for the 2013 City of Frederick mayoral election.  This is the second part of that post.

In follow up, here are the goals I believe the next mayor of Frederick should pursue:

1.  Bring the City of Frederick’s fiscal house to order.

Post-employment benefit and pension obligations: This line item is a tremendous burden on the budgets of municipalities across the country. While the current administration has made adjustments during the past year—by  increasing participant contributions, changing the calculations for retirement age and salary basis, increasing the age of early retirement, and dropping a several hundred thousand into the city’s OPEB and pension funds—it seems to me that there is a lot more work to do to tame this albatross.  This is one Can that can not be kicked any more.

Tax equity between the city and the county: A reasonable effort was made between these two jurisdictions over the issue of the double taxation of city residents and businesses for services provided by the county for the benefit of the city.  While a tax-differential calculation is a good concept, is a $0.04 reduction in property taxes enough to resolve this issue?

Merge city and county services where appropriate: For several years I wondered if there was a cost efficiency to local government if the city were to annex all of Frederick County in under its umbrella, a strategy adopted by many cities throughout the country—Jacksonville, Florida and Indianapolis, Indiana to name two.  But after further review, I realized that creating bigger bureaucracy does not necessarily make for a more efficient government.  That said, the idea of merging the departments of the city and county water and sewer services, among others, could make sense.

2.  Serious pursuit of economic development.

We all know about the plans to complete the next phase of the Carroll Creek Linear Park, and hats off to the current administration for finding the funding to do so, but that alone is a mere fresh coat of paint to what else could be done.

Adjust expectations on hotel/conference center: The city has placed a great focus and expense on laying out guideline to attract a hotel/conference center for downtown.  And while studies that have been produced show how a 200 plus room hotel and 15,000 square foot conference center  will bring tremendous economic benefit to downtown, from the commercial real estate developer perspective none of the studies prove something of that size to be a worthy investment risk.  Lowering the sites on what is feasible now will make sense.

Complete airport runway expansion: According to my calculations, nearly $20 million has been invested in tower construction and property acquisition around the airport … not including the costs associated with the extension of Monocacy Boulevard.  That’s more than a big investment.  But still nothing has been done to complete acquisition of the easements required to lengthen the runways.  Imagine the economic benefit and revenue boost the city will gain from expanding Maryland’s second busiest airport!  This may be a challenge giving that the FAA is facing cuts from sequestration, but still worth pursuing.

Resolve unrealistic land use plans: Back in 2005 (I like to refer to the years around that time as the “Fantasy Years”), the City adopted a masterful novel called the Land Management Code.  Upon reflection and subsequent application (or lack thereof), it has become clear that many parts of that volume established unrealistic expectations that do not work for the new world order.  Consider the residential density formula for vacant downtown parcels … from a multifamily development perspective an increase could be warranted for certain core areas of downtown, which could provide the additional benefit of bringing more workforce housing to Frederick.

Better use of parking meters and decks, and onsite parking requirements: I could and should devote an entire blog post on this issue.  Meager efforts have been made in addressing how to generate enough revenue from meters to be able to finance the parking structure planned behind the headquarters of Frederick County Public Schools.  Imagine the incredible boost in property tax revenues the City of Frederick could realize from expanding development along the Carroll Creek … and the secret lies in two things: density and parking.

Resolve the sewer and water tap fees issue: Water and sewer tap fees are a significant hurdle to new service-sector businesses trying to locate downtown. Every commercial real estate agent in Frederick knows this is a common roadblock the stops prospective tenants and buyers cold. Even restaurateurs with the clout of Bryan Voltaggio struggle to overcome the expenses involved in opening new locations downtown.

3.  Fearless leadership and decision making:

For far too long the proverbial can has been kicked down the road from City Hall.  Much has been said about what has been accomplished; our next leader must be willing to truly address issues head on as the very fragile recovery continues.

At this point, I will give Mayor Randy the benefit of the doubt as a first term elected official, but I do think that he could have taken a stronger position on several of the issues listed above.  I believe that of this year’s crop of declared and would-be candidates all have the ability to lead.  But as the campaign gets more heated and the blood bath begins, let’s hope the strongest and best leader will emerge!

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 for Want2Dish.com.

Manor at Holly Hills could be the last high-end housing development in Frederick. 

Timing is everything.

