More than half of the plans for new homes in Prince George's County face rejection because fire and rescue response times to their locations fail to meet the standards set last year by the County Council, according to a preliminary review by county officials.
Nine of 16 projects recently considered by the county's subdivision review committee do not meet standards imposed by the "adequate public facilities" law passed two months ago. The measure also establishes staffing and response criteria for the police, although those were not applied to this analysis, officials said.
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As a result of the failure rates, county lawmakers may revisit the legislation and its unorthodox approach to slowing residential development in Prince George's.
"We wouldn't be repealing it," said council member Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Bowie), sponsor of the bill. "We're talking about refining it. . . . We want to sit down and go over all the reports."
The legislation, which is scheduled to expire in 2006, is part of an effort by the council to temporarily restrict building while it considers a comprehensive growth policy. This month, the council imposed a one-year ban on new applications for subdivision plans.
The adequate public facilities ordinance, which went into effect in November, imposed a test unlike in any other jurisdiction in the country, according to planners.
Stuart Meck, a senior research fellow at the American Planning Association, said he knew of no other county that has linked approval of a project with staffing and response times.
Although some jurisdictions employ adequate public facilities tests, they usually deal with the location of the facilities, such as fire and police stations, and not the speed at which they respond.
Peters said the intent of the legislation was to ensure that the county's growth does not compromise public safety. He wanted to slow the pace, he said, not bring it to a stop.
Peters said he is troubled by the preliminary information, particularly that most of the projects that fail the test are in areas where the county has been pushing for growth.
Planners generally divide Prince George's into three regions: the developed urban areas within the Capital Beltway, including Capitol Heights and Seat Pleasant; the developing northern and central suburbs, including Bowie and Laurel; and the largely undeveloped rural tier in the southern and eastern fringes of the county, including Croom and parts of Upper Marlboro.
Six of the nine projects that failed to meet standards are inside the Beltway or in the suburban part of the county. Two of the five projects in the rural tier fell within the standards.
"That is pretty surprising," Peters said. "And I think that warrants more research."
F. Hamer Campbell, who represents the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, warned lawmakers during debate last fall that the bill could have unforeseen consequences.
