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.

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.

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 Vote on Land Use Plan and Zoning

During today’s Administrative Business session, the BOCC voted 3-1 to initiate a comprehensive review of the Land Use Plan designations and Zoning decisions from the 2010 Countywide Comprehensive Plan and Zoning update. The BOCC will open up the review to property owners who were affected by a change in land use classification or rezoning. The Community Development Division will begin the 45-day public notification and application process on June 1st. The BOCC also voted 3-1 to move forward with a proposed Pilot Program for Revised Water and Sewer Public Improvement Agreements (PWA).

City of Frederick pushes for school funds

May 18, 2011
Frederick News-Post

Adequate public facilities ordinances were the topic of the day Tuesday when the Board of Education and the Board of County Commissioners met in their regular monthly meeting. Frederick Mayor Randy McClement met with the boards to discuss how APFOs affect the City of Frederick and expressed concern over having no control over issues and policies that affect the way the city does business.

Frederick County zoning to allow bigger buildings

May 18, 2011
Frederick News-Post

The Frederick County Commissioners were torn Tuesday night between helping property owners in Urbana and protecting the historic nature of Jefferson. The commissioners opted to only slightly increase allowed building size in land designated with “village center” zoning — which includes properties in Urbana, Jefferson and other unincorporated areas such as Adamstown. As part of a package of zoning changes, they had been considering a change allowing those properties to have building footprints exceeding the current 8,000-square-foot limit.

Petitioners taking case to court

May 18, 2011
Frederick News-Post

Petitioners who want an elected charter-writing board have a lawyer to take their case. The Frederick County Board of Elections ruled Friday that eight petitioners seeking to become candidates for an elected charter-writing board did not have enough valid signatures to call for a special election. Lawyer and former Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. said Tuesday he will ask the Circuit Court of Frederick County for a judicial review of the decision.

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Montgomery County:

Estimated cost of Purple Line light rail rises to $1.93B

May 18, 2011
Washington Post

Building a 16-mile Purple Line through Montgomery and Prince George’s counties will take two years longer and cost $135 million more than previous estimates, Maryland officials say. The light-rail line, a project of the Maryland Transit Administration, is now predicted to cost $1.93 billion — up from the $1.79 billion the state estimated in July 2009. Cost estimates have risen because of design changes and the fact that the line is now forecast to open in 2020 instead of 2018, adding two years of adjustments for inflation, according to state officials.

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Western MD/ WV

Controversial Mount Aetna Farms road plan discussed ahead of vote

May 17, 2011
Herald-Mail

New details about a controversial road network proposed through the undeveloped Mount Aetna Farms property near Hagerstown emerged Tuesday during a Washington County Board of Commissioners work session. The latest concept plan for roads through the site, which is located between Hagerstown Community College and Meritus Medical Center, estimates the cost at about $27.4 million, according to a presentation from county Public Works Director Joseph Kroboth III.

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Northern VA / DC

Idea of an Outer Beltway opposed by environmentalists

May 18, 2011
WTOP

Some environmental groups are opposing an effort by the administration of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to resurrect plans for a highway that would connect northern Virginia’s outer suburbs in Loudoun and Prince William counties. For years, some planners have advocated what’s been called an “Outer Beltway” or a western bypass. It would be a mostly north-south highway that would serve the region’s fast-growing outer suburbs. On Wednesday in Richmond, Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board will consider a proposal from state Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton to declare such a highway a “corridor of statewide significance.” The designation might make it easier to obtain funding.

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National:

First-time homebuyers rise but not enough to lift the weak housing market

May 19, 2011
Washington Post

Fewer people purchased previously occupied homes in April. Activity among first-time homebuyers increased and foreclosure sales declined, but those factors weren’t enough to signal a recovery in the weak housing market. Sales of previously occupied homes fell 0.8 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s far below the 6 million homes a year that economists say represents a healthy market.

