The mayor of Annapolis, Maryland, wants to overrule a bill that delays all building until adequate infrastructure is in place. Lifting the ban, she says, would streamline planning in the city, but many worry that it would allow too much development.
"Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer is seeking to lift the building delay enacted last fall by the city council and to put off a public facilities bill - moves she said would streamline the planning process but that opponents say will thwart efforts to control growth."
"The adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO) would require that adequate fire, police, water and road support be in place before major new developments could move forward. The current development delay halted new projects until the legislation is put in place."
"Moyer wants the facilities legislation to take a back seat to planning."
"'In terms of good planning, the APFO needs to be viewed in the context of comprehensive plan,' she said. 'Planning and growth should drive the APFO, not the other way around.'"
"'They want the comprehensive plan to drive the APFO, but I don't agree with that whatsoever,' said Alderman David Cordle. 'The APFO should set guidelines for future development. If we put the comprehensive plan first, it is going to drive how the APFO is written.'"
"Cordle said the city 'never met any development they didn't seem to like' and that public facilities legislation would help to manage growth. The mayor called the building delay - enacted in the fall - a 'knee-jerk reaction that had little to do with planning.'"
