The moratorium on new construction in the Town of Bel Air has been lifted with the execution of an agreement between Harford County and Maryland American Water, the town's water supplier, to charge a connection fee of more than $4,200 that would fund development of a reserve water supply.
Maryland American announced Tuesday the moratorium, which has been in place for at least a year and a half, had been lifted.
The $4,234 fee, which Maryland American calls a "new development capacity fee," is being touted as a short-term solution to the supply issue that grants Maryland American customers an extra 40,000 gallons of water per day, according to the company's news release.
The extra 40,000 gallons per day means those who want to build a new structure or expand an existing facility would have 114 more Equivalent Dwelling Units, or EDUs, to draw on. One EDU is worth 250 gallons a day, according to the news release.
Developers would pay $4,234 per EDU, which would be put toward Maryland American's purchase of a reserve supply of water from Harford County, Samantha Villegas, external affairs consultant for Maryland American, explained.
The fee was recently approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission.
"We're not taking on that cost," Villegas said of developing the reserve. "We're asking the developers to pay for that."
The Town of Bel Air was a co-signer of the agreement.
Town Administrator James Fielder noted that the operator of a business who does not plan to increase the water use from the previous occupant of a building would not have to pay the fee.
"If the use is the same, in terms of the projected amount of water needed, then there is no extra EDU or fee that's charged," Fielder said.
Maryland American serves 20,000 customers in Bel Air and surrounding areas in Harford County. The primary source for its consumers' drinking water is Winters Run, from which water is drawn, sent to its local treatment plant and then to the company's residential and commercial customers.
A moratorium on any development that would increase demand for water was imposed by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Harford County Health Department in the spring of 2013. Maryland American officials have expressed concerns about how extreme drought, such as the one that hit Maryland in 2002, could hurt the water supply for Bel Air-area customers.
"It's really in times of drought, that source Winters Run just doesn't seem to be able to sustain very well," Villegas explained.
She said the supply from Winters Run is normally in good shape, "but in periods of drought, it becomes an issue."
New residential and commercial development has been curtailed in Bel Air under the moratorium, although new businesses, such as a Starbucks in a former bank building in Bel Air Plaza, have been able to open as long as they did not increase demand for water.
"It's a very exciting development that's taken 10 months to put together with six different parties involved," Fielder said of the agreement.
The six parties included the MDE, Harford County's Department of Public Works, the county Health Department, the county's Division of Water and Sewer, the town and Maryland American.
Fielder said the capacity fee will go to the county, whether a structure is being built in the town limits or not.
"Everything will be coordinated through the building permit, so the county and the town have a process everyone will work together on," he said.
While the reserve is a short-term method of developing a reserve supply, Villegas said the long-term goal is to create a water reservoir for storage.
She wrote in a follow-up email that the agreement announced Tuesday "was always intended as an interim agreement, and we anticipate that within 4 years we will have a definitive long-term solution in place or we'll bewell on our way with it."
"It's good to see good creative minds work together for a solution that works for everyone," Fielder said.
Fielder said he expects to see "infill" development in town, meaning building on existing lots, or redevelopment of commercial structures. He also noted several residential developments that have been put on hold because of the moratorium could proceed.
"We want to alert them to the change and see if they're now ready to move forward," he said of the developers.
Fielder also noted that "the town is open to new building permits; that's the key."