§14.04.010. Title.
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance of the Town of Emmitsburg, Maryland.

§14.04.020. Authority.
This chapter is established in accordance with the provisions of Md. Code Ann., Art. 66B.

§14.04.030. Jurisdiction. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all lands within the territorial limits of the town.

§14.04.040. Intent
This chapter is adopted with the intent that new residential, commercial, industrial and other development take place in accordance with the Town of Emmitsburg Comprehensive Plan and the Capital Improvements Program and to ensure that adequate public facilities and services are available concurrent with new development so that orderly development and growth can occur. Provision of adequate facilities will take place in cooperation with Frederick County and the State of Maryland when these facilities are beyond the jurisdiction of the town government. For purposes of this chapter, public facilities shall include road, water, sewerage, fire and emergency medical services, and school facilities.

§14.04.050. Definitions
In this chapter, the following terms are used as defined unless otherwise apparent from the content.

Adequate Public Facilities (APF). Those public facilities included in the context of this chapter which meet established minimum standards as further specified herein.

Capital Improvement Program (CIP). An annual document adopted by the Town, indicating capital projects having funding approval for the current fiscal year and those capital projects which are currently planned for the following 5 year period, including the proposed means of financing the same.

Comprehensive Plan. The plan adopted by the Board of Commissioners to guide the development of the town, including maps and text, and any changes or additions thereto made under the provisions of MD Code Ann., Art. 66B.

Level of Service (LOS). A standardized index of relative service as defined in the "Highway Capacity Manual" published by the Transportation Research Board.

Senior Housing. Any project that meets the qualifications as defined in §17.04.020 of the Town Code, and restricts occupancy to persons 62 years of age and older, in keeping with the Fair Housing Act requirements for exemptions from the prohibition against familial status discrimination, such that children will be excluded as residents.

§14.04.060. General Requirements
(A) In planning and developing any subdivision or any development, the developer shall comply with the general principles set forth in this chapter for the provision of adequate facilities; and in every case the developer shall observe the procedure outlined in this chapter.
(B) A developer shall not avoid the intent of this chapter by submitting piecemeal applications for preliminary plats or site plans. However, a developer may seek approval of only a portion of the subdivision or development, provided that the impact from all previously approved preliminaries or site plans from that development shall be considered during the APF review of each subsequent portion of the development.
(C) Except as provided in §14.04.070, all parcels must receive APFO approval prior to preliminary or final subdivision or site plan approval.

§14.04.070. Exemptions.
(A) Public safety facilities are not subject to the requirements of this chapter. Except as specifically provided in this section, all other applications for development, whether for State, County or Town facilities, or private sector projects, are required to obtain APFO approval.
(B) Any existing preliminary subdivision plat approved prior to January 1, 2011 shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter for the following time periods as long as the preliminary approval remains valid:

(1) Residential development with valid preliminary approval 3 years from January 1, 2011
(2) Nonresidential development with valid preliminary approval 3 years from January 1, 2011

(C) Senior housing exemption from schools requirement. Any project which qualifies as "senior housing" as defined in §17.04.020 of the Town Code, and restricts occupancy to persons 62 years of age and older, in keeping with the Fair Housing Act requirements for exemptions from the prohibition against familial status discrimination, such that children will be excluded as residents, is exempt from the APFO schools requirement. The project must meet all other APFO requirements and,

(1) The zoning certificate, site plan and subdivision approvals shall limit occupancy of the property to persons age 62 and older as specified in the Fair Housing Act, as described in Section (C), above.
(2) Before any revision or modification to the project at any time in the future, whether the project is built out and occupied or not, which has the effect of removing or substantially modifying the age restriction for residents, the project must first comply with the schools adequacy requirements under this chapter.
(3) Any project approved under this section shall meet the requirements of the sections of this chapter requiring that roads, public water and sewerage facilities be adequate.

§14.04.080 Approval of Subdivisions, Site Plans.
(A) All residential subdivisions, commercial/industrial subdivisions, site plans, and revised subdivisions or site plans resulting in an increase in density or intensity of use, received for approval, re-approval or extension by the Planning Commission shall meet the requirements set forth herein prior to preliminary plat or site plan approval, except as provided for in §14.01.070.
(B) Subdivision plats or site plans that do not meet the requirements for adequate public facilities set forth herein shall not be granted preliminary subdivision or site plan approval by the Planning Commission. A conditional approval as allowed for in §14.01.090 may be granted, provided no final approval shall be granted or lots recorded until the conditions set forth in the conditional approval have been satisfied.
(C) Prior to the signing of any preliminary plat, or site plan, an adequate public facilities letter of understanding shall be forwarded to the Planning Commission and to the developer by the Town Manager.
(D) Approval of adequate public facilities as set forth in this chapter shall be valid from the date of the meeting at which approval of the preliminary subdivision or site plan approval is first granted by the Planning Commission for the following time period as long as the preliminary plan or site plan approval remains valid.