Builders broke ground on fewer homes in April; apartment construction plunged

May 17, 2011
Washington Post

Construction of new homes plummeted in April, dragged down by a major drop in apartment building. Builders broke ground on 10.6 percent fewer new homes last month from the previous month. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 523,000 homes per year, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That’s less than half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists consider a sign of a healthy market.

(Friday, February 18, 2011) Baltimore, MD – The Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission has scheduled a hearing and briefing for Tuesday, March 1, 2011. The purpose of this meeting is to brief the 36-member commission on legislation introduced in the General Assembly which would affect the use of on-site sewage disposal (i.e. septic) systems for large subdivisions, as defined in the bills (HB 1107 and SB 846), and impose other restrictions on their use.

What

Hearing and Briefing of the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission

When

Monday, March 1, 2011
10:00 a.m.

Where

Banneker- Douglass Museum
84 Franklin Street
Annapolis, MD

This is an open meeting. The public is welcome to audit the proceedings. The commission agenda may allow time for public comment following official business but is not guaranteed.

For more information, visit http://planning.maryland.gov/YourPart/773/sustainableGrowthComm.shtml

To read more about the impact of this bill click on this link.

It’s called “The Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act or 2011” — aka “The Ban Rural Building Lots and Reduce the Value of Agricultural Easement Dollars Act of 2011″

The proposal that Maryland Governor O’Malley introduced in his speech last week has been released.  Through the courtesy of  Dusty Rood, AICP, LEED AP, Senior Principal with Rodgers Consulting, Inc. the  private Septic Ban Bill_021011 is summarized as follows:

1. After July 1, 2011, disallow the approval or recordation of residential subdivisions of 5 or more lots that use septic
2. After July 1, 2011, require that minor subdivisions (less than 5 residential lots) on septic utilize Nitrogen Removal Technology.

There is a grandfather provision that exempts certain new projects from the proposal if:

1. A subdivision application has been “made before January 1, 2011; and the subdivision plat is recorded before July 1, 2012; or”
2. A subdivision application has been “made on or after January 1, 2011; and the subdivision plat is recorded before June 1, 2011.”

The Maryland Home Builders Association recently put on some information regarding the proposed septic ban bill.  It’s worth reading.

Meg Tully, staff writer for the  Frederick News Post reported on February 17, 2011 that Most Frederick County lawmakers oppose bill limiting septic systems.

For more detail on what lead up to this read the MacRo Report Blog post: Farmland and Rural Building Lots face new threats from EPA

The latest announcement from Maryland Governor O’Malley over his proposed ban on septic systems is just scratching the surface of threats to the value of farms and rural real estate.

After doing my research for this post, I feel like I have stepped into a fresh cow pie … literally!  Having spent much of my childhood working and playing on the family farm, that is something not unusual for me.

There is more depth to this issue than meets the eye.

America’s rural and agricultural land has been under pressure for years by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to play an increasingly larger role in saving our waterways.

Using the Clean Water Act (1972) and the Chesapeake Bay as justification for laying down the law for excessive nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into the bay’s tributaries, the agency recently tightened the screws even more just sixty days ago with the introduction of its Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program.

Affectionately know as the Pollution Diet, the EPA has calculated what they consider “acceptable” levels of nitrogen, phosphates and sediment that can enter the waterways and tributaries in the 64,000 square mile watershed region encompassing Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.

I had considered titling this post the EPA’s Nitrogen Bomb on Farmland; however in doing my research I came across a very educational 2001 article in Discover Magazine entitled The Nitrogen Bomb.  This piece provides a historical perspective on how synthetic nitrogen came to be in Europe in the late 1800’s as a fertilizer to save the continent from the prospects of mass starvation.  It goes on to explain how this product has grown from a life saver to one that when used excessively has become a major pollutant to our waterways.

