Baltimore County to implement a new 4 month development process

The Baltimore County Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections (PAI) is finalizing a new development process that includes a 45 day county review, a 45 day period to submit revised plans, and finally, a 30 day revised plan review by the county. Once implemented in late February, all plans submitted as part of Phase II of the Baltimore County development process shall adhere to the following process.

All plans will need to be submitted through PAI in person, and every submittal shall be accompanied by a Basic Information Slip that includes information about the project and valid email addresses for the engineer/ surveyor/ environmental consultant, the property owner, the developer/ contract purchaser, and attorney if appropriate. Once the Basic Information Slip is submitted, appropriate agency representatives will be notified that the plan is available for pickup, and PAI Development Management will assign a Project Manager.

County agencies will be responsible for picking up the plans and having them reviewed in 45 days. At the end of 45 days, comments will be sent to PAI and everyone listed on the Basic Information Slip. If 45 days goes by and an agency fails to submit a comment, the plan is approved.

Once comments have been sent to the engineer/ surveyor/ environmental consultant, they have 45 days to evaluate the comments and submit revised plan. If the second submittal cannot be accomplished within 45 days, an extension can be requested. If an extension is not requested by the 45th day, the project is denied and must be resubmitted.

Once revised plans are submitted, the County has 30 days to complete the second review. If 30 days goes by and an agency fails to submit a comment on the revised plans, the plan is approved. If the revised plan is approved, the review is complete. If the approved plan requires a mylar for signature, an additional 15 day review time will be assigned to the mylar as it circulates. If the revised plan is not approved at the end of the 30 day period, the plan is denied.

If the plan is denied and has outstanding issues or comments after the two reviews, the Project Manager is responsible for working with the agencies involved and the engineer, owner and developer to identify and resolve the issues.

PUD Ruling on Galloway Creek

In late 2011, a PUD before the Administrative Hearings Officer was denied, based largely on the judges opinion that the project in Bowley’s Quarter did not conform to the Bowley’s Quarter Community Plan nor the Master Plan. In rejecting the PUD, the judge also stated that the project footprint spilled over into an area not approved for PUD’s, and that PUD’s by their very nature are contrary to the Maryland Constitution because special legislation applying to only one project or person must be introduced by a Councilman and passed by the Council.

The effect of this ruling is significant and could potentially cause all PUD’s to be denied. A PUD is designed to be different from the Master Plan, which is why it is popular among developers and community groups who are looking for mixed-use planned developments. Not conforming with the Master Plan or Community Plan has never been an issue with a PUD and this decision was unexpected. Chapter members are meeting to discuss next steps and we plan to push legislation clarifying that PUDs do not need to conform to the master plan.

Lines of Credit vs. Bonds as surety for residential projects

Baltimore County continues to be one of the only counties in MD if not the only County to still require developers use a line of credit for surety rather than bonds. Chapter members have pressed the County about this in the past and the County has refused to change its position. Chapter members continue to believe that given today’s economic crisis, lack of credit, higher bank fees and collateral requirements on lines of credit, the County needs to accept bonds and change its position. However, the county continues to refuse to change its position and we are deadlocked.

Open Space Waiver Fees

Chapter members recently met with Council Chairman Olzsewski to discuss recalculating the Open Space waiver fee formula. He was interested in the issue and understood the need for this to happen soon. Although nothing has been proposed as of yet, we continue to meet with him and discuss the issue.