(a) If a petition to create a development district signed by at least 80 percent of the owners of real property and the owners of at least 80 percent in value of the real property, as shown by the most recent assessment records available from the State Department of Assessments and Taxation or any successor agency on the date the petition is filed, located in a proposed development district, is filed with the Council, the Council must hold a public hearing after at least 15 days notice in two newspapers of general circulation in the County. The petition must specify the boundaries of the proposed district and list the maximum number of housing units and the maximum nonresidential space that the signing property owners intend to build in the district.
(b) Alternatively, the Council, on request of the Executive or on its own motion, may hold a public hearing after giving notice as required in subsection (a). The notice must:
(1) specify the proposed boundaries of the proposed district, and
(2) list the maximum number of housing units and the maximum nonresidential space expected to be built in the district.
(c) After holding a hearing under subsection (a), the Council, by resolution approved by the Executive, may declare its intent to create a development district consisting of a specified geographic area. In the resolution the Council must explain why intensive development of and public investment in that area during the term of the district will benefit the public interest.
(d) If the Executive disapproves a resolution adopted under this Section within 10 days after it is adopted and the Council readopts it by a vote of six Councilmembers, or if the Executive does not act within 10 days after the Council adopts it, the resolution takes effect.
(e) For the purposes of this Section, multiple owners of a single parcel of real property must be treated as one owner and a single owner of multiple parcels must be treated as one owner.
(f) The adoption of a resolution under this Section does not:
(1) obligate the Council to create a development district;
(2) confer any contract, property, or other right on any person; or
(3) limit a district to the area described in the resolution.
(g) After the Council has adopted a resolution under Section
14-6, the Executive may require any applicant for provisional adequate public facilities approval under Section
14-7 to pay one or more filing fees or provide other financial assurances, in amounts and installments set by Executive regulation, to cover all costs of:
(1) Executive review of the proposed district;
(2) preparation of the fiscal report required under Section
14-8; and
(3) preparation of any bond issue or other financing after the district is created. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 1, § 1; , § 1.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney Opinion dated discussing multiple issues deriving from the Clarksburg Master Plan and related issues regarding development districts. See County Attorney Opinion dated 4/12/06
, concerning development districts, which cites Section 14-6. 2008 L.M.C., ch. 34, took effect on January 26, 2009.
2008 L.M.C., ch. 34, § 3, states: Applicability; interpretation.
(a) Any amendment to County Code
Chapter 14 made in Section 1 of this Act applies to any action taken after this Act take effect.
(b) Any amendment to County Code
Chapter 14 made in Section 1 of this Act does not alter or affect any Council resolution adopted, or other action taken with respect to a development district, before this Act takes effect.
(c) Any amendment to County Code
Chapter 14 made in Section 1 of this Act does not indicate that the previous version of a provision amended by Section 1 of this Act should be interpreted differently from the same provision as amended by Section 1 of this Act.
(d) Any notice or disclosure requirement in Section
14-17, as amended by Section 1 of this Act, applies to any sale contract signed, and any sales material or advertisement for sale disseminated, after this Act takes effect in any development district created, and in any proposed development district for which the Council adopted a resolution under Section
14-6, after January 1, 2001.
