Developers of a Silver Spring apartment complex who pledged to add more moderately priced units to existing housing say their plans are on hold after County Council members approved growth policy changes that bar construction in the area.
Home Properties acquired the 450-unit Falkland Chase Apartments on Silver Spring’s 16th Street in 2003.
Development officials with the apartment company said they had agreed to include 182 moderately priced apartments and 100 units targeted at less-affluent professions like public service workers and teachers in their plans to add 877 new units during redevelopment of the site.
However, changes to the county’s growth policy bar construction inschool areas where development would cause enrollment to increase to 120 percent of capacity or more. This means development in Einstein, Kennedy and Clarksburg school clusters will be in moratorium until at least July.
“The way we understand it, we’ll be in an area that is in moratorium, so in effect we can’t move at least until the school capital improvements budget is approved,” Don Hague, vice president of development for Home Properties told The Examiner on Wednesday.
Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast is recommending a comprehensive $1.49 billion six-year capital improvement plan for Montgomery County Public Schools to fund new classroom space at several schools and provide additional resources to enhance school security and classroom technology.
Council Member Roger Berliner said council approval of the school’s funding request would pay for school construction in both the Einstein and Kennedy clusters, leaving only the Clarksburg cluster in moratorium.
Hague said Home Properties had filed a preliminary site plan with the Planning Board on Jan. 12, 2007, but the new growth policy rules apply to all applicants whose applications were filed after Jan. 1, 2007.
“For want of 11 days, the project is put on hold,” Hague said.
If the area is removed from moratorium, Hague said he expects the builders to go back into development mode, although they are also concerned about how a 70 percent increase in transportation impact taxes to be paid by developers will affect the industry.
