Frederick City and County News of Interest
This
final issue of 2023 is both a summary of 2023 events and issues and a
forward look to 2024. Although much was accomplished by the many
community members who attended (in person and virtually) City and County
meetings and expressed your concerns about, as well as support for,
responsible growth in our community, the work goes on. Please continue
to be informed, aware, and involved.
Happy Holidays to all.
We hope your end of year celebrations with family
and friends are full of joy, cheer, and love.
Kevin, Marge, Steve, and everyone at CRG
_______________
Please join our monthly email list by clicking here.
Contents
- Brickworks
- Future Development in City Brownfield Areas
- City Charter Review
- Ad Hoc Community Engagement and Neighborhood Advisory Council Committee
- Development Moratoria, Annexations, & Schools
- Budgets: Local and State
- Sugarloaf Overlay
- Data Centers
- City Vacant Property Registration Ordinance (VPRO)
- Gap Funding for MPDU Construction in the City
- City Form Based Code (FBC)
- Upcoming Meetings: City
- Upcoming Meetings: County
Brickworks
The
City Planning Commission (PC) agreed at its November 14 hearing to
consider the developer’s petition to reconsider Condition 9 of the
approved conditional Master Plan for the Brickworks (BW) at South and
East Streets. Unfortunately, the City legal department said the entire
Master Plan must be reviewed, not just the PC requirement for site
cleanup prior to issuing building permits. Stay tuned! The discussion
continues on December 11 at City Hall.
Future Development in City Brownfield Areas
City
staff have repeatedly stated that contaminated soils on former
industrial sites are not covered in its Land Management Code (LMC) and
hence the City cannot impose any mitigation of the contaminants on
developers for a contaminated (brownfield) property. This is a major
threat to workers and future residents of those sites. As a result, in
2024, CRG will propose text for the LMC to require that all properties
are monitored to ensure public health and safety for workers and
residents.
City Charter Review
The
mayor-appointed Charter Review Committee has unanimously accepted a
report listing 19 recommendations to modify the current City Charter.
The recommendations will be presented to the mayor and Board of Aldermen
this month with a request to move several major governance
recommendations forward quickly to ensure they are in place by the 2025
primaries and City election.
Ad Hoc Community Engagement and Neighborhood Advisory Council Committee
This
mayor-appointed committee completed its report several months ago and
will convene this month to receive and respond to City staff and public
comment on its recommendations. One or more workshops and hearings will
be held in early 2024 for discussion and consideration of the proposed
recommendations to increase resident-City partnership in City
governance. The outcome of the City’s response to the recommendations
will determine whether residents have an active role in engaging City
officials in determining activities within their individual
neighborhoods or not. Stay tuned and speak up for enhanced communication
and cooperation by residents rather than the current declining role of
the Neighborhood Advisory Councils (NACs) in Frederick. Information and
documents here: cityoffrederickmd.gov/1638/Ad-
Development Moratoria, Annexations, & Schools
Both
the County (Councilman Steve McKay) and City (Alderwoman Katie Nash)
have proposed short-term development moratoria to foster more
responsible growth in our area. McKay’s proposal would set an automatic 2
year development moratorium if school capacity in a development exceeds
120% of state-computed school capacities for the development area. The
moratorium can only be rescinded if school construction issues can be
resolved. Nash’s targeted proposal focuses on development moratoria for
designated Small Area Plan sections (currently 8) of the City that would
require rezoning for the proposed development.
The City continues to annex portions of County land surrounding the
current City boundary with annexation often leading to substantial City
fiscal commitments to maintain infrastructure built into these
developing areas and, if residential areas, collection of a suite of
fees including school impact and mitigation fees. CRG encourages City
officials and staff to undertake long-term assessments of these new
areas for future City-required funding as well as school capacity limits
like those proposed by Councilman McKay for County areas.
Budgets: Local and State
Both
the City and County are preparing budgets for FY2025 and it is
important to identify infrastructure, social needs, and education
demands that must be addressed as both the City and County continue to
grow at the fastest rates in the state. The City suggests it will focus
on funding community projects (perhaps community centers on the West
side) to best help underserved portions of our community but specifics
are needed.
In CRG’s opinion, the expanding school construction and education
demands across the County should be the budgetary focus of the County
Executive and County Council. At the state level, continued focus on
regulations for bring your own bottle (BYOB) businesses, currently
unregulated in an ‘anything goes’ operations model, and deployment of
speed cameras beyond school zones to reduce post-pandemic municipality
speeding on all streets, remain needed state commitments.
Sugarloaf Overlay
Decisions
on development and protection of the natural environment of Sugarloaf
Mountain remain elusive, passing back-and-forth between the County
Planning Commission and Council with each reluctant to make a final
recommendation. CRG seeks some stated commitment from the County
Executive to move this forward in a final decision within the next few
months.
