Six Things You Should Know About The Maple Lawn West Project
Hiruy Hadgu
On June 24, 2021, petitioner G&R Maple Lawn, Inc. presented a proposal before the Howard County Planning Board, a residential development to add 505 homes on 109.6 acres of land. To assist in preparing my testimony before the Planning Board, I reviewed the petition for approval of the Preliminary Development Plan (PDP), the traffic study paid for by the developer, the Technical Staff Report (TSR) authored by the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ), a fiscal impact report prepared by the County, a letter submitted by the Board of Education (BOE) and other memos attached to the TSR.
The Planning Board is a rubber-stamping body so I have very little confidence that the proposal in its entirety will receive the proper consideration. It was telling that before the community had a chance to testify, several members of the Board were effusive and falling over themselves praising the developer’s presentation in the most inappropriate ways.
While the petitioner framed its presentation in terms of residents who are opposed to development, most people don’t fall in that category including me. Many are concerned about mitigating residential development by ensuring the level of service of public infrastructure is not adversely impacted. To that end, the petitioner’s claims about the various studies performed with respect to public infrastructure are fatally flawed.
Without further ado, here are the six things the public should know.
Campaign Contributions
Elected officials have received numerous campaign contributions leading up to the filing of the petition. Specifically, County Executive Calvin Ball has received $13,000 from the petitioner in campaign contributions between 2018 and 2021.
Over the years, the petitioner has given nearly $160,000 to Maryland candidates and political action committees, with $33,000 of the total amount given to Howard County politicians.
Why is this important? The TSR, which is written by the County’s zoning regulator DPZ completely underplays the impact of development. The report does not address the need to mitigate residential development by requiring dollars for public infrastructure. Over the years DPZ advocated on behalf of the developers functioning more as facilitators of development rather than regulators. The DPZ is run by the County Executive’s office.
Traffic Study and Roads
The county’s TSR states that the annual average daily traffic on MD-216 was 24,761 in 2019. Why is this important? The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration MDOT SHA found that the developer funded traffic study had some glaring issues.
Improper Compounding of Traffic Counts: The adjusted volumes [in provided data]appear to be compounded incorrectly. MDOT states that the 6/12/2018 count numbers should be compounded over 3 years to bring them to 2021. It appears that the numbers were only compounded over 2 years. Similarly, the 9/19/2019 count which should have been compounded over 2 years but were only compounded for 1 year. MDOT tells the developer to revise counts accordingly.
Using Incorrect Numbers: It is unclear where and how the numbers were acquired in [certain provided data]. The numbers do not agree with the 2015 count at MD 216 and Lime Kiln Road, nor do the numbers agree with the 2014 count for MD 216 at Murphy Road. For instance, the 2015 thru movement count at Lime Kiln Road shows a PM peak volume for westbound MD 216 as 693 without any compounding. The diagram [provided in the traffic study] shows the PM peak for this movement as 500 in 2021. The same discrepancy was found for westbound MD 216 at Murphy Road. The 2014 count shows the PM thru movement as 829 and the diagram shows the peak for this movement as 685 in 2021. MDOT tells developer to clarify the methodology used to interpolate these numbers.
Omitting Key Data Points: MDOT tells the developer to add the roundabout intersections located at the US 29 and MD 216 interchange to the list of intersections that will be analyzed in the future Adequate Public Facilities Traffic Study.
The TSR states the first two phases (32 single family detached and 200 apartment units) of the project will add 1,000 average daily trips. If the developer funded traffic study is compounding traffic data improperly from 2019 to 2021, this will significantly underestimate average daily counts 2028.
Underfunded Transportation Demand Management Plan (TDMP): according to the Maple Lawn HOA, the developer has not been paying into a so-called TDMP since 2015. The developer has yet to respond to a letter from the county requesting information on the funds. The county says:
On March 17, 2021, Howard County sent a letter (attached) to the petitioner requesting verification of the amount of TDMP funds collected from the commercial portion of development, an itemized list of TDMP expenditures from the commercial development fund, and the TDMP requirements that have been completed as of March 17, 2021. Howard County requested this information by May 1, 2021 and will review the information once it is received to determine the extent to which the petitioner has satisfied the terms of the TDMP.
Pandemic-Era Traffic Counts: the developer-funded traffic study uses traffic counts from 2021, which would severely undercount the traffic volumes under normal conditions.