With that stated, I am not aware of any fair and reasonable person who is not in favor of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways across the nation. The reality is, however, that the business of agriculture and the use of rural lands should not be pushed to comply with such radical changes to the detriment of their ability to conform at the cost of their livelihood and investment.  Such changes require time, diligence and the cooperation of all stakeholders.

Carrying this matter further are the serious questions raised by many in and outside of the agricultural community as to whether the EPA actually has the legal authority to exercise these mandates.

Of equal concern is the validity of the calculations used to establish the TMDL program.  A fellow writer for TheTentacle.com, Farrell Keough, authored an excellent piece on this topic in December 2010 entitled The Devil’s in the Details.

It is not only he who has expressed concerns.  Just last month the American Farm Bureau (AFB) along with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit against the EPA on the grounds stated above.

These bureau’s and others are also very concerned that the bay region is being used as a launch pad to take this TMDL effort nationwide to protect the Mississippi River watershed and other areas … before facts are truly established and stakeholder cooperation is achieved.

As AFB President Bob Stallman put it, “this diet threatens to starve agriculture out” of the region.  He also is quoted as saying that it is important to note that: “Like all Americans, farmers want a clean Chesapeake Bay.  They are already working throughout the Chesapeake Bay region and across the nation to implement real, on-the-ground conservation measures, to improve water.”

While all this is going on, Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley announced last week that in the state’s effort to do it’s part, he is beckoning the call of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to call on the Maryland Department of Environment to ban the use of private septic systems (referred to by the state as Onsite Sewage Disposal Systems or OSDS) for any subdivision greater than 4 lots.   The claim here is that the average OSDS discharges as much as 32 pounds of excessive nitrogen and phosphates into the ground water each year, which eventually ends up polluting the Bay.

For the last few years the state has offered septic tank users the ability to trade in their old ones for a new BAT (Best Available Technology) model fully paid for and installed by the government.   These BATs are installed with a costly electronic devise that deals with these pollutants.  I am not aware of how actively the program has been promoted and what level of success it has experienced.  Furthermore, I was not able to find any studies that validated the claim that the 420,000 systems in Maryland dump the claimed 5 million pounds of these pollutants in the bay each year.

Many question whether O’Malley and his team at MDE and the Maryland Department of Planning under guise of a new chapter of Smart Growth program, called PlanMaryland, is using this OSDS issue as a means of stepping up its vision to rid the state of private septic systems altogether.

In the words of Frederick County Farm Bureau President Tom Browning, he simply asks that with all the studies and numbers thrown around “What is truth?”

Fellow member and past bureau president Chuck Fry said that as much as the government says they want to help agriculture, the costs of one regulation on top of the other and the theft of our property rights is like saying to farmers “watch my right hand wiggle, while I rob your wallet with my left hand!”

One can only imagine how all of this commotion will impact the value of farmland and other rural real estate.  As with any looming governmental action, the market tends to hesitate and err on the side of extreme caution … which does not bode well for land sale prices in the near future.  One thing for sure is that the value of farmland and agricultural preservation easement dollars are sure to drop as the development potential of rural lands erode away.

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

Here is a reprint of a post on the Cheapeake Bay Foundation website.  As we warned back in October 2010, it appears that  Mr. O’Malley does have a Septic Problem! More than anything this could have deep ramifications on the rural and agricultural communities across the state of Maryland.

In O’Malley’s speech last Thursday, he stated ”You and I can turn around this damaging trend by banning the further installation of septic systems in major new Maryland housing developments. This is common sense. This is urgently needed.”   …  So what’s next Governor?

The Baltimre Sun posted an article Thursday: “Developers distressed over bid to curb septic systems“

(ANNAPOLIS, MD)—Kim Coble, Maryland Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, issued the following statement following Governor O’Malley’s announcement of support today for limiting development on septic systems in Maryland:

“This is a bold step. We are pleased Governor O’Malley recognizes the potential benefits of limiting major development projects that use septic systems, an old technology. We applaud him for this major commitment towards restoring the Bay and for his continued environmental leadership.