Just as the first tender green shoots of a housing recovery are appearing, the custom building lots that comprise the Manor at Holly Hills have at long last been recorded in Frederick County.

The art of residential land development in Maryland always requires a hefty dose of patience, but some deals truly stand in a class by themselves.

While my adventures with Manor at Holly Hills have not been as arduous as those of my colleagues finishing the development planned for Lake Linganore, it’s been a long and frustrating road nevertheless–right up to the point of recording the lots.

I will save those details for a later post.

Suffice it to say, it has been a great deal of effort for a community that will consist of just 21 estate lots.  But this jewel of a community, tucked into the rolling countryside of East Frederick, is special.  It may well represent one of the last of its kind in this area for a generation or more.

As with many counties in Maryland, Frederick County has in recent years been caught in a tug-of-war between alternating administrations: those that follow PlanMaryland to the letter and those that would prefer Frederick to have some control over its own destiny from a land planning standpoint.

Plan Maryland puts an emphasis on the super-density communities with public water and sewer on tiny lots, like those seen throughout Montgomery County.  Some have referred to this as a form of social engineering that will ultimately change lifestyles and patterns of living in this county if followed to the letter.

This is a shame, as so many families move here for exactly the kind of wide-open spaces standard of living that rural Frederick County has offered in the past.

It becomes painfully obvious that there is a high demand for communities like Manor at Holly Hills given that MacRo has already received letter of interest on 65% of the lots with a minimum marketing effort.  This project could very well be sold out before the entrance road is complete.

Given the current battle going on between Maryland’s rural counties and Annapolis, it’s highly unlikely Frederick County will see too many more lower-density communities the likes of Manor at Holly Hills.  It’s also becoming harder to find developers who are willing and able to invest up to 7 years to achieve such a small number of lots.

Compounding the complexity and expense of residential development in Frederick are the environmental fees being mandated by the State of Maryland on the 10 counties deemed to be contributing to run-off in the Chesapeake Bay.  Frederick’s share is estimated to be a staggering $1.88 billion over the next five years.

Frederick County commissioners have contemplated going to jail rather than levying the mandatory fees and complying with the state’s interpretation of the vague “tiered” planning requirements mandated by our governor.

How the Smart Growth war will ultimately play out is anyone’s guess.  In the meantime, I’ll watch sadly as a chapter closes on residential development in Frederick County.

But then again, the lots at The Manor at Holly Hills are now recorded (Hooray!), and that creates a wonderful opportunity for a limited number of families to select this beautiful community to build their dream home.

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.

With the looming loss of Bechtel jobs, Frederick’s commercial office market needs new employers more than ever.

“If you didn’t like 2012, you probably aren’t going to like 2013.”

CoStar analyts opened their 2012 office market recap with that somewhat dubious statement, but in the end they delivered a mixed bag of good and bad news.

The U.S. office market is more or less reflecting the U.S. economy:  hot in some spots, a sluggish recovery overall, but moving in the right direction at least.

• Absorption overall in the U.S. office market has improved, meaning that more space is being leased up than is becoming vacant.   Not surprisingly, office markets with high concentrations of technology and energy businesses are red-hot right now:  Seattle, San Jose, and Pittsburgh (which posted the lowest vacancy rate among the 20 top markets in the U.S. due to it’s coal and shale industries).
• The Washington D.C./Maryland/Northern Virginia market has already seen the negative effects of government spending cutbacks.  Absorptions in that market dropped.  In fact, northern Virginia had the steepest decline (4 1/2%) in net absorption of any major market nationwide.  Interestingly, despite the increase in vacant office space there rents are continuing to climb in northern Virginia (perhaps because private businesses continue to flee Maryland for Virginia’s business friendly tax structure).
• REITs are now buying portfolios of office buildings (as opposed to single purchases of large iconic buildings in top markets like New York and Washington, D.C.)  In fact, CoStar declared “the window for top-dollar deals in D.C. has closed.” REITs are shopping instead in secondary and tertiary markets for buildings that offer better yields than top markets will bear.
• Bechtel is vacating 123,000 SF of office space in Frederick this year.  That is a blow to the Frederick market, and is nudging Frederick’s office vacancy rates up to almost 15%, which otherwise would have remained stable around 13.5%.

The loss of a major employer like Bechtel and higher vacancies in Bethesda and Rockville will likely put some pressure on the Frederick office market this year.  And we don’t yet know what the fallout of government spending cuts will be.

