One elementary school identified as over capacity by newest growth report

Only one elementary school in Harford County was identified as over the threshold of capacity in the county's latest Annual Growth Plan.

Dublin Elementary School is the only school expected to exceed the required enrollment or utilization rate within the next three years, with a projected rate of 110.85 percent in 2013-14, according to the report.

With this in mind, the attendance area of Dublin Elementary School will be placed under a building moratorium.

The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance in the county code set the standards for elementary, middle and high schools. For this report, the schools were required to not exceed 110 percent of rated capacity.

Under the ordinance, if a school does surpass the 110 percent threshold beginning July 1, any "major subdivision" plans will not be approved. Instead those will be placed on a waiting list until the school capacity meets standards.

Dublin is the only elementary school out of the 32 in the county to not meet adequacy standards in this growth report.

Prior to the controversial elementary redistricting plan and the construction of Red Pump Elementary School, a few elementary schools were on the list. Likewise, a recent increase in the standard from 105 percent up to 110 percent also helped schools to meet the three-year requirement.

Without it, Bel Air Elementary School, Ring Factory Elementary School and Youth's Benefit Elementary School, projected to have enrollment at 106 percent, 106 percent and 105 percent, respectively, in 2013-14, would all be placed on the moratorium list.

Not only did the county not act to set a lower standard when it was due to automatically rise to 110, the addition of Red Pump Elementary School helped them to lift the moratorium in attendance areas of Youth's Benefit, Hickory and Forest Lakes elementary schools.

A change in the adequate public facilities law two years ago allowed the county to take planned or under construction school buildings into account while considering capacity rates.

Now all of the elementary and the 17 middle and high schools, except for Dublin, have met the adequacy standards, according to the report, and preliminary plans for major subdivisions can be considered for their attendance areas.

Projections for this year's report were based on Sept. 30, 2010 enrollment data and the board of education's elementary redistricting plan.

The annual report also included information on growth from the previous year.

In 2010, Harford County approved 51 subdivisions totaling 1,534 acres. These subdivisions included 44 residential plans, which translated to 1,228 lots and approximately 1,368 acres, as well as seven non-residential plans.

Of the 51 subdivisions 12 of them, or 83 percent of the new lots, were approved for the County's Priority Funding Area which, according to the report, maintains the 2004 Land Use Element Plan's desire to have at least 80 percent of new growth in designated areas.

Harford County also issued 1,554 building permits, with 377 designated for new residential structures. This is fewer than the 1,702 issued in 2009, according to the report.

These building permits have a variety of functions from residential to non-residential and accessory structure permits. The Harford County report also included data from the municipalities of Bel Air, Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, which together issued 171 new residential permits.

An estimated 88 percent of the 547 permits deemed as new residential were within the designated growth area. Non-residential permits included storage and warehouses and the bulk of permits were issue for "accessory structures," such as swimming pools and sheds.

The report also used Traffic Impact Analysis studies to determine which, if any, intersections were operating at an "unacceptable Level of Service" during peak hours.

Fifteen intersections were identified as containing one or more movements that are inadequate according to county standards. This list includes Route 24, Route 924 and Tollgate Road; Route 24 and Route 1; Route 152 and Singer Road; Route 22, Thomas Run Road and Shucks Road; Route 24 and Bel Air South Parkway; I-95 at the Route 24 ramp; Business Route 1 and Henderson Road; Route 147 (Harford Road) and Connolly Road; Route 23 and Grafton Shop Road; Tollgate Road and MacPhail Road; Route 1 and Reckord Road; Route 7 and Brass Mill Road; Route 7 and Joppa Farm Road; Route 155 and Earlton Road; and Route 22 and Aldino-Stepney Road.

Developments that affect those intersections, according to the report, will be required to mitigate their impacts.

Bel Air town commissioners officially accepted the growth plan at their Monday evening, where Commissioner Terence Hanley warned that Bel Air schools would quickly reach capacity again with the moratorium lifted.