Key Changes in New Montgomery Growth Policy
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The Montgomery County Council today approved a new policy for managing growth and development. The policy will take effect in several stages, and includes an increase in taxes and fees to help pay for roads, schools and transit needed by newcomers.
Among key changes, the new policy:
• Increases most impact taxes on builders for transportation by 70 percent and for schools by 125 percent. Developers will pay 90 percent of the cost of transportation and classrooms needed for new communities.
• Widens the geographic area where traffic congestion is assessed when a new development is proposed
.•Compels more new developments to pay for shuttle buses or other systems that will minimize their impact on roads.
•Authorizes a study of possible limits on parking
.•Raises taxes on real estate transactions and steers the anticipated $10 million a year in new money to help subsidize rental housing and pay for infrastructure.
•Encourages "design excellence" that is more friendly to the environment.
•Proposes restricting development in the Clarksburg, Einstein and Kennedy clusters of schools. The school system already has asked for more money for new classrooms in the Einstein and Kennedy clusters.
