Development

Wonderful developments and homes can be found in many parts of the County. Homes that are in walking distance to shops, some that are easily accessible by bicycles as well as communities that by their very design encourage outdoor activities and meeting the new neighbors. Unfortunately, other less desirable developments have also been built, often with inadequate infrastructure to support them.

Consequently, traffic near these areas worsen, schools overflow and everyone, except those who profited by building such developments, suffers. In many cases the entities responsible for these problems are large corporations, based far from Maryland.

In other cases, developers have followed all of the rules – yet the results are less than desirable from the standpoint of worsening traffic and overcrowded schools. While it may be easy to single out the developers as the source of the problems, in many cases that is not a complete or fair assessment. The fact is, with very few exceptions, everyone in the County lives in structures that were built by developers or builders. Nearly everyone relies upon them in one way or another and, with regard to the smaller builders and developers, many of them live in the County and they are our neighbors.

In order to solve the problems of inadequate transportation and schools, for example, we will need to rely upon the builders – who else will build our roads and schools?

We are all in this together and we need to find solutions collaboratively that work for everyone while at the same time protecting the environment and jobs.

Problems

• Many communities have already been built based upon faulty planning data.
• More communities continue to be approved based upon faulty planning data.
• A fallacy exists that if a Master Plan is followed, all is well.
• The existing planning process is costly for builders and developers to comply with in terms of bureaucratic delays and inconsistent decisions.

Solutions – On the County Council, Steve will work to:

a) Require that adequate infrastructure be in place prior to permitting additional development in areas that cannot support it.

b) Move vital aspects of the planning process from Park and Planning to the Executive Branch, as was recently recommended by the Department of Permitting Services Advisory Committee, such that the Planning Process is subject to oversight by the County Government and the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”). Despite controlling billions of dollars worth of construction projects, the OIG reports that, Park and Planning’s operations with regard to planning have never had a performance audit.

c) Include a representative of the School System on the Development Review Committee - the planning committee for which all new developments must be approved. This representative must have the responsibility for assuring that adequate class sizes be maintained prior to granting authorization for additional homes within the school's catchment area. This representative would have the same authority as the Fire Marshal, for example to make certain that turning radiuses are adequate for fire trucks, or PEPCO, to make certain that electric service was adequate, prior to approving additional development.

d) Expand the role and budget of the Office of the Inspector General. Numerous cases exist of this Office returning far greater savings than its total operating budget. With regard to security of the County’s assets, the County needs to be run as successful businesses, and governments. It is important to learn how it is that the development process has become so broken such that the County not repeat its mistakes.

e) Implement clear and unambiguous rules with regard to protecting the environment. Click here for additional information on protecting the environment.

Steve would like to know your thoughts on these issues. Click here to share them with him.

Donate Now