Montgomery News

City of Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council met October 08. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the council:

1. Call to Order

The Joint Work Session of the Mayor and City Council was called to order at 7:30 PM with Mayor Jud Ashman presiding.

Attendee Name             Title      Status   Arrived

Jud Ashman                Mayor                                      Present

Ryan Spiegel              Council      Vice President       Present

Neil Harris                   Council     Member                 Present

Laurie-Anne Sayles     Council     Member                 Present

Michael Sesma            Council     Member                 Present

Robert Wu                    Council     Member                 Present

Planning Commissioners present: Bauer, Kaufman, and Wessel. Staff present: City Manager Tomasello, Deputy City Manager Enslinger, City Attorney Board, Planning and Code Administration Director Schlichting, Long Range Planning Manager Robinson, and Police Officer Day.

2. Discussion Topics

A. Update on the Status of the City's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Schools Test

Planning and Code Administration Director Schlichting gave a presentation that included a discussion of the following:

      The City’s previous and current Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) School Test;

      The current Montgomery County School test; and

      A comparison of the County test and City test as to City schools in moratorium. 

Director Schlichting then presented a number of options including:

      Maintain Status Quo – 150% threshold, retain Fee should it be legally allowed in future

      Eliminate Schools Test Entirely – No moratoriums or limits to development

      Revise Moratorium Threshold Limit – illustrating that there is no difference in impact between 120, 130, and 140&

      Adopt County Schools Test

      Include waiver provisions if schools test is amended

Following the presentation, a number of topics were addressed including the impact that the City’s 150% test has had on new school construction, options for implementing the school facility fee, the County School Impact tax, and the changes as to how the County conducts their test.

There were no speakers from the public.

Following the discussion, the Mayor and City Council decided that the current City test should remain in place at this time. It was noted that it does appear that the test has affected positive action. It was stated that with a County election coming up the City should wait to see if changes will occur with the new administration before amending the APFO. Staff was directed to explore the legality of the City imposing an impact tax or facility fee on new residential developments without the County having a fee.

3. Correspondence

A. Outside

4. Adjournment

There being no further business, the session was adjourned at 8:30 PM

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