There’s really only one solution to the problem, as MacRo Report Blog has covered repeatedly:

MARYLAND NEEDS MORE PRIVATE EMPLOYERS IN MARYLAND.

During a recent roundtable of Frederick’s commercial real estate professionals, my colleague Gary Large of Ausherman Properties said it best: ”We can’t fill 3 million square feet of unoccupied office space with companies from Frederick.”

2012 TOP 5 COMMERCIAL OFFICE SALES IN FREDERICK, MARYLAND

1) $16,511,000            PNC Bank Building – 110 Thomas Johnson Drive

Greenfield Partners purchased this office building in a portfolio sale of 23 properties worth $161,900,000 from Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) in July.  The building is 122,491 SF in size ($134.79/SF).

2)  $3,350,000           North Ridge Professional Center – 130 Thomas Johnson Drive

This 13,204 SF medical office building with multiple tenants sold in June ($253.71/SF).

3)  $950,000              45 East All Saints Street

An investor purchased this 5,585 SF office building that backs up to Carroll Creek in downtown Frederick ($170.10/SF).

4)  $714,010             Conley Farm Building 1 – 7101 Guilford Drive, Unit 100

A Square Investments, LLC. purchased this office condominium in September from Clagett Enterprises.  The property is 3,097 SF ($230.55/SF).

5)  $670,000             New Market Professional Center – 164 West Main Street, Units E & F

Lighthouse Financial Advisors sold this property in July.  The two office condominums total 2,897 SF ($231.27/SF).

There were a couple of office buildings that sold in Frederick that qualified for this list based on recorded selling price, but as they appear not to be non-arms length transactions and not necessarily representative of true market value, they were not included.

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.

It only took a few hours from the time our post on the role of Charter Government in the Comprehensive Planning Process was published to receive a comment from Jack Lynch, Editor of the Frederick Citizen:

Rocky,

I do understand how your world view brings you to think that charter simplifies the [comprehensive]  planning process, but if trust has been broken, it is broken in terms of the public feeling empowered by the planning process to bring good public outcomes for all.

It’s not a locked down, land owner oriented process we need, but a return to planning principles that reflect wider interests, and follow state guidelines.

We also need a broader regional view of planning, and engagement across jurisdictions beyond Frederick County.

The logic of your argument does not fulfill your ends if a Jan Gardner [former president of the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners - BoCC] is elected County Executive under charter. In fact, that could impose upon your interests a draconian brick wall to your vision for development.

Jack

****

Dear Jack,

It is always a pleasure to receive a comment on the MacRo Report Blog from Frederick’s one and only self-professed curmudgeon.

That stated, after reading your comments, I must respectfully disagree with many of your assumptions of how I view the world and the role that charter home rule can impact government actions.

Allow me to touch on each:

Charter Government as a Simplifier  I do not expect that instituting a charter form of government in Frederick County will simplify the planning process. The planning process will be the same planning process as outlined by Article 66B of Maryland’s Annotated Code.  The proposed charter does not change any part of the process that all Boards of County Commissioners have operated under.

I know that you made it clear several weeks ago in the Frederick News Post that you are not a fan of charter government for a number of reasons (nearly all of which I take issue with).

What charter will do is bring to our county government broader community representation, a balance of power and more assurances than the votes of just three elected Commissioner members can give.

Let us not forget that many in our community have often charged the BoCC as a dictatorship (i.e., how many have felt of the reign of Lennie Thompson or currently some are saying about that of  Blaine Young).

By broader representation the county would have one elected executive who will represent the county and run the day to day operations.  His/Her job will be to carry out the policies set by a seven member council.

Within this new structure it will now require at least four votes from the council and one from the county executive, or if the exec vetos the plan, then it will require a super-majority of the council to over-ride that action – a similar concept that all twelve of Frederick County’s chartered municipalities operate under.

With charter home rule these actions require a greater consensus.  This alone will contribute to providing what we agree on: a planning process that will “bring good public outcomes for all.”

Based upon this alone, I think the checks and balances of a charter home rule structure can instill more trust in our local government.

Land Owner Based Planning   In reference to your statement of planning being “a locked down, land owner oriented process,” again the form of government has nothing to do with the process undertaken by the Frederick County Planning Commission.

