Frederick County Planning Commission met this morning to hear from the planning staff regarding a plan to require that minor subdivisions in the AG zone which are contiguous to one another and/or under common ownership be combined by law to constitute a major subdivision.
This could lead to a minor subdivision (5 lots or less), which is now exempt from the Frederick County Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), being required to pass the school test under the APFO. Reality is that due to the complex formulas that have been institued over the last several years, it is nearly impossible in many cases to pass the APFO school test.
Last year the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) considered amendments to the APFO that would eliminate the exemption for minor subdivisions entirely. The farming and agricultural community expressed strong opposition and the BOCC dropped the idea. Could this new proposal be a “back door” method of achieving the same thing?
Normally public comment is allowed at these hearing, but this morning the chairman of the Planning Commission decided unilaterally to prohibit such and the meeting ended abruptly. The staff seemed surprised that no one was allowed to speak.
There’s a long way to go before anything will be passed and hopefully plenty of time in the future for public input … stay tuned.