What You Can Do
The
County Council will hold a hearing on Tuesday, December 12, beginning
at 5:30pm, to hear public comment on the Sugarloaf Rural Heritage Overlay Zoning
District amendment to the Sugarloaf Plan. Our friends at the Sugarloaf
Alliance believe this may be the “do or die” moment in the community’s
effort to support preservation in this part of the County. The Alliance
has identified 3 steps to assist in convincing the Council:
1. Attend the County Council meeting Tuesday, December 12, beginning at 5:30pm.
2. Sign a petition to keep data centers out of the Sugarloaf Plan area. (Click here to sign the petition and leave comments.)
3.
Donate to the Alliance for its legal fees to retrieve County documents
on potential data center development on the property. Share your
comments with County Council by email; click here for
information on sending in comments and contacting the Council members
by email. Please share this information with neighbors!
Data Centers
Decisions
on development/construction of data centers on the 2100-acre Eastalco
site are in limbo. Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE) has
found that the owner, Quantum Loophole (QL), has engaged in substantial
environmental violations, with no resolution yet on what QL must do to
remedy these problems, as well as address potential contaminants in
approximately 1600 acres of the site.
The state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) has also weighed in, despite
considerable political and economic pressure, to limit the use of 168
diesel-powered generators by Aligned Data Centers, the first corporation
seeking to build 4 data centers at the property. The PSC decision was
based on compliance with the state’s just-passed Climate Solutions Now
Act that provides greenhouse gas emission limits across the state. This
decision poses substantial obstacles for other data center corporations
for the Eastalco site as diesel generators are the normal emergency
power sources during temporary power reductions to data centers.
The County’s Digital Center Workgroup remains in deliberations into
March, delayed by the County Executive as the governor seeks to sway the
state legislature to modify its requirements that allow data center
development and operation. CRG supports data center construction and
operation, but only if a number of issues are resolved, including
responsible guaranteed supplies of power to centers AND residents and
businesses; cooling water recycling and enhanced stormwater controls;
low noise generation; guarantees for local residents for property
protection and quality of life; and long-term safeguards of local
creeks, forests, and wildlife. This can be done, but political
commitment is required. What partnered policies are ahead in the County
and City to ensure realization of promised tax revenue without
compromising the assurances needed remain unresolved.
City Vacant Property Registration Ordinance (VPRO)
December
2023 marks the end of the 3rd (and most critical) year of the 4-year
City regulation to reduce/eliminate the stock of long term vacant
properties in the City.
In year one, owners of vacant properties were advised that by the end of
the year (December 2021), their properties were to be registered and at
the end of year two (December 2022), properties vacant for 2 years
(since December 2020) would be inspected in year 3 (January–December
2023). These time frames apply to any properties vacant for a year.
At the end of year 3 (December 2023), taxes are to be applied. Per the
municipal code Section 12.5-58, “A vacant property that remains vacant
for a period of at least three (3) years will be deemed a habitually
vacant property for tax purposes as specified in Chapter 8,
Article V of this Code.” The regulation implies, therefore, that
properties vacant as of December 2020 are now subject to increased
property taxes. CRG posits that if the City is enforcing the ordinance
properly, property owners should have already been notified of this tax
increase and where appropriate, increased escrow or actual collection of the tax in mortgage-free properties should have
begun. CRG has contacted City staff on several occasions and will
continue to do so in order to ensure that the City is implementing this
critical step. Look for updates in our January Newsletter.
Gap Funding for MPDU Construction in the City
Currently the
City is playing catch up in determining how to spend the money that has
been accumulating over recent years from developers who chose not to
build affordable units in their projects by paying fees in lieu (FIL)
instead. One highly recommended option is for the City to provide some
funds to developers who are building affordable housing to close the
financial gap that now exists between permitting and the time for actual
construction, caused by the current economic environment. This "gap
financing" approach would maximize the City's investment by
providing the most units for the funds spent. Shovel ready projects such
as Madison on North Market and The Junction (511 and 524 W. Patrick
Street) are two prime examples of projects that fit this profile. CRG
encourages the City, with some urgency, to step up and help move both
projects forward!
City Form Based Code (FBC)
The
much discussed and thoroughly vetted FBC is still pending final review
and approval. The longer it takes for this critical update to the Land
Management Code to be codified, the more development projects will be
able to proceed under the current rules with little benefit to the
long-term design plans for the City. Greater urgency on the part of all
involved is needed to assure this effort comes to fruition to avoid
disconnects between current development plans (e.g. the Brickworks,
Maryland Deaf Community Center, and other projects) and the City’s
vision as expressed in multiple Small Area Plans written over many
years.
|
|
| Check out our Facebook page! |
No comments:
Post a Comment