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Washington, DC suburbs in Maryland Calvert County, Charles County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County
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Old 08-19-2012, 01:35 PM
 
2,429 posts, read 3,557,896 times
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Originally Posted by Jobworkinger View Post
Laurel's gonna be densifying with the Laurel Mall redevelopment and Konterra(once ICC is finished to US 1, of course). If we can just get extended hours and weekends on MARC like Chicago and NYC's commuter rail lines have, then I think that do tremendous things for Northern PG, Southern Howard County, and even Western Anne Arundel County.
I am sure that will come once those projects are complete (Laurel Mall) or well under way (Konterra).
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Old 08-20-2012, 01:39 PM
 
1,831 posts, read 4,425,773 times
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Originally Posted by adelphi_sky View Post
Thus the is argument of some who are for the cafritz property. It was originally zone for single family. Cafritz wants apartments and townhomes with retail and offices.

I agree that there is already a healthy supply of single family homes.
Yes. We have plenty, and I do mean Pleeenty, of townhouses and and apartments. And with regard to single family detached, I have recently seen even more new subdivision signs pop up on and near Church Road. Curvy, dangerous, inadequate Church Road. All the pretty trees are going to be gone.

One of my children said, "How many houses do we need?" the other day. Of course, she could have just gotten that from me.

I am not anti-development. But, there is room for parts of the County to be urbanized, and parts to be suburban, even rural. Not every square inch needs to be crammed with houses, asphalt, concrete and the same, tired shopping venues. Other, more successful counties provide a variety of environments. The big difference is that they have a healthy commercial base, and they've had it for years. PG is tardy to the party and has a lot of catching up to do. I don't think urbanizing the whole place is the solution.
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Old 08-20-2012, 03:42 PM
 
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Originally Posted by bowian View Post
Yes. We have plenty, and I do mean Pleeenty, of townhouses and and apartments. And with regard to single family detached, I have recently seen even more new subdivision signs pop up on and near Church Road. Curvy, dangerous, inadequate Church Road. All the pretty trees are going to be gone.

One of my children said, "How many houses do we need?" the other day. Of course, she could have just gotten that from me.

I am not anti-development. But, there is room for parts of the County to be urbanized, and parts to be suburban, even rural. Not every square inch needs to be crammed with houses, asphalt, concrete and the same, tired shopping venues. Other, more successful counties provide a variety of environments. The big difference is that they have a healthy commercial base, and they've had it for years. PG is tardy to the party and has a lot of catching up to do. I don't think urbanizing the whole place is the solution.
You are on point with your assessment . I know that a lot of these project were approved a long time but the county really need to put a cap on new development until demand exceeds existing stock. One thing that the county should encourage is the renovation/upgrading of existing properties in designated urban areas.
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Old 08-20-2012, 04:14 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
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Originally Posted by UrbanScholar View Post
You are on point with your assessment . I know that a lot of these project were approved a long time but the county really need to put a cap on new development until demand exceeds existing stock. One thing that the county should encourage is the renovation/upgrading of existing properties in designated urban areas.

That's real hard to do unless the County has limits tied to schools, roads or other infrastructure. There's a theory/rule embodied in Planning called "by right" which means absent exceptional circumstances a person cannot be denied the use (development) of his property if he's developing under current zoning.

An example:
I own a wooded lot beside your house. It buffers you from neighbors, you see wildlife, etc., it's been like that for decades. I decide to build a house. You try to sue me to stop my developing the property. I have the "by right" ability to build a house there as long as I follow the relevant zoning, design standards, setbacks, there's adequate water and sewer taps, etc. You have no suit.

One way to steer infill/rehab is to offer tax breaks. They can be one time or, more commonly, on a descending scale where the full tax load phases in over X number of years.

Last edited by North Beach Person; 08-20-2012 at 04:21 PM.. Reason: explanation
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Old 08-20-2012, 05:01 PM
 
2,429 posts, read 3,557,896 times
Reputation: 395
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person View Post
That's real hard to do unless the County has limits tied to schools, roads or other infrastructure. There's a theory/rule embodied in Planning called "by right" which means absent exceptional circumstances a person cannot be denied the use (development) of his property if he's developing under current zoning.

An example:
I own a wooded lot beside your house. It buffers you from neighbors, you see wildlife, etc., it's been like that for decades. I decide to build a house. You try to sue me to stop my developing the property. I have the "by right" ability to build a house there as long as I follow the relevant zoning, design standards, setbacks, there's adequate water and sewer taps, etc. You have no suit.

One way to steer infill/rehab is to offer tax breaks. They can be one time or, more commonly, on a descending scale where the full tax load phases in over X number of years.
Thanks for your insight. Now that you mention it I do recall that being a practice/rule. What I have seen from the planning hearings is that it is very rare that a developer isn't asking for a deviation from the current zoning codes. Now considering the dearth of commercial development in the county, I would be flexible with development that is tied to a major corporation or a group or minor corporations coming to the county. I would not be interested in that flexibility being extending to residential development unless they are tied to guaranteed commercial development.

Tax breaks would be a great idea. I know that Baker has tried to implement that on some level but the county really needs to be aggressive about promoting that.
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