Growth Control Measures Advance

Montgomery Panel Backs Higher Fees

The Montgomery County Planning Board unanimously approved a series of measures last night to regulate growth by sharply increasing builders' fees and raising taxes on home sales to help pay for more schools, roads and public transit.

The board, which discussed the proposals during several meetings in recent weeks, spent much of its time yesterday debating the amount of the fee increases and how quickly they should be put in place.

The plans approved last night would more than double school fees for a new single-family home to $22,729 and increase transportation fees from $5,819 to $8,380 in many areas.

In addition, the board recommended that the council impose another tax in neighborhoods when schools become too crowded.

The recordation tax, often split at closing between buyers and sellers, would almost double to about $11 per $1,000 of value.

The board recommended that the County Council phase in most of the tax increases over 12 months after final approval.

Board Chairman Royce Hanson said the proposed tax increases are large and could be politically perilous. "The board needs to feel comfortable with this," he said. But he said he was confident that the extra fees are necessary.

The proposals will go to the council, which asked the board this year to speed up a reevaluation of the county's growth policy after rejecting a proposal from Council President Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) for a temporary moratorium on new construction.

The terms of the growth policy, last revised in 2003, could prove critical to the county in the next 25 years. Officials predict that the county's population will soon top 1 million and that the number of households, now more than 250,000, will grow by one-third.

The expected arrival of thousands of jobs, coupled with federal plans to transfer the Walter Reed Army Medical Center's patients and medical personnel to Bethesda, are expected to further strain county services.

Building industry officials have argued that the proposed fee increases could price many builders and homeowners out of the county.

And neighborhood activists have criticized a provision that they said would make it easier for developers to build in congested areas. Under current policies, county planners determine whether a neighborhood is crowded in part by counting the number of cars on the roads. The new plan would allow them to consider whether public transit is available to offset traffic.

"It doesn't matter if you have great transit but the police and firetrucks can't get to you," said Jim Humphrey, who heads the Montgomery County Civic Federation's land use committee.

Raquel Montenegro, a lobbyist for the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, said she was dismayed by the board's debate. She thinks the county is behind in providing schools, roads and transit, but she said the lag cannot be attributed to new construction. "The impact that new development has is marginal. The county has been behind on its infrastructure for years," she said. "The infrastructure needs we have now haven't been addressed. I believe it is an academic exercise we are all going through."

If the new policy is adopted, it will encourage the construction of taller buildings and the creation of denser neighborhoods near public transit.

In the nearly built-out county, that process has begun along Rockville Pike and in downtown Bethesda, and redevelopment plans for Wheaton include many multifamily buildings. The county is increasingly looking at redeveloping older communities.

The planning staff has estimated that nearly three-quarters of all new residential development in the next 25 years will be multifamily buildings, such as apartments, attached homes and townhouses. Although the school system's enrollment has dropped, the number of students is expected to increase in the next several years and become more economically and ethnically diverse.

Coupled with federal demands from the No Child Left Behind act, which has led to smaller classes for some students, and the school system's revival of all-day kindergarten, pressures will increase for more classrooms and an end to temporary trailers, which are widely used.

Political leaders have expressed interest in using government policies to encourage expanded use of public transportation to help take commuters off the road and improve air quality.