FY2002 ANNUAL GROWTH POLICY

Montgomery County’s
Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance
Montgomery County’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is actually contained in the Subdivision
Ordinance; that is, Chapter 50-35(k) - Subdivision of Land of the Montgomery County Code. The APFO
was first adopted in 1973; this most recent version was adopted on November 1997.

(k) Adequate public facilities. A preliminary plan of subdivision must not be approved unless the
Planning Board determines that public facilities will be adequate to support and service the
area of the proposed subdivision. Public facilities and services to be examined will include
roads and public transportation facilities, sewerage and water service, schools, police stations,
firehouses, and health clinics.

(1) Periodically, the District Council will establish by resolution, after public hearing,
guidelines for the determination of the adequacy of public facilities. An annual growth
policy approved by the County Council may serve this purpose if it contains those
guidelines. To provide the basis for the guidelines, the Planning Board and the County
Executive must provide information and recommendations to the Council as follows:

a. The Planning Board must prepare an analysis of current growth and the addi-
tional growth that can be accommodated by future public facilities and ser-
vices.

b. The County Executive must comment on the analyses and recommendations of

the Planning Board and must recommend criteria for the determination of the
adequacy of public facilities as the executive deems appropriate.

(2) The applicant for a preliminary plan of subdivision must, at the request of the Planning
Board, submit sufficient information and data on the proposed subdivision to demon-
strate the expected impact on and use of public facilities and services by possible uses
of said subdivision.

(3) The Planning Board must submit the preliminary plan of subdivision to the County
Executive in addition to the agencies specified in Section 50-35(a).

(4) The Planning Board must consider the recommendations of the County Executive and
other agencies in determining the adequacy of public facilities and services in accor-
dance with the guidelines and limitations established by the County Council in its
annual growth policy or established by resolution of the District Council after public
hearing.

(5) Until such time as the annual growth policy or resolution of the District Council pro-
vides guidelines and limitations for the determination of the adequacy of public facili-
ties and services, public facilities may be determined to be adequate to service a tract
of land or an affected area when the following conditions are found to exist:

a. The tract or area will be adequately served by roads and public transportation
facilities. The area or tract to be subdivided shall be deemed adequately
served by roads and public transportation facilities if, after taking into account

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traffic generated by all approved subdivisions and the subject subdivision, the
following conditions will be satisfied:

(i) For the geographic area in which the proposed subdivision is located,
an acceptable peak-hour level of service will result from:

1. Existing publicly maintained all-weather roads;

2. Additional roads programmed in the current adopted capital

improvements program of the County or the Maryland consoli-
dated transportation program, for which one hundred (100)
percent of the expenditures for construction are estimated to
occur in the first four (4) years of the program; and

3. Available or programmed bus, rail, or other form of mass

transportation.

(ii) For intersections or links significantly affected by traffic from the

subject subdivision, an acceptable peak-hour level of service will result
from:

1. Existing publicly maintained all-weather roads;

2. Additional roads identified in the approved road program

published by the County Executive; and

3. Available or programmed bus, rail, or other form of mass

transportation.

(iii) For the purposes of subsection (ii) above, the County Executive shall
publish periodically an approved road program which shall list all roads
programmed in the current adopted capital improvements program for
which:

1. In the case of the capital improvements program, one hundred

(100) percent of the funds have been appropriated for con-
struction costs; and

2. The County Executive has determined that construction will

begin within two (2) years of the effective date of the ap-
proved road program.

(iv) For the purposes of subsections (i) and (iii) above, roads required under
Section 302 of the Charter to be authorized by law are not considered
programmed until they are finally approved in accordance with Section
20-1 of this code.

(v) Any parcel zoned for light industrial use (I-1) which has been in reserva-
tion for public use pursuant to action of the Montgomery County
Planning Board at any time sine June 1, 1981, and which has not
changed size or shape since June 1, 1958, will not be subject to the
above subsection (a) if a preliminary plan was submitted prior to June
1, 1981.

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b. The tract or area has adequate water service.

(i) For a subdivision dependent on public sewerage and water systems:

1. Said area or tract to be subdivided shall be deemed to have

adequate sewerage and water service if located within an area
in which water and sewer service is presently available, under
construction, or designated by the County Council for extension
of water service within the first 2 years of a current approved
10-year water and sewer plan.

2. If the area or tract to be subdivided is not situated within an

area designated for service within the first 2 years of a current
approved 10-year water and sewerage plan, but is within the
last 8 years of such plan, it is deemed to have adequate water
and sewerage service if the applicant provides community
sewerage and/or water systems as set forth in Subtitle 5 of Title
9 of Article Health-Environmental of the Annotated Code of
Maryland provided the installation of such facilities has been
approved by the State Department of Health and Mental Hy-
giene, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the Health
and Human Services Department, and the Montgomery County
Council.

(ii) For a subdivision dependent upon the use of septic systems: Said area or
tract to be subdivided shall be deemed to have adequate sewerage
service if development with the use of septic systems is in accordance
with Section 50-27, or regulations published by the Maryland State
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene pursuant to Article Health-
Environmental, Annotated Code of Maryland, whichever imposes the
greater or more stringent requirement.

(iii) In its determination of the adequacy of sewerage or water service, the

Planning Board shall consider the recommendation of the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission, the capacity of truck lines and sewerage
treatment facilities and any other information presented.

c. The tract or area is so situated as not to involve danger to health, safety, or

general welfare. Such danger or injury may be deemed not to exist:

(i) When physical facilities, such as police stations, firehouses and health
clinics, in the service area for the preliminary subdivision plan are
currently adequate or are scheduled in an adopted capital improve-
ments program in accordance with the applicable area master plan or
general plan to provide adequate and timely service to the subdivision;
and

(ii) If adequate public utility services will be available to serve the pro-
posed subdivision; and

(iii) When, in the case of schools, the capacity and service areas are found
to be adequate according to a methodology set forth in a resolution
adopted by the District Council after public hearing; provided, however,
that until such resolution by the District Council takes effect, the

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Planning Board shall determine the adequacy of school facilities after

considering the recommendations of the Superintendent of Schools.

d. Existing or proposed street access within the tract or area is adequate. Street
access may be deemed adequate if the streets:

(i) Are adequate to serve or accommodate emergency vehicles,

(ii) Will permit the installation of public utilities and other public services,

(iii) Are not detrimental and would not result in the inability to develop
adjacent lands in conformity with sound planning practices, and

(iv) Will not cause existing street patterns to be fragmented.

(6) For a proposed subdivision located in a Transportation Management District designated

under Chapter 42A, Article II, if the Planning Board determines, under criteria and
standards adopted by the Montgomery County Council, that additional transportation
facilities or traffic alleviation measures are necessary to ensure that public transporta-
tion facilities will be adequate to serve the proposed subdivision, the subdivision plan
may not be approved unless approval is subject to the execution of a traffic mitigation
agreement.

(7) Exemptions. Places of worship and residences for staff, parish halls, and additions to
schools associated with places of worship, which are on an unrecorded parcel which has
not changed in size or shape since June 1, 1958, are not subject to the provisions of
section 50-35(k), “Adequate Public Facilities.”

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