Frederick Growth Squeezing Residents Out of County

"We lost some dynamite candidates for that reason," said Marsha Wise, a school district personnel officer. "They were experienced, top-notch, and all the principals were clamoring for them."

Walter F. Murray, director of the county's Division of Fire and Rescue Services, said that of 268 full-time firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers and other staff in his division, 126 live outside Frederick.

They are people like Lt. Dan Healy, a career firefighter assigned to Station 15 in New Market. Healy, 32, who grew up in Laurel, joined the Frederick County force about six years ago. He said he makes about $52,000, usually more with overtime. His wife, Kim, 32, looks after their two young children and makes some pocket money selling Mary Kay cosmetics.

"We definitely didn't want a townhouse or an apartment, and that's all we could afford," Healy said.

So the couple and their two young children moved about 30 miles north of Frederick to Littlestown, Pa., near her parents. Their four-bedroom, 2 1/2 -bath colonial cost $142,000 -- less than half, he estimates, of what it would take to buy the same thing in Frederick County.

"I got hired here, and I was trying to move up here, and I couldn't afford it," Healy said.

The average price of a house in Frederick County hit $356,000 in the third quarter of 2005, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems data.

Public officials and housing experts say the affordable housing shortage has been driven by low interest rates and a strong regional economy. Other factors include stricter planning controls to avoid the willy-nilly growth that has strained roads, schools and critical resources.

During the 2000 to 2001 drought, for example, the city of Frederick discovered that more homes had been built or approved than its water supply could support, and a temporary housing moratorium was imposed. That drove real estate prices higher and sent developers into Washington County, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Tighter rules on allocating water slowed the boom. So did higher impact fees, which are one-time surcharges on new dwellings to defray the costs of building schools and infrastructure.

To pay for schools and libraries, for example, the county charges an impact fee of $10,487 for each new single-family home. The city of Frederick tacks on an additional $4,830 per dwelling for water and $4,950 for sewer. Under former Mayor Jennifer P. Dougherty, city officials also contemplated a transportation impact fee of as much as $10,232 per dwelling.

Such impact fees have been useful in ensuring that services can be improved to support a new home. But the fees also have intensified the affordable housing pinch.