Last night the Taneytown Council approved a resolution to adopt procedures that will bring all capital improvement projects in line with the Chesapeake Bay Agreement.
The council approved the resolution after planner Barbara "Bobbi" Moser stressed the need for local projects to comply with the state law that requires compliance with the agreement if the town wants state funding for capital improvements such as sewers, roads and schools.
"In general, the plan is to ensure that development is occurring in planned growth areas," Ms. Moser said. "They [state officials] want to make sure resources are being used properly and in the most efficient way."
The state law encourages concentration of development in areas where environmental impact is minimal and utilities are adequate, and shifts authority and accountability from the state to local jurisdictions for development in such environmentally sensitive areas as flood plains, steep slopes and watersheds.
The council also resolved to increase developer's fees -- from $3,000 to $5,000 -- and resolved to raise the minimum amount in builders' escrow accounts with the city from $1,000 to $2,500.
City Manager Joseph A. Mangini Jr. had told the council that the state demands compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Agreement by Dec. 1. The law, which went into effect Oct. 1, has forced the county and all Carroll cities to amend their master and comprehensive plans in order to qualify for state funding.
New Windsor's council adopted a similar resolution last week.
The increases in developers' fees and escrow minimums will provide a stronger financial base for the city's newly implemented storm water management program.
The developers' fees cover city expenses incurred in reviewing and inspecting housing projects.
And, after four months of discussion, the town council last night narrowly enacted an ordinance that will impose a $250-per-lot sewer allotment fee on developers.
The ordinance passed by a narrow 3-to-2 margin with council members Thomas J. Denike and Henry C. Heine, Jr., opposing it as unnecessary.
"I still believe we can accomplish the same goal without the charge," Mr. Heine said.
Developers can reserve sewer allocations up to two years without a fee. But after the second year, they would have to pay $250 per lot or risk losing their reservations and being placed at the end of a waiting list.
The original ordinance proposed last summer would have imposed the fee at the end of each year.
The new ordinance affects all present and future construction.