“Maryland, through its Watershed Implementation Plan, has agreed to take steps to reduce nutrient pollution. Using septic systems on major subdivisions runs counter to the state’s commitment.

“All the progress we hope to make in reducing pollution from other sources—wastewater treatment plants, urban and suburban streets, coal plants, cars, farms—all could be undone if we continue to allow sprawl growth using septic systems in our rural areas. It will be one step forward and two steps backward.”

“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) called for similar action in our formal comments submitted for the Maryland Watershed Implementation Plan. We feel this is a top priority for meeting the state’s pollution diet, and for restoring a biological system that is still dangerously out of balance.”

Expanding on the topic of preserving unique pieces of rural real estate and farmland:

In a previous post Saving Farmland with Transferable Development Rights we provided some information on the basics of  a TDR program and how with careful planning and administration it can be a significant component in channeling growth and development of building lots. 

Equally as important it can be a very effective tool for preserving farmland, conservation areas and even historic places.
 
While not for every community, there are many that are ripe for such programs.  So, what are the common features and attributes of the most successful programs around the nation?
 
1.   Growth is good:  A community that adopts a TDR program must embrace a healthy and consistent level of development activity.  For many communities the interpretation of this phrase can cause a lot of debate over what is “healthy” growth.
 
2.   Simplicity for the participants:  While the establishment of a TDR program can be very complex to craft, the process must be simple and easy to understand for real estate owners and developers.
 
3.   Synergistic:  Transferable Development Right programs work best in conjunction with other Federal, state, county and/or city preservation programs.
 
4.   Public support:  Land developers must buy in to the concept and see that it makes economic sense.  Real estate developers need to be assured that the addition of a TDR program is not just another way that government will add more layers of costs and/or bureaucratic hurdle on top of what many believe is already a complex process to obtain governmental approvals.
 
5.   Fair and balanced:  The rural land property owners must be comfortable with the trade-offs that come with a TDR program.  Often elected officials will down zone away subdivision rights from rural property in exchange for an offsetting number of transferable development rights.  This can be a slippery slope in that historically, if the program is not properly structured, value can be lost.
 
6.   Bigger is better:  Create a large and sustainable market place.  The sending and receiving areas should be big enough and balanced so that there is a large number of rural property owners (sending areas) and developer opportunities (receiving areas) to allow the free market system to work.
 
7.   Bank it:  In many jurisdictions the local government has created what is known as a TDR Bank.  In such cases the bank will purchase TDRs from the sending areas in order to stimulate the market or accelerate the preservation of land in a certain area.  Transferable development rights can then be resold to developers who wish to increase density in receiving areas.  There are many pluses to such a system; however, it is often easy for government to upset the system by controling the number that they are willing to sell and thereby over influencing the market value.  
 
8.   No way around it:    Government policy requires the use of TDRs in order to increase density in the designated receiving areas.  There can be no way around using transferable development rights to increase the bonus units that are obtainable through the program.
 
9.   The Easement trade off:  Land preservation easements (typically perpetual) are placed on the rural land once the TDRs are transferred off of the property.
 
10.  City / County cooperation:  In an era where many communities plan for most growth to occur in and around municipalities, inter-jurisdictional cooperation is necessary.  This is especially important with annexations which can often take large tracts out of the mix which can throw the ratio of sending and receiving areas out of balance.
 
11.  Nothing lasts forever:  It is important to know these programs have a life.  Once the goals of the program are accomplished the party is over. Eventually all or most of the development rights will be sold or the receiving areas developed out.

12.  Administrative oversight:  Without a doubt once established and active, it is essential that there be sufficient staff support to tract the transfers of TDRs, the easements that are placed on the impacted properties, as well as the bonus density that was provided.  Without staff oversight, in an active market, it can quickly become a nightmare to easily access which properties still have development rights.  This occurred in the early years of the Montgomery County, Maryland program, but much time was devoted to correct it.  Washington, D.C. (yes, believe it or not D.C. has TDRs) on the other hand  has had an active market, but fell so far behind in tracking transfers that it became mired in threats of lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape.
 
