Baltimore County officials are increasing the price charged to developers who don?t want to provide required open space, generating additional funds to create and improve regional parks.
The move is expected to add $2.3 million to an account designed to create and improve parkland not included in new developments elsewhere in the county.
Developers can pay the county to have open-space requirements waived, a point of contention among residents who say the county?s growth spurt comes at the expense of trees and green space.
County officials and homebuilders said the increase will cover the increased costs of land and boost the county?s open space deficit.
“It seems significant on its face, but the fees charged are based on what the county has paid for land in recent years,” said Tom Ballentine, government relations director for the Maryland Homebuilders Association. “And land has been skyrocketing.”
In some zoning categories, the cost per square foot for open space not provided by developers will triple. The fee in lieu of required space allows the county to provide community and regional parks instead of small, isolated plots, officials said.
But some preservationists say developers and the county abuse the policy and allow open-space waivers too easily. The county waived 488,000 square feet of open space last year and estimates waivers to grow to 764,000 square feet this year. Under the new rates, the county will generate $3.5 million.
The prices range from 15 cents to $9.76 per square foot.
“This is still a drop in the bucket for any major developer,” Towson activist Corinne Becker said. “These waivers allow them to construct additional units, which bring financial returns that not only compensate the developer for the cost of the waiver, but allow him to keep drawing revenue over and over again as the units continue to produce rent.”
The county is 30 percent short of the state?s open space goal of 24,000 acres for its 800,000 residents, said Robert Barrett, director of the county?s recreation and parks department. The new rates bring the county to current market rates, which may help county land acquirers compete with developers, he said.
“We are in a deficit and we have been for many years,” Barrett said. “The property owners and developers cut deals and we?re competing with a contract price. And that?s very expensive land.”