The only difference as stated above is how selection decisions are made on the front end … and final decisions on the back end … both of which would provide for a much better vetting process, which in the end is solely intended to “bring good public outcomes for all.”

Broader Regional Planning   While I whole-heatedly agree with our statement that our process needs to include a “broader regional view of planning, and engagement across jurisdictions beyond Frederick County,” I think that you are putting the cart way before the horse on this one, Jack.

I have long professed that one of the biggest problems our county government has had is the lack of full engagement with the twelve municipalities with our county boundaries.

This was one of my biggest complaints with the 2010 Comp Plan … I heard first hand from county, city and town planners that there was virtually no collaboration amongst these groups.  I don’t fault any individual BoCC administration for this, because it seems that to varying degrees it has always been done that way … which does not make it right.

So my take is that your statement is a wonderful goal to strive for, but let us get our internal communication and planning coordinated first.

There is only one way that I believe that a charter form of government can benefit this issue:  Leadership.

With a county executive we will have one individual who is solely accountable to the public for seeing that such collaboration takes place.  If the council deems that this is a must and the exec doesn’t perform, then the exec can not legitimately blame anyone else as so often has been the case with the BoCC.

County Executive Who?      My final gripe with your perception of my views is truly my favorite:  That the “logic of [my] argument does not fulfill [my] ends if a Jan Gardner is elected County Executive under charter. In fact that could impose upon [my] interests a draconian brick wall to [my] vision for development.”

OMG! as they say, you are (in my humble opinion) so off base on this one! I am an advocate of Charter government no matter who is elected as county executive or to the county council.  Charter is about FORM & STRUCTURE not INDIVIDUALS.

Frankly, (and you may not be aware of this) I was a strong supporter of Ms. Gardner being named president of the last BoCC (2006~2010). I expressed that to her early on.  Under the former antiquated policy the individual with the most votes garnered in the majority party became the board president.

I felt it was time to change that, especially because, in my opinion, she was much more prepared to fulfill that role.

Even though she and I do not see eye to eye on a number of issues, if Jan Gardner chose to throw her hat in the ring for County Executive, I would not shake in my boots …. as a matter of fact, I’d have no problem if you took a run at it either.  The proposed charter does not make it any harder or easier for anyone of a certain political party or philosophy to get elected.

The beauty of charter is that while it is not impossible that one individual with strong and uncompromising views can reign over the entire county, it is much more improbable that the county would be subjected to the whimsical swings of that pendulum every four years … My take is that our citizenry is tired of the instability it has caused.

This is where form and structure make a real difference.

Vision of Development    As for my “vision of development,” I’m not sure what you think my vision actually is, but that should be the topic of another conversation.

****

At the end of the day, Jack, I am not aware that you, over the last 16 months, have ever attended any of the Charter Writing Board meetings, the outreach events or engaged in a direct face to face conversation with any of our twelve board members regarding your views on charter.

There are a lot of misconceptions about what charter home rule is and is not, so I invite you and any other concerned Frederick County citizen to feel free to contact me or one of the other eleven board members directly so that we can learn from each other in a healthy conversation and/or debate on this vital ballot issue.

Best wishes and I look forward to further communications,

Rocky

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.

Could Charter Home Rule help to restore trust in Frederick County’s comprehensive land use planning process?

On July 31 the Frederick County Planning Commission (FcPc) and the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) will hold a joint public hearing on the 2012 comprehensive plan and zoning review.

This will be the first public meeting of the two groups since the FcPc made the unprecedented decision this past November to discontinue their participation in the zoning review process.

With two new members appointed by the BoCC last month to the FcPc, one can only  hope that a more rational discourse will take place in the hearing room.

However, land use planning in Frederick County has become a reflection of politics at large here in the US:  two polarized extreme viewpoints, both sides fervently believing they alone have a flag firmly planted on the moral high ground.

Depending upon who you ask, the 2010 Comprehensive Plan was either a far-sighted plan designed to preserve Frederick County’s farmland and bucolic way of life, or a heavy-handed land grab by local “like minders” of Governor O’Malley’s PlanMaryland that essentially strives to wipe out the concept of compensation for development rights.

Despite popular opinion to the contrary, most real estate developers, farmers, real estate professionals, and even local land speculators generally agree with the concept to preserve our agricultural heritage and excellent lifestyle.  They merely seek a set of governmental rules and regulations that they can rely upon from one year to the next … and one administration to the next.