13.  No small task:  The idea of transferring development rights from one piece of real estate to another is simple enough, but to establish a successful program it truly requires broad support for all stakeholders in a community.  Clear vision of the goals must be established collaboratively.   This in and of itself is no small task, but for the few communities who have created successful programs, most would say that it is worth it.
 
In future posts on this series, we will look at some examples of successful and failed transferable development right programs.  We’ll also explore some nontraditional programs.

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

This is a reprint of Mr. Mackintosh’s article posted on TheTenacle.com of October 4, 2010.

For those who are fans of country living, including the farming community, it may be worthwhile to keep a close eye on what our governor is up to with his vision to put his stamp on Smart Growth.  The O’Malley version is called PlanMaryland. 

What is it exactly?  Well, as described on its beautifully formatted website, it is a program “to create a better and more sustainable future for Maryland. The state legislature created the authority for such a plan in the 1970s, but a broader recognition of the many costs of unsustainable land use has grown in recent years. This new planning process commenced with listening sessions that the Maryland Department of Planning held in 2008 and will culminate with a State Growth Plan proposal in 2011.”

The program has established 12 Planning Visions.  They are:

1. Quality of Life and Sustainability: A high quality of life is achieved through universal stewardship of the land, water, and air resulting in sustainable communities and protection of the environment.
   
2. Public Participation: Citizens are active partners in the planning and implementation of community initiatives and are sensitive to their responsibilities in achieving community goals.
   
3. Growth Areas: Growth is concentrated in existing population and business centers, growth areas adjacent to these centers, or strategically selected new centers.
   
4. Community Design: Compact, mixed–use, walkable design consistent with existing community character and located near available or planned transit options is encouraged to ensure efficient use of land and transportation resources and preservation and enhancement of natural systems, open spaces, recreational areas, and historical, cultural, and archeological resources.
   
5. Infrastructure: Growth areas have the water resources and infrastructure to accommodate population and business expansion in an orderly, efficient, and environmentally sustainable manner.
   
6. Transportation: A well–maintained, multi-modal transportation system facilitates the safe, convenient, affordable, and efficient movement of people, goods, and services within and between population and business centers.
   
7. Housing: A range of housing densities, types, and sizes provides residential options for citizens of all ages and incomes.
   
8. Economic Development: Economic development and natural resource–based businesses that promote employment opportunities for all income levels within the capacity of the State’s natural resources, public services, and public facilities are encouraged.
   
9. Environmental Protection: Land and water resources, including the Chesapeake and coastal bays, are carefully managed to restore and maintain healthy air and water, natural systems, and living resources.
   
10. Resource Conservation: Waterways, forests, agricultural areas, open space, natural systems, and scenic areas are conserved.
    
11. Stewardship: Government, business entities, and residents are responsible for the creation of sustainable communities by collaborating to balance efficient growth with resource protection.
    
12. Implementation: Strategies, policies, programs, and funding for growth and development, resource conservation, infrastructure, and transportation are integrated across the local, regional, state, and interstate levels to achieve these Visions.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak to a few of our local politicians who have attended a number of the planning meetings on this program.  They have been reading between the lines of such things like: “Growth is concentrated in existing population and business centers … sustainable communities and protection of the environment … to balance efficient growth with resource protection.” 

Combined with the fact that the Maryland Department of the Environment has made it reasonably clear that they have not been big fans of private septic and sewage systems, there is a fear that over a deliberate period of time the idea of having a dream home in the country or a building lot for the child of a farmer could move those ideas to the Land that Time Forgot.  

Bottom line is that such an action could hurt the values of rural land lots and real estate property, rendering some parcels very hard or impossible to develop. 

