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Harford charter board suggests new planning elements, publication requirements, council term limits

Harford County's land use plan should include a housing element and an agricultural element and all public notices from the county should be posted online in the future, a board reviewing the county charter has concluded.

Those are two of the latest, and more substantial, suggestions made by the county's 15-member charter review board, which released a copy of its final report Thursday and formally disbanded.

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The report will now be considered by the Harford County Council. If the council decides any of the changes proposed by the board are warranted, those changes would have to be approved legislatively as amendments. All amendments are then subject to a countywide referendum at the general election following their adoption by the council.

A draft report was made available to board members, who in turn signed off on it at Thursday's meeting. A final version of the draft is expected to be available Tuesday and will be posted on the county's website, county government spokesman Bob Thomas said Friday.

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In addition to the proposed amendments briefly discussed at its final meeting, the board previously agreed to recommend an amendment setting term limits for county council members.

The board's proposed amendment places a limit of two consecutive four-year terms for district council members and the council president. The current charter, adopted by county voters in 1972, imposed no such limits on the county council, but placed a limit of two consecutive terms on the county executive, which still exists.

Master plan proposals

A planning and zoning subcommittee of the board is recommending adding a housing plan element to the master plan "which shall show proposals for the most appropriate and desirable patterns for the general location of public and private housing in Harford County...[and] include an analysis of... zoning, environmental regulations, moratoriums and actual improvement yields for approved development plans as well as projected absorption capacity of existing and planned growth areas."

The subcommittee felt the housing element is needed because of the changing demographics of the county's inventory for available building lots and housing types.

Future county master plans, according to the subcommittee, would also include "an agricultural element which shall show proposals for the most appropriate and desirable patterns for the general location, character, and extent of primarily rural and agricultural areas and supporting businesses and facilities...[and] include, without being limited to, an analysis of changing trends in farming and agriculture and the types of supporting businesses and facilities that are needed for the county to remain an attractive location for agricultural businesses."

The agricultural element is needed because of the "lack of continuation of the Rural Plan... and due to the overall agricultural resources in the County," according to the report.

The board also recommends an amendment ending a requirement that the director of planning and zoning be a member of the American Institute of Planners, an organization it notes no longer exists. An amendment is proposed requiring that the director be "a member of, or eligible for membership in a nationally recognized association for planning professionals."

Public notice advertising requirements

The board's other major recommendation would change how the county publicizes information about public hearings, legislation and other government actions.

Instead of requiring public notice in at least two newspapers, the board recommends reducing the requirement to one newspaper, and including publication on the Internet.

The new charter section would read: "Public notice of documents and events shall include posting the notice and any pertinent documents prominently on an official site that is accessible to the public, and other means of communication as required by law."

The board noted in its final report that there are at least six specific instances in the charter that require publication of notices in at least two newspapers, even though similar state statutes require publication in one newspaper.

The board recommended those specific requirements be changed to publication in one newspaper. In addition, the Internet posting requirement would not supersede any state laws pertaining to Harford County that require notices to be published in a newspaper.

Other recommendations

The board's subcommittees are also recommending establishing an external independent auditor who is separate from the county auditor, and deleting specific salary amounts for the county executive and council members "as it is misleading to the public and could allow one to believe other provisions may also be out dated."

For instance, the salaries for those positions are still in the charter as it was originally adopted, $27,500-a-year for the county executive, $6,500 for the council president and $5,000 for a district council member. Over the years, salaries have increased by county council action to where they are currently $102,111 for the county executive, $38,515 for the council president and $35,168 for a district council member.

A vacancy in the county executive office is recommended to be filled in the same way as a vacancy in the county council, which would require a majority of the council to appoint a replacement within 30 days.

The report continues: "If an appointee is to succeed a member of a political party, that individual shall be selected from a list of at least three names submitted to the council by the governing body of the party to which the former county executive belonged at the time of his or her election."

The appointee would also serve for the remainder of the term of his or her predecessor.

There is no current requirement in the charter that the council consider more than one person when filling a vacancy in the county executive's office, nor that the person selected be of the same political party as the person who vacated the office.

The board is suggesting several other changes that do not require charter amendments. They are:

- Providing advance public notice of any proposed charter amendments to provide the public opportunity to comment

- Improved accessibility of public documents to "continue and increase the number of public documents that are posted on the County's website in a downloadable format"

- Online availability of the charter, although the charter is in fact currently available on the county website.

- Revision date of the charter to be made consistent with the date of the most recent amendment, to let "the citizen know that they have the most recent version of the Charter"

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