Chairman Watson and members of the County Council:

The Howard County League of Women Voters supports Council Bill 50-2008 that creates Neighborhood Preservation parcels and provides a mechanism for residential density exchange to a variety of residential zoning districts in the County. The League appreciates the Chair's introduction of this legislation with the support of the County Executive.

The League's position of support is based on the National League's Land Use position which supports land -use planning that reflects conservation and wise management of resources. The Maryland League Land Use /Growth Management support for local government's use of land use planning and regulatory techniques such as... land banking, transfer of development rights, and timed development ordinances to direct development to designated areas. The Howard County League's Land Use position that calls for environmental and sustainable balance in developing property.

The Department of Planning and Zoning states that CB 50 supports one of the 2000 County General Plan concepts of neighborhood preservation. There is no question the legislation is designed to help older neighborhoods designed and built prior to the recognition for adequate storm water management infrastructure and an understanding of how impervious surfaces impact the flow of rainwater. The cost of retro fitting storm water management in older neighborhoods in the County's Planned Service Areas is borne by County Capital projects paid for by all County residents. The League agrees with the Planning Board's May 8,2008 recommendation on ZRA 95, the Neighborhood Preservation Zoning Amendment, that it will encourage preservation, facilitate smart growth and ensure compatibility with established neighborhoods.

Council Bill 50 has increased the opportunity for more receiving areas for density exchange thereby assuring more balance between the potential sending and receiving parcels. This better balance was achieved by including Residential Single R-20 and R-12 as receiving parcels.

A Neighborhood Preservation parcel shall be encumbered by an easement recorded at the time of recordation of the final plat and shall be in perpetuity. The rate of density exchange is 2 development rights per net acre up to a maximum of 3 development rights per parcel in the Residential Environmental District and R-20 District. The rate of density exchange for R-12 is 3 per net acre and 3 per parcel. The density application is up to 10% in all proposed zones.

To receive density in the designated receiving zoning districts the receiving parcel has to be at least 15 acres in size in the R-20 and R-12 Districts. There is no parcel size restriction for the other eligible receiving zoning districts. A ratio formula is proposed in the legislation for application of the density onto a receiving parcel depending on the type of housing development being proposed. Simply stated it takes 1 development right to add three apartments or two additional townhouses.

The exchange of density is similar to the exchange currently done in the non-service area of the County.

Council Bill 50 includes a provision to permit 2.5 acre or larger R-20 zoned parcels to be developed with single family detached units only subject to Planning Board Review. (Section 108F.3. A&B) The League was surprised to see this provision in CB50 since we could not see the correlation to the Neighborhood Preservation Parcels. The Planning Board in its May 8 advisory opinion suggested that the County's Green Building Law needed a mechanism to foster its use and recommended that R-20 parcels developed under R-ED be subject to the green building requirements of Title 16.144. Council Bill 50 does not require the green building requirement. In fact under the proposed provision and established older community could have an infill parcel of 2.5 acres which would allow 4 single family detached homes on lots as small as 6,000 square feet. Theses lots would be placed so as to preserve 1.2 acres of open space. Certainly this type of development would contrast with the existing neighborhood. The League supports the deletion of this provision to utilize R-Ed development in the R-20 zoning districts.

The League notes there is an existing Section F for the R-20 Zoning Regulations Conditional Uses so an amendment is in order to re-letter existing F to G.

The League urges favorable consideration with one deletion for County Council Bill 50-2008.

Grace Kubofcik
Co-president

CC:County Executive Ulman