The previous BoCC (lead by its president Jan Gardner — 2006 to 2010) and their handpicked FcPc members took advantage of Maryland’s less than favorable respect for property rights laws when they chose to simply strip away the long held zoning of many landowners in the name of smart growth in what was clearly an incomprehensible plan.

It was unreasonable, at best, to think that there would not be serious backlash from the massive number of downzonings that resulted from the plan.

Consider the case of Frederick’s most infamous step-child Lake Linganore, which was the subject of a significant depletion of density in Gardner’s 2010 comprehensive plan.  The end result was that the project was once again thrown into financial ruin after millions of dollars and proffers were invested in planning, infrastructure and property taxes based upon a previously approved larger project of 14,000 homes.

How can the comprehensive land use planning process be structured so that it is consistent and reliable from one administration to the next?

I can remember a time when the county’s comprehensive plan was just that — a living breathing document that while occasionally tweaked, its overall message was consistent for decades.  Of course some of those “tweaks” upset different groups along the way, but the plan was the plan … and it was respected, because businesses, residents and investors could rely on its consistency.

A comprehensive plan is NOT a mandate for growth.  It is a blueprint, a guideline, for accommodating future population growth and commercial development where it is projected to occur or channeled by planning over what is a typically twenty-year time span.

When a comprehensive plan is used as a political statement from one administration to next, the community at large quickly looses trust in the document.  Lack of trust breaks down the core of what government is all about, and before one sees it coming a comprehensive plan can become the stimulus of deep divide and political polarization.

Like a disease, polarization can infect the heart of a community.  Once the infection spreads it becomes very hard to rebuild the trust and respect in all that a government is responsible for providing its citizens.

It’s been nearly fifteen years that this political disease has been mutating out of control in the Frederick community.  That’s about the time that the phrase “if the developers win, you lose” was introduced by then BoCC candidate John “Lennie” Thompson, who reflected the sentiment of many who were beginning to lose faith in their local leaders.

While that campaign slogan worked well politically for Mr. Thompson, it was probably one of the most significant ingredients that cast out the spirit of compromise to planning in exchange for severe polarization over land use issues.

Once Thompson was elected into office, counter groups (such as Defenders of Citizens Rights) were formed by local property rights advocates to challenge the radical land use changes he preached … this divide threatened the reliability of the county’s comprehensive planning process.

I must admit I got caught up in the paranoia and took sides with the property rights advocates, when it was clear that the sacred land planning process was quickly on its way to becoming a partisan political hot potato.  Subsequent commissioner campaigners used this blazing spud as a tool to garner votes.

When the dust settled from each campaign, the new board of five members set out to form pacts of at least three members to push their collective political agenda through partisan appointments to the FcPc.

It wasn’t long before any consistency and reliability eroded away with each four year swing of the pendulum.

Our community has become fractured from the speed and weight of what became a swinging steel wrecking ball … from a change every four years in the political philosophies of a majority of just three commissioners.

Think about that … three people.

The fact that dramatic shifts have occurred this often for so many years (three times in the last six years), tells me that trust in county government has deteriorated to an all-time low.

While I am a open advocate of many of the efforts of the current BoCC administration, especially when it comes to restoring the zoning and property rights to those who were slighted by the 2010 comprehensive plan, it is blatantly clear that our community needs to find a way to bridge the deeply polarized divide between the so-called forces of growth versus no-growth.

While the comprehensive planning process is cast in the stone tablets of Article 66B of the Annotated Code of Maryland, what can be done at the top to restore trust in our local county government?

Over the last sixteen months I served as one of twelve appointed members to the Frederick County Charter Writing Board. The experience once again showed me the value of compromise for the good of the whole.  This group of individuals all held differing opinions on how to structure a new constitution for Frederick County.

I have written extensively on the MacRo Report Blog expressing my opinion on the benefits of changing our form of government to one with a balance of power and the better representation that charter home rule would bring to Frederick County.

Such a move will place an elected county executive as the one individual who is accountable for carrying out policies set by a seven-member county council.  A change to charter home rule will offer Frederick County citizens broader representation than currently afforded the community at large.

The simple majority of three like minded BoCC members will be replaced with a structure that provides a balance of power in setting policy and carrying it out.

There is no question that the force of the land planning pendulum will be slowed to a more healthy speed, which will aid in regaining trust on our local government once again.

Think about it.

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.

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.