Moderate Income Housing Unit (MIHU)
Inconsistent Percentage Calculations: the petitioner’s offer for 10% MIHU is based on the added units. This has the benefit of low-balling the MIHU requirements, which benefits the developer.
In contrast, the percentage calculations for open space and density are performed in relation to the previously approved project. For example, the open space goes from 217.1 acres to 221.0 acres. The petitioner says it is an increase from 35.8% to 36.6%.
The density calculation also uses the previously approved density. The petitioner says the number of dwellings goes from 1,340 to 1,813, which would be an increase from 2.2 to 3.0 units per acre.
The petitioner would make the density calculation appear rosy by including the previous project while the MIHU uses only the current proposal. The basis for the developer’s proposal cannot be the total number of dwellings including the existing dwellings for everything except the MIHU.
In reality, based on the total number of units, the developer is not providing no more than 2.7% MIHU.
If the developer prefers to use the new units as a basis to calculate the MIHU, then the density should also be calculated based on the new units and 109.6-acre leading to 4.6 units per acre, which is more than 3.0 the developer stated.
School Capacity
The county employs three major ways to mitigate the impact of residential development on schools. The first is through percent-utilization limits imposed by the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), the second is a so-called “Waitlist Bin”, and the third is through school surcharge fees.
Before APFO reform, the county did not have any utilization limits for high schools.
For example, Reservoir has 1551 seats. Until, 2019, developers would be allowed to build if the school is 150% over capacity, which Reservoir is projected to reach by 2030. Phase 1 of the Maple Lawn West project is set to begin in 2026, when Reservoir will be at 144% capacity.
If a school is over capacity, the project is kept in the Waitlist Bin until the school is below the regulatory limit and/or three additional years. Whichever comes first. In the fourth year, the project will proceed whether or not the school is below capacity.
Lastly, the school surcharge fees, are paid by the developer on a square-foot basis for new construction. This fee is intended to cover new construction costs.
For nearly two decades, this fee was very low, which has led to a school infrastructure crisis in Howard County. The fee will be higher by 2026, but it will not be enough to account for years of decline and under-collection. Almost every single home in Maple Lawn was assessed very low school surcharge fees of $1.32 per square foot.
Fiscal Impact Study
For over two decades, the County has approved residential development projects assuming that residential developments pay for themselves. The fiscal impact study conducted for Maple Lawn West reaches the same conclusion.
However, the fiscal impact study severely underestimates the cost to the taxpayer of the project. The schools are already over capacity and would require more seats, which will not be added by merely purchasing additional chairs.
They will require extensive capital costs like the one Hammond High School is undertaking to add capacity for 200 seats. The Hammond project will cost nearly $110 million for 200 new seats. On a per-student basis, this is $550,000. The new high school, High School #13, costs around $75k per student. Clearly it costs more to add new seats to an existing school than to build on.
According to the latest student yield numbers, the Maple Lawn West project is expected to yield around 200 students at all levels. Even a moderate amount of $150k per student would lead to a capital expenditure of $20 million.
So the rosy pictures presented by the study ultimately saddles the taxpayer with more debt and infrastructure deficit, unless properly accounted for in the overall impacts.
Water & Sewer Study
The capacity of the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant facility is 29 MGD and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) requires that municipalities report and manage the facility capacity when actual flows reach 80% of capacity (i.e., 23 million gallons per day (MGD)) to ensure that capacity is effectively managed.
According to the 2015 Amendment to the Howard County Master Plan for Water and Sewerage, the projected average annual sewer flow was 23.5 (MGD).
A study conducted for a different project of the same facility in 2018 showed that the flow rate was 20 MGD. The same study projected the flow rate to be 25.9 MGD by 2040.
The county’s study for Maple Lawn West shows that the average flow rate in 2021 is 21 MGD and that it would increase to 23.9 MGD in 2045.
A study conducted three years ago for the same facility projects that the facility will have less capacity in 2040 than 2045.
Conclusion
Howard County issues staggering levels of debt every year. This is unsustainable. Especially if the county’s policy of poor mitigation of residential development on public infrastructure continues. The developer’s attorney stated that many people are coming to Howard County because it is a great place to live. But he neglected say that they are coming for the schools and other infrastructure.
The developer’s attorney would lump those who are calling for proper mitigation of development with a minority of the county’s population who oppose any development. This should not deter most Maple Lawn homeowners and residents who fall in the former category.
It is not up to the taxpayer to subsidize the project and make it viable if it is uneconomical for the developer to pay for proper mitigation and build homes.