Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said today that agreements made by the former Board of County Commissioners do not provide required public benefits and she has proposed legislation to correct this problem in the future.
“The Development Rights and Responsibilities Agreements are supposed to provide public benefits in exchange for limited security for the developer,” Executive Gardner commented. “Unfortunately, citizens did not see their interests reflected in the agreements because the prior administration made bad deals.”
Executive Gardner today shared a newly compiled summary showing that only two of the 14 contracts signed with developers by the last Board of County Commissioners included any public benefits beyond what was required by law. The citizens of Frederick County did not receive any infrastructure improvements or benefits as a result of these agreements. Officials gave away the county’s legislative capability for up to 20 to 30 years, and froze some fees in exchange for nothing.
For more information, watch today’s public information briefing at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/video.
The summary may also be found at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/ResidentialGrowth.