Opinion ID: 1931608
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Anne Arundel County Code Provisions

Text: In 1967, the Anne Arundel County Council adopted the Anne Arundel County Adequacy of Public Facilities Ordinance, codified in the Anne Arundel County Code (AACC), Article 26, sections 2-409 through 2420. [8] The purpose of the ordinance was to protect the citizens of the county and the environment from proposed residential subdivision developments that failed to demonstrate adequate fire suppression facilities, roads, schools, water supply systems, sewerage systems and storm drainage systems. Article 26 is entitled SUBDIVISIONS; Title 2 is entitled Plat Submission and Approval Procedures; Subtitle 4 is entitled Final Plan Review; and Part 2 is entitled Adequacy of Facilities.  Article 26, section 2-413 states that a final subdivision plat cannot be approved until the ordinance's requirements have been satisfied. Article 26, section 2-416(b) provides that, Within two years following approval of a final subdivision plat, elementary and secondary schools in the service area of the proposed subdivision shall be adequate to accommodate the school population projected to be generated from the proposed subdivision. Thus, if the existing schools will not be adequate within two years of the approval of the final subdivision plat, the process of subdivision may not move forward; however, Article 26, section 2-411 permits a waiver of any of the requirements of the Adequacy of Public Facilities Ordinance, including the adequacy of schools requirement. Specifically, Article 26, section 2-411(b) reads: On request by a subdivider, the Planning and Zoning Officer may waive the application of one or more of the requirements of Part 2 of this subtitle to a proposed subdivision, if the Planning and Zoning Officer finds that: (1) the application of the requirement to the proposed subdivision would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulty to or exceptional and demonstrable undue hardship on the subdivider, other than financial considerations; (2) the physical features and other characteristics of the proposed subdivision are such that the waiver may be granted without impairing the intent and purpose of the requirement for which the waiver has been requested, the other provision of this article, the Zoning Article, and the General Development Plan; (3) the grant of the waiver will not endanger or present a threat to the public health, safety, or welfare; and (4) the waiver is the minimum relief available and necessary to relieve the difficulty or hardship to the subdivider. With regard to such a request by a subdivider, Article 26, section 2-411(c) provides that The Planning and Zoning Officer may impose such conditions on the grant of the waiver as are reasonably necessary to further the intent of the requirement for which the waiver was requested and to ensure the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Apparently, respondent, based upon this last provision, concluded that it had the authority to require the payment of additional fees above and beyond State authorized development impact fees [9] as a condition for the granting of waivers. While we note that impact fees are the method that the Legislature has devised that authorizes local governments to recoup the costs of developmental impact and that the Legislature has not expressly authorized the additional imposition of waiver fees, that also address developmental impacts under the guise of contractual agreements, we shall not directly address the challenged legality of this Anne Arundel County practice in this case, in that, because of the voluntary payment rule, petitioners cannot maintain this cause of action.