The Queen Anne's County Board of Commissioners is considering capping the number of residential building permits the county will grant each year. 

In a further blow to developers, the county Planning Commission last week recommended increasing impact fees. 

"We don't want to stop (the developers) with the impact fees, but they're going to have to pay their way," said county Commissioner John T. McQueeney, R-Stevensville, a non-voting member of the Planning Commission. 

Both moves are part of a four-pronged effort by the commissioners over the past year to control growth and ensure developers pay their fair share of the county's cost for sewer, water, roads and schools, said county spokesman Greg Nizza. 

"This is all part of a well thought-out plan by the commissioners," he said. "They are not just haphazardly making these decisions." 

Commissioners President George O'Donnell, D-Queenstown, said the commissioners haven't begun to decide how or when they will limit permits for new homes. 

"We have not had any real discussion about it yet and there is no set timeframe, but it's an option the commissioners could implement if we choose," he said at the commissioners' weekly meeting yesterday in Centreville. "We're not going to sit here and watch the rate of growth go up from the typical 400* or so (residential building permits) a year to 800 a year."   (*See note following this news item.)

In September, the commissioners raised the base fees developers must pay the county to review their project plans by as much as 500 percent, making Queen Anne's one of the most expensive counties in the state. 

In March, the commissioners approved an adequate public facilities law that requires developers to compile a report showing that existing county facilities -- roads, sewer, water and schools -- can handle the impact of the proposed new homes and commercial buildings. If not, the developers would have to provide those facilities themselves. 

Late this year or early next year, the commissioners are expected to raise impact fees -- which are based on the size of the project -- to help the county pay for the impact the project will have on county facilities. 

A report released July 26 by Tischler & Associates of Bethesda recommended that the county increase fees for business development by six to 20 times as much as the current charge of 15 cents per square foot. 

But Mr. McQueeney said the Planning Commission on Aug. 23 recommended less severe increases so as not to quash economic growth in the county. 

The commissioners will ultimately determine the specific increases. 

"Most people we've talked to think there should be some reductions to (Tischler's proposed increases), especially when it comes to non-residential projects," Mr. O'Donnell said. 

At a July 26 public hearing held by the Planning Commission, several developers spoke out against big fee increases, saying they would drive economic development to other Eastern Shore counties. 

Ron Athey of KRM Development Corp., which is developing the Chesapeake Bay Business Park, said his company plans to create 1,200 new jobs in the park over the next seven to nine years. He believes that the increases proposed by Tischler could significantly cut into this growth. 

Mike Koval, vice president of the Kent Island Defense League, suggested the county collect part of the impact fees up front and the rest at settlement to make the increases more affordable for commercial developers. (Note from KIDL:  For the record, Mr. Koval was referring to residential development, not commercial, when he made this comment and is mis-quoted here.)

Tischler also proposed raising the impact fees for residential projects by 400 percent to 800 percent, which the Planning Commission felt was more reasonable. But the county commissioners won't approve anything that drastic, Mr. O'Donnell said. 

"We plan to make reductions in both," he said. 

A public hearing on proposed increases is expected to be held around November. 

Published August 29, 2001, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2001 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

*(Note from KIDL:  see the County's Rt. 8 Corridor Study http://www.savekentisland.org/traffic3.html  which shows 3,832 residential units over the next 10 years JUST on Kent Island.  A limit on the # of permits/year would be a step in the right direction, but WHY did the Commissioners remove the sewer cap, an effective limit in itself, in November 1999?  http://www.savekentisland.org/kidl-item-d.html  )

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