Baltimore County Council Member Vince Gardina said he may delay action on two aggressive bills he proposed to curb school overcrowding, including one that would require developers to chip in for a new elementary school.
Gardina, D-District 5, said Tuesday that he?s not sure he has enough support from fellow council members to implement a development impact tax in the Honeygo area of Perry Hall. Last month, he proposed charging developers up to $10,000 per new home to alleviate strains on Perry Hall middle and high schools and, in particular, Chapel Hill Elementary School.
Chapel Hill Elementary and Perry Hall High are about 8 percent over capacity. The county will begin construction on Vincent Farms Elementary in the area this year, to open in 2008, but Gardina said he?d like another new elementary school in his district in addition to Vincent Farms.
The impact fee could generate about $10 million of the required $25 million needed over five to six years, he said.
School Board spokesman Brice Freeman said the system wants to wait until after the new school opens to redistrict the area.
“It?s important to us that we have continuity for the students,” he said.
Gardina said he also might postpone action on another bill that would ban residential development in Honeygo as long as its schools remain over capacity if the council moves quicker with its call for a task force to study the issue. Gardina proposed an Oct. 1 deadline.
Council Member Sam Moxley, D-District 1, who is coordinating the task force, said he has not finished organizing the group?s logistics.
“It will get off the ground,” he said. “We are serious about this.”
Tom Ballentine, government affairs specialist for the Maryland Homebuilders Association, said new home construction is one of many influences on school demand. He cited full-day kindergarten, class-size laws and labor as other factors.
