An attempt to jump-start Harford County?s stalled rezoning process may be stuck itself, as officials did not give the public enough notice about a potential change in the county code.
The Harford County Council was to hold a public hearing Tuesday night on a bill authorizing them to speed up changes to zoning laws throughout the county and set the stage for future development, but the hearing was not advertised for the five business days required by law and was canceled, said Barbara O?Connor, administrator for the County Council.
The council could reintroduce the bill Tuesday and set it up for a public hearing at its May 9 session, but the council members have not yet decided, O?Connor said.
Since December 2004, Harford County has been performing a regular review and revision of zoning rules, which affect the size, type and density of development. After hearing more than 300 proposed zoning changes, the council made its adjustments and sent its recommendation to County Executive DavidCraig.
Craig, however, was dissatisfied with some of the council?s rezoning decisions and vetoed the bill. When the council tried to override the veto, the vote was tied 3-3 and was automatically rejected.
“Some issues got hot and heavy,” said District A Council Member Dion Guthrie.
With the potential for tie votes, the bill could still fail again if it is unable to garner majority support, Guthrie said.
The county code had no provisions for what to do if the rezoning bill failed, so the council proposed a measure letting the county executive or the council propose their own versions instead of returning to step one, Council Member Richard Slutzky said.
The proposed bill would allow the council to skip past the review of hundreds of proposed zoning changes and several public hearings before resubmitting their comprehensive rezoning bill to the county executive.
Slutzky, however, said he felt the council should either return to the beginning of the process or delay a vote on the procedure change until after the Sept. 7 primary elections. The rezoning could become an election issue and be altered by campaign politics, Slutzky said.
