Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett refused to sign legislation that killed a special tax district in Clarksburg, saying the elimination would hinder development in an area that has been plagued by economic dormancy for years.
The County Council voted to terminate the Clarksburg Town Center Development District, officially throwing dirt on a contested arrangement that would have required area residents to foot more of the bill for infrastructure improvements in the northern Montgomery community.
As a result, no plan is in place to jump-start the envisioned walkable community — expected to be lined with shops, restaurants and parks — as county officials focus their attention instead on transforming White Flint, a disconnected series of strip malls along Rockville Pike.
“[The council decision] leaves the Clarksburg community with too much uncertainty regarding the goal of achieving the long-awaited Clarksburg Town Center,” Leggett said in a memo to the council. “The Clarksburg community would have been better served if the council had identified a substitute financing plan.”
Leggett refused to sign the legislation but didn’t veto the measure — meaning the district has been eliminated and property owners there won’t have to pay the expected $1,200 annual fee.
The district was created in 2003, but residents never paid the additional charge.
The Clarksburg project was overrun with problems from the start, as residents accused the developer, Newland Communities, of numerous building violations and clashed with county officials about who should pay for road improvements.
And now some worry the failure in Clarksburg sends a mixed message to developers elsewhere.
“We’re making it clear that we are willing to back out of something that we agreed to years ago just for political reasons,” said Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-at large. “It sets a bad precedent and doesn’t give investors any assurance in other development areas, such as White Flint.”
County officials are trying to hammer out a funding plan for White Flint, but developers say the county is putting too large of a burden on businesses to pay for transportation improvements.
Councilman Mike Knapp, D-Germantown, who sponsored the elimination of the Clarksburg district, said area residents were weary of the uncertainty surrounding the fee.
“What was in place simply wasn’t working,” he said. “The community needs to move ahead without this hanging around them.”
