The Harford County Council debated the value and meaning of two numbers ? 23 and 25 ? for about two hours Tuesday night.
In the end, 23 won.
By a vote of 4-3, the council passed legislation that would bring the county?s adequate public facilities ordinance, which governs the amount of development that can occur in school districts that are at or over capacity, current with state figures the school system uses to determine school capacity ? 23 students per classroom. Previously, the county adequate public facilities ordinance relied on a formula of 25 students per classroom.
Often heated and emotional, the debate ended with Council President Billy Boniface, R, and Council Members Dion Guthrie, D-District A, Jim McMahan, R-District C, and Mary Ann Lisanti, D- District F, voting in favor of the change. Council Members Roni Chenowith, R-District B, Chad Shrodes, R-District D, and Richard Slutzky, R-District E, voted against it.
“This bill promotes sprawl. It?s got sprawl written all over it,” Shrodes said. A rookie member of the council who represents Northern Harford, Shrodes was the most emotional of all the council members. He said if the bill were passed, developers would look to the rural areas of the county to build.
“This is going to jeopardize the future of the county,” Shrodes said, raising his voice. “Wake up!”
Guthrie said six elementary school districts would be shut down to development if County Executive David Craig signs the bill into law.
When Slutzky had his turn, he referenced two studies ? one by the University of Maryland, ? that outline the “unintended consequences” of public facility laws. Slutzky said the report claimed such laws create a “deflection of growth” to areas outside the county?s development envelop.
Boniface tempered Slutzky?s speech though by asking the latter to tell the public who sponsored the University of Maryland study.
“The Homebuilders Association of Maryland,” Slutzky said, to the laughter of several in the audience.
