TO: David Deutsch, City Manager

FROM: Una Cooper, Communications Coordinator

SUBJECT: Pending Local Legislation

DATE: February 1, 2007

Below is a summary of several bills under consideration by the Prince George’s House Delegation. None of them have been scheduled for a vote in the Delegation Subcommittee or in the full Delegation yet.

MC/PG 119-07 Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission – Prince George’s County – Municipal Building Requirements This legislation authorizes the legislative body of a municipal corporation in Prince George’s County to impose additional or stricter building requirements than are otherwise required by County and State law for certain purposes and to regulate the construction, repair, erection or remodeling of single-family residential buildings in relation to fencing, signage, parking, storage, structural and lot coverage requirements. The municipal requirements must include a waiver process to exempt an applicant from the stricter building requirements.

MC/PG 119 increases municipal land use authority by allowing the municipality to impose stricter building standards than the County or State. It allows a municipality to consider local factors in setting these requirements.
Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT

PG 308-07 Prince George’s County – Vehicle Laws – Speed Monitoring Systems
Currently speed monitoring systems are permitted only in Montgomery County. The law passed the General Assembly in the 2005 session, was vetoed by Governor Ehrlich, and overridden at the beginning of the 2006 session. This bill would authorize a similar speed monitoring program in Prince George’s County. The law as it currently applies to Montgomery County permits speed monitoring devices in school zones and on a highway in a residential district with a posted speed limit of no more than 35 miles per hour. The penalty is a civil citation of not more than $40.

This proposal would supplement Prince George’s County and Bowie Police Department efforts to control speeding in certain areas within Bowie.
Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT

PG 414-07 Prince George’s County – Public Safety Surcharge – Increased Distribution of Revenue to Municipal Corporations
In 2005, the General Assembly approved a Public Safety Surcharge for Prince George’s County. The surcharge is collected on new residential construction for which a Preliminary Plan was approved on or after July 2005. The surcharge is $2,000 in the developed tier, and $6,000 for the rest of the County. The law authorized 12% of the surcharge revenue, derived from construction within a municipality, to go to that municipality’s police department. This share of the surcharge was to be used for the construction or rehabilitation of public safety facilities or for the purchase of equipment or communications devices used in connection with law enforcement, fire fighting, or emergency services activities, including protective body armor, surveillance devices, weapons, ladder trucks, ambulances, police cruisers, and rescue vehicles.

This proposed legislation would increase the percentage of surcharge revenue that the City would be eligible to receive from the Public Safety Surcharge from 12% to 50%. The funds would assist in outfitting the new Police Department or in providing a facility for the Police Department.
Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT

PG 428-07 Prince George’s County – Special Taxing Districts
This legislation expands the reasons why Prince George’s County may establish a Special Taxing District to include renovation, rehabilitation, and repair of existing buildings, building systems, and components for existing residential condominiums designated as Workforce Housing as defined in the Housing and Community Development Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. It also broadens the types of costs that could be covered by the special tax to include renovation of the building, its mechanical and security systems, elevators and façade improvements.

PG 428 encourages Workforce Housing by allowing for the establishment of a Special Taxing District to finance the costs of rehabilitating a building for reasonably priced housing.
Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT

MC/PG 123-07 Prince George’s County – Maryland – Washington Regional District – Municipal Annexation – Enforcement of Covenants
This legislation, which would apply only to Bowie, addresses the enforcement of covenants that were agreed upon as part of an annexation agreement. It states that if the covenants were adopted more than twenty years ago and they are not consistent with the current zoning of a property, that the owner and the municipality must submit to binding arbitration to resolve the inconsistency.

This bill pre-empts local land use authority by bringing the State in to a dispute between a specific land owner and a City. It is unnecessary and sets a precedent for future State involvement in local land use issues.
Staff Recommendation - OPPOSE

See proposed amendments to this bill