§ 14-7. Planning Board Review; Compliance with Adequate Public Facilities and Annual Growth Policy Requirements.

(a) After the Council has adopted a resolution under Section 14-6, one or more owners of land located in the proposed district may submit an application for provisional adequate public facilities approval, covering the entire proposed district, to the Planning Board. The application must:

(1) explain how each development located in the proposed district will comply with all applicable zoning and subdivision requirements, including any action necessary under Section 50-35(k);

(2) identify any infrastructure improvement necessary to satisfy the Growth Policy's adequate public facilities requirements for a development district; and

(3) estimate the cost to provide each such improvement.

(b) Within 180 days after receiving an application under subsection (a) and all information needed to review that application, the Board must jointly review for compliance with Section 50-35(k) and the Growth Policy all developments located in the proposed district as if they were one development. The Board may extend the deadline in this subsection for another 90 days, by notifying each applicant and the Executive and Council, if delays beyond the Board’s control require more time to conduct the required review. The Council at any time may waive any applicable deadline under this Section if the public interest so requires. In its review, the Board must apply all otherwise applicable standards and procedures. The Board may conditionally approve an application if it finds that the proposed district will meet all requirements under Section 50-35(k) and any added requirements which apply to a district under the Growth Policy. The Board may condition its approval on, among other things, the creation and funding of the district and the building of no more than the maximum number of housing units and the maximum nonresidential space listed in the petition filed under Section 14-6 or any later amendment to the petition.

(c) In the aggregate, the applications approved must commit the applicants to produce (through the funding of the proposed development district or otherwise) the infrastructure improvements needed to meet the applicants' adequate public facility requirements in the proposed district and any added requirements which apply to an applicant under the Growth Policy. In its approval, the Board must list those infrastructure improvements.

(d) An applicant may withdraw a development from a district before the district is created under Section 14-9(c). An applicant must not withdraw a development after the district is created. If an applicant withdraws a development before the district is created, the applicant's provisional adequate public facility approval is cancelled. If any withdrawal would significantly impair the ability of the proposed district to finance the required infrastructure improvements, the Planning Board may modify or cancel any approval under subsection (b) and may attach new conditions to any previous approval.

(e) (1) After a development district is created and the financing of all required infrastructure improvements is arranged, any development located in the district has for all purposes satisfied:

(A) the adequate public facility requirements of Section 50-35(k);

(B) any added requirements which apply to a district under the Growth Policy; and

(C) any other requirement to provide infrastructure improvements which the County adopts within 12 years after the district is created.

(2) This subsection does not relieve any taxpayer from paying a generally applicable County tax, assessment, fee, or charge.

(f) The County may reserve for its own use or transfer to other owners through regular development approval processes, or as otherwise provided by law, any additional public facility capacity attributable to improvements financed by the district which exceeds the capacity required for developments in the district. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; , § 2; , § 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 regarding the method of creating a development district and sources for the Executive Fiscal Report. See County Attorney Opinion dated 4/12/06, concerning development districts, which cites Section 14-7.

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.