Developers would be barred from building in neighborhoods if adding homes would cause projected enrollment at area schools to increase to 20 percent beyond their capacity, according to policy changes tentatively approved tuesday.
During a straw vote, Montgomery County Council members backed changing growth policy to halt development around schools if a school cluster is projected to reach more than 120 percent of capacity over the next five years.
The council is required to make any changes to the growth policy by Nov. 15.
“In voting for this, it is not my goal to put neighborhoods into moratorium,” Council Member George Leventhal said. “My goal is we find the resources to get neighborhoods the infrastructure they need.”
If developerswanted to build in areas where enrollment projections over the next five years anticipate a cluster will hit 105 percent of capacity, the county would charge them a fee for the additional infrastructure needed. Only permanent classrooms, not portables, would be factored into capacity calculations.
The council also tentatively approved the cost of the payment: $19,514 per seat for elementary schools; $25,411 per additional middle school seat; and $28,501 per additional high school seat.
“I’m hopeful they will take another look,” Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson said after the meeting. “The moratorium level could be a problem. I pointed out school capacity issues are easier to address than traffic levels, because boundaries can be redrawn and things of that nature can be done that don’t necessarily require construction.”
Council staff documents show that 10 of the 25 Montgomery County school clusters would require school facilities payments under the new policy.
County Executive Ike Leggett supports even more aggressive rules. He wants facilities payments to be mandated when a school is expected to hit 100 percent of its capacity, rather than 105 percent. Under his recommendation, 17 of the 25 clusters would require a school facilities payment if developers wanted to build in those areas.
Planning Board and Board of Education members had recommended looser requirements, with school facilities payments kicking in when a cluster hit 110 percent of capacity and a moratorium on residential construction when schools are projected to hit 135 percent of capacity.
The concept of school facility payments, in which funds are to be used toward improvements in school clusters where extra enrollment is expected, was approved by the council in 2003, but no payment has been made since it became law.
Council members shot down an amendment 5-4 that would have exempted developments with 30 percent or more work force housing and moderately priced dwelling units from the payments.
