Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Review Committee

Todd Arterburn

Jonathan Browne

Aaron Casagrande

Pascal Crosley

Jeremy Dommu

Xavian Esson

Paul Gleichauf

Laura Jones

Brent Loveless

Dan Lubeley

Jen Mallo

Lisa Markovitz

Vynessa Pantano

Phil Scherer

Antoine RJ Wright

The Committee is responsible for reviewing the APF ordinance and assess the law’s allocation test, schools test and road test methodology.

Several key responsibilities are:

1. Reviewing the APF Ordinance: This involves examining the Adequate Public Facilities (APF) ordinance to ensure it aligns with current needs and standards.
2. Assessing the Housing Units Allocation Chart: Evaluating how housing units are allocated under the ordinance to ensure fairness and efficiency for each area identified in the chart.
3. Evaluating the Schools Test: Analyzing the methodology used to determine if school facilities can accommodate new developments, especially those focusing on low- and moderate-income housing needs.
4. Assessing the Road Test Methodology: Reviewing how road capacities and infrastructure are evaluated to support new developments.

The Committee’s findings and recommendations will be compiled into a report, which will be submitted to the County Executive and the County Council for further action.

Intentional community planning uses growth management as a strategy to ensure that new population is targeted at the right time and with the right infrastructure. It's an important principle to keep a community thriving. Growth management considers the needs of public roads, schools, and other facilities and is designed to give responsible parties the time and predictability to plan for changing demand.  

Howard County’s growth management process relies on several key elements, including the County’s General Plan, capital infrastructure planning and budgeting, the adequate public facilities ordinance, and regular review and monitoring from the Department of Planning and Zoning. 

APFO, or Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, is a law adopted by a local government designed to pace new development with public infrastructure, particularly public roads and schools. These growth management laws differ from one jurisdiction to another, and many communities approach growth management uniquely. Howard County’s APFO establishes standards and tests for housing allocations, schools, and public roads.

As communities evolve, so should roads. A public road test is an opportunity to evaluate needed improvements to roads to meet increased demand caused by new residents or visitors.   At the heart of APFO is a test to ensure there is adequate school capacity. The test evaluates whether there is likely to be enough seats in schools for current and new students coming from new housing. Note that water and sewer, stormwater, and solid waste APFO tests generally relate to design requirements and associated capital improvement plans to be executed by the County and are evaluated at that time.

Generally, the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) is intended to pace development and direct growth to areas where infrastructure can handle increased service demands. APFO is also designed to create adequate time for government to respond to planned development to ensure adequate capacity exists by the time the development is completed. In the case of schools, APFO can delay the construction of new residential units for roughly 4 years in areas where school capacity is insufficient. This gives the school system time to prioritize and request funds for capacity improvements in the vicinity of the planned development. When it comes to roads, APFO generally compels developers to make investments to improve certain transportation infrastructure such as traffic signals and turn lanes in order to increase capacity at or near the proposed development.  

While APFO requirements add costs and time delays to development projects, these laws do not stop development. 

Under current law, Howard County’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) outlines three specific tests that all new residential development must take before moving forward. These tests include the housing unit allocations test, the school capacity test, and the roads test. 

The housing unit allocation test allows for a maximum number of housing units to be constructed each year in different areas of the county. If housing unit allocations are available, the project receives them and moves forward to the school capacity test. 

The school capacity test determines whether the schools that would serve a new residential neighborhood are opened or closed to new student generation. If the schools are at capacity and closed, the new development is put into a waiting bin and is retested for school capacity the next year. A project can remain in the waiting bin for up to four years. 

Finally, the development must take a road test to determine whether infrastructure improvements are needed at nearby intersections to accommodate increased traffic. If improvements are needed, the private development must construct those improvements or contribute to county capital projects to enhance the existing infrastructure. 

Origins 

The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) was first recommended in Howard County's 1990 General Plan to manage the pace of growth.  The Plan suggested the enactment of legislation requiring adequate public facilities as a condition of subdivision or land development approval.  In response to this mandate, then County Executive, Charles Ecker, established the Commission on Adequate Public Facilities. This Commission was tasked with developing legislative recommendations that tied future development to the adequacy of public facilities, namely schools and county roadways.  The legislation, supported by the County Executive and passed by the County Council on April 10, 1992, linked residential construction to an elementary schools test, a school regions test, a roads test (both residential and commercial), and a housing unit allocations test.  The law also established the building excise tax and dedicated it to road mitigation. 

First update in 2000 

In 2000, nearly a decade after APFO’s initial passage, then County Executive James Robey appointed the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Committee to review the existing Ordinance and update it to account for demographic and economic shifts that affected growth.  The committee identified two primary gaps in the law that again were accepted by the County Executive and passed by the County Council.  Incorporated into the Ordinance were a new middle schools test and a lowering of the program capacity at which a school is deemed closed from 120 percent to 115 percent.   

Second update in 2018 

In 2018, a committee was formed to again evaluate and make recommendations to the County Executive and County Council. Following the work of the committee, the law was modified to require an APFO committee to convene at the conclusion of each General Plan cycle; create processes for approval of affordable housing developments; revise waiting periods for housing unit allocations; create APFO exemptions for moderate income housing units (MIHUs); establish a test for high schools; and modify capacity limits for school regions, elementary schools and middle schools.  

Within one year after the enactment of the General Plan, the County must convene an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Review Committee to consider and provide recommended changes to APFO. The County’s current General Plan – HoCo By Design – was adopted in October of 2023. The County is presently working with the County Council and the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) to stand up the Adequate Public Facilities Advisory Committee. The Committee is required by law to include two appointees from each member of the County Council, an appointee from the Superintendent of HCPSS, an appointee from the Board of Education, and three appointees of the County Executive. The Department of Planning and Zoning provides staff support to the Committee, which will convene in the coming weeks. 

The County’s newly-adopted General Plan, HoCo By Design, provides policy direction on the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) and to the Adequate Public Facilities Advisory Committee. Chapter 10 of HoCo By Design – Growth Management – establishes the APFO Housing Allocation Chart, which generally sets the maximum the number of housing units that can be developed in a given year. Compared to the last General Plan, HoCo By Design reduces the overall number of possible new housing units to be developed in the next 15 years by 27 percent and provides more specific direction in the form of the map below as to where the allocations will be targeted. 

The Implementing Actions in the Growth Management Chapter also provide specific guidance to the County and Committee on issues to explore around schools and transportation. This language also encourages the use of outside experts and studies of models from other jurisdictions to challenge current policy and inform Committee recommendations. 

HoCo By Design also called for an Affordable Housing Working Group to explore and recommend how best to utilize the “Affordable Housing (for purchase and rental)” column of the APFO Allocation Chart. This Working Group was recently established with representatives appointed by both the County Council and County Executive. The body will meet regularly through the end of calendar year 2024. Its recommendations will be shared with the Adequate Public Facilities Advisory Committee to inform its final recommendations as well. 

The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) Committee will meet approximately 16 - 18 times between August of 2024 and May of 2025. With the help of Department of Planning & Zoning staff and outside experts, the Committee will develop a shared understanding of the current APFO processes, consider models from other jurisdictions, evaluate topics raised in HoCo By Design Policies, and deliberate on recommended changes to the County’s APFO. The Committee’s process will include two public hearings. The Committee’s charge is to produce recommendations for action by the County Executive and County Council within one year of convening.