All we have to do is look at how our state agencies that focus on land use planning, land preservation, natural resources, and environmental protection have slowly but surely tightened the screws on the use of agricultural land and other open land. 

Now many of these polices have been a good thing, but just speak to members of the agricultural community anywhere in the state and anyone who has experienced the incredible hurdles associated with just clearing a stand of trees for the construction of a house or outbuildings.  On top of that, the related costs and time delays have become incredibly expensive.

While it has not been stated outright by those who have masterfully orchestrated the progress of PlanMaryland, I say keep your eyes open and beware if you are one of those who desire to make use of your property as good land stewards, but at the same time enjoy the rights that ownership should provide. 

A great resource for staying on top of state happenings is the website Center Maryland.

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

Guest writer Donavon Corum returns with the second part of his topic on Planning Assets.

In my last article entitled 6 Planning Assets that Build a Local Economy, I described the planning assets:  Natural Capital, Physical Capital, Human Capital, Institutional Capital, Financial Capital and Social Capital.  Natural and Physical capital are arguably the two key elements when establishing a sound economic foundation.

The State of Maryland, its counties and local jurisdictions have established some of the best Natural Capital protections and policies in the nation.  Such examples are the Forestry Conservation Act, Storm Water Act of 2007, Rural Legacy and MD Agriculture Preservation Foundation, Green Print Program, steep slope regulations, wetland and stream protection and buffers, and minimum required open space requirements.  These and many other regulations and programs have established strong principles for application to our community economic planning and have increased the value of our Natural Capital.

Physical Capital plays an important role in the creation and survival of the community and is the key to establishing Human Capital, Institutional Capital, Financial Capital and Social Capital.  Using the American railroad community as an example, we can examine Physical Capital at work.  The cities of Brunswick and Frederick are two communities with strong railroad ties in Frederick County. 

During the 19th century a large majority of settlements along railroad rights-of-way were built across North America and established a physical DNA that is still prevalent in today’s planning efforts.  Nothing can erase their impact on the community form.  We still see it today in our gridded street system and buildings that face existing or non-existing rails (such as East and All Saints streets in Frederick).  The railroad tracks and equipment themselves were the technological capacity of the 19th century.

Initially these railroad communities were created for economic purposes.  The building blocks of the community started with investors, entrepreneurs and businesses.  Then came employees with associated housing needs, which added more business and employment opportunities as nearby real estate was developed for commercial and industrial uses.  After this foundation was set, the creation of institutional uses (schools, churches, government entities and public buildings), cultural venues, additional transportation elements and public outdoor spaces followed.  Steadily over time, the community laid and established each new layer.  Thus one can see how the Physical Capital acts as a cornerstone that directs and imposes itself on the remaining planning assets: Human Capital, Institutional Capital, Financial Capital and the Social Capital.

Although railroads no longer occupy the most important position in the economic hierarchy, consider today’s technological capacity, the role of the highway in contemporary American life and the corresponding economy that has grown from this. 

The city of Frederick has adapted to the four major highways (Interstates 70 and 270, and US Rte 15 and 340) and today’s technology associated with Fort Detrick.  As with the railroads in the 19th century, the city of Frederick is further establishing itself as an economic engine for Frederick County.  With the railway infrastructure still existing in Brunswick, revitalization has been taking place.  Current and future residences are taking advantage of the MARC passenger railway service.  This re-establishes its principle in the Physical Capital asset.

 Therefore, fundamental to keeping our capital increasing in value is understanding that proper planning for growth and real estate development is a vital part of the Physical Capital and is a major engine of a strong economy.

Donavon Corum, RLA, AICP, and LEED AP  is the Managing Member of Design Core Studio, LLC, a Maryland Planning and Landscape Architecture Firm.  Donavon will be a speaker at the National Association of Home Builders 2011 International Builders Show in Orlando.  He is currently participating with the American Planning Association’s (APA) National Infrastructure Investment Task Force as part of the Green Sub-Task Force.