MEMORANDUM

To: City Council

From: David J. Deutsch
City Manager

Re: Olde Stage Knolls Annexation
R- 23-02

Date: March 15, 2002

The residents of the Olde Stage Knolls subdivision (located generally along Olde Stage Road between the Railroad tracks known as the Collington Branch Line and Church Road) have petitioned the City to incorporate their subdivision into the corporate limits of the City. Maryland Law requires that a petition for annexation be initiated by not less than 25% of the persons who reside in the area to be annexed and who are registered voters in the precinct in which the annexation area is located; and be owners of not less than 25% of the assessed valuation of the real property in the area. We have received signed Petition and Consent forms from 173 of the 227 occupied homes (76%) in Olde Stage Knolls. Residents living in those homes represent 65% of the registered voters in the area and own approximately 70% of the assessed value of the real property. In addition to the 227 occupied homes there are 20 new homes either currently under construction or under contract that will be included in the annexation. The builder, Washington Homes, has notified the owners of the proposed annexation and we will be meeting with them within the next few weeks.

Resolution R-23- 02 is the Annexation Resolution enlarging the City boundaries by annexing the Olde Stage Knolls subdivision including the new homes mentioned above. The total area being annexed is approximately 147.7470 acres. Attached is the statement of services and impact statement required by Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approving Resolution R-23-02 annexing the Olde Stage Knolls subdivision into the corporate limits of the City.

RESOLUTION
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOWIE, MARYLAND ENLARGING THE CORPORATE BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY OF BOWIE BY ANNEXING LAND CONTIGUOUS AND ADJOINING TO THE EXISTING CORPORATE AREA OF THE CITY OF BOWIE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY CONSISTING OF THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS OLDE STAGE KNOLLS, LOCATED GENERALLY ALONG OLDE STAGE ROAD BETWEEN THE RAILROAD TRACKS KNOWN AS THE COLLINGTON BRANCH LINE AND CHURCH ROAD, AND CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY 147.7470 ACRES

WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland ("the Bowie City Council"), a municipal corporation of the State of Maryland, has determined to enlarge and extend the limits of the City of Bowie ("City") by including therein property within Prince George's County as more specifically described in the metes and bounds description attached hereto as Exhibit A and shown on the plat map attached hereto as Exhibit B, which is contiguous and adjoining to the existing boundaries of the City of Bowie in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article 23A Section 19 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (2001 Rep. Vol.); and

WHEREAS, the proposed annexation has been consented to by the owners of lots in the Olde Stage Subdivision (the "Property") who collectively own not less than Twenty-Five Percent (25%) of the assessed valuation of the Property proposed for annexation and by no fewer than Twenty-Five Percent of the persons residing in the proposed annexation area who are registered to vote in Prince George's County elections, which consents are attached hereto collectively as Exhibit C; and

WHEREAS, based upon the aforesaid consents the Bowie City Council has determined to initiate a Resolution to enlarge and extend the limits of the City of Bowie to include the area described more fully in Exhibit A, and to make applicable to that area all laws which are now in force and effect or which may be hereafter enacted in the City of Bowie subject to the Annexation Agreement with the Old Stage Knolls Homeowners Association, which Agreement is attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit D.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Bowie City Council in legislative session assembled:
Section 1. That there is hereby annexed into the corporate boundaries of the City of Bowie, a municipal corporation of the State of Maryland, all of that land contiguous and adjoining the current boundaries of the City of Bowie in Prince George's County, Maryland, consisting of approximately 147.7470 acres of land as more particularly and fully described by a survey of courses and distances attached hereto as Exhibit A, and known generally as the Olde Stage Knolls subdivision, excepting a portion of the subdivision owned by the Olde Stage Knolls Homeowners Association and located between the railroad tracks and the Woodmont Estates subdivision, shown on the plat map attached hereto as Exhibit B, which is omitted from the annexation in order not to create an enclave of unincorporated land on the west side of the railroad tracks.

Section 2. That the annexation of the land described in Exhibit A will not create any unincorporated area which is bounded on all sides by real property presently within the corporate limits of the City of Bowie, real property proposed to be within the corporate limits of the City of Bowie, or any combination of such properties;

Section 3. That from and after the effective date of this Resolution, all provisions of the Constitution of Maryland, all laws of the State of Maryland applicable to the City of Bowie, and all duly adopted Charter and Ordinance provisions of the City of Bowie, (except as altered by the terms and conditions contained in the Annexation Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit D) shall be and are hereby extended and made applicable to such portion of Prince George's County as is, under the provisions of the Resolution, annexed to and made a part of the City of Bowie, Maryland. Nothing herein or elsewhere in the Resolution shall affect the power of the Bowie City Council to amend or to repeal any Charter provision or Ordinance existing at the date of passage of this Resolution, or to enact and ordain any Ordinance which, at the date of passage of this Resolution, or hereafter, it may be authorized to enact or ordain;

Section 4. That the inhabitants of the territory annexed to the City of Bowie by this Resolution shall, in all respects and to all intents and purposes, be subject to the powers, jurisdiction and authority vested, or to be vested by law, in the Bowie City Council, as far as the same may be consistent with the provisions of this Resolution, and the territory so annexed shall, in all respects, be taken and considered as part of the municipal corporation of the City of Bowie, expressly subject, however, to the terms and conditions of the Annexation Agreement between the City of Bowie and the Olde Stage Knolls Homeowners Association attached hereto as Exhibit D;

Section 5. The City Manager of Bowie shall cause a public notice to be published not fewer than four (4) times at not less than weekly intervals in a newspaper having general circulation in the City of Bowie and in the area to be annexed which briefly and accurately describes the proposed change and the conditions and circumstances applicable thereto. The public notice shall further specify that a public hearing will be held on this Resolution by the Bowie City Council at 8:00 p.m. in the Bowie City Hall, 2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie, Maryland 20715, on the 29th day of April, 2002;

Section 6. This Resolution shall become effective forty-five (45) days from the date of enactment by the Bowie City Council, unless within forty-five (45) days of the date of enactment the Bowie City Council receives a Petition for Referendum filed in accordance with the provisions of Article 23A, Section 19 (g) of the Annotated Code of Maryland (2001 Rep. Vol.);

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, by the Bowie City Council that the City Manager, immediately upon the first publication of the public notice, shall transmit a copy of the public notice to the County Executive, County Council, the Executive Director of the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Director, Office of Planning of the State of Maryland, each of which shall have the first right to be heard at the scheduled public hearing prior to opening the hearing to the general public.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, by the Bowie City Council that the City Manager shall, on or after the effective date of the Resolution, promptly register both the original and new corporate boundaries of the City of Bowie with the City Clerk, the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, the Department of Legislative Reference for the State of Maryland, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

INTRODUCED by the Bowie City Council at a regular legislative session on March 18, 2002.

ENACTED by the Bowie City Council at a legislative session on ____________, 2002.

WITNESS: THE CITY OF BOWIE, MARYLAND

__________________________ _________________________________
Pamela A. Fleming G. Frederick Robinson, Mayor
City Clerk

APPROVED AS TO FORM
AND SUFFICIENCY:

____________________________
Robert H. Levan, City Attorney