(1) Residential subdivisions – 3 years
(2) Nonresidential subdivisions – 3 years

(E) If the preliminary plan or site plan approval expires or is voided prior to the recording of all lots, the unrecorded lots or in the case of site plans, unconstructed portion of the development, shall meet the requirements of this chapter prior to again obtaining preliminary subdivision or site plan approval.

§14.04.090 Conditional Approval.
(A) Conditional site plan, or preliminary plat, approval maybe granted to a development that does not have adequate public facilities at the time of Planning Commission consideration, provided that the developer agrees to provide the necessary improvements to make the facility adequate as allowed for in §14.04.100. If the developer improvements will not result in adequate capacity, conditional approval shall not be granted, and preliminary plat and site plan approval shall be denied.
(B) If any conditions of a preliminary plat approval have not been met, then approval shall not be granted to a final subdivision plat.
(C) If conditional site plan approval has been granted, a building permit shall not be issued until the conditions have been satisfied, or the facilities have been determined to be adequate.

§14.04.100 Developer Option
The developer shall have the option to provide the public facility improvements necessary to support the proposed development and to ensure adequacy of public facilities as set forth in this chapter or wait for public facilities to become adequate by improvements made pursuant to the CIP or other sources. A county, state or municipal agency may participate in the improvements.

§14.04.110 Administration The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance shall be administered by the Town Planning Office. All applications, maps, and documents relative to subdivision or site plan approval and subject to the provisions of this chapter shall be submitted to the Planning Office, which will review all information and present the relevant information and its recommendations to the Planning Commission. Final determination of adequacy shall be the responsibility of the Planning Commission.

§14.04.112 Referral to other agencies/Public Comment.
(A) The Planning Office may refer the subdivision, site and development plans, to any County, State, or other agency it deems appropriate for review, comments and/or recommendations pertaining to the adequacy of public facilities, and these recommendations shall be considered by the Planning Commission in making its decision. (B) The Planning Commission shall accept public comments and consider these comments as part of the record in its decision making process.

§14.04.120 Appeals.
(A) Any person aggrieved by any action of the Planning Commission pursuant to this chapter may appeal to the Circuit Court pursuant to Maryland Rules, Title 7, Chapter 200. The decision of the Circuit Court may be appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, or, upon certiorari, to the Court of Appeals of Maryland in accordance with Maryland Rules. (B) The Town Council may file a responsive pleading and be a party to or take an appeal to the Circuit Court of the county, to the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, or upon certiorari, to the Court of Appeals of Maryland of any decision made under this chapter.

§14.04.130 Fees The Town of Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners shall have the authority to establish by resolution fees for APFO-related services. This may include, but shall not be limited to, a base review fee, plus any additional costs incurred for professional review services.

§14.04.140 Determination of Adequacy
(A) Roads. For development applications that will increase traffic loads over existing levels as determined by Maryland State Highway Administration traffic counts by 25% or greater, based on the latest edition of the ITE "Trip Generation Manual", a traffic impact analysis (TIA) shall be prepared. Study area and/or scope of study shall be determined by Town Staff.

(1) If the existing road facilities are determined to be inadequate to accommodate the traffic flow projected by the TIA, the preliminary plan or site plan approval shall be denied, except as provided in §14.04.090.
(2) Road improvements necessary to mitigate inadequacies shall be determined by the Town staff, and/or their agents and consultants, after reviewing the entire record, including the TIA, road rating system, traffic management plan (if required), safety considerations and the Maryland SHA comments; and improvements may be provided by the developer as prescribed in 14.04.100.

(B) Public Water Supply. For development applications that will require additional water supply beyond what is existing on the site, the proposed capacity usage will be evaluated relative to the existing available units of capacity (taps) and any anticipated expansion of capacity pursuant to the Capital Improvement Plan and water management plan. The water capacity shall be considered adequate if, given existing connections, future connections from buildings under construction, recorded lots for which allocations have been made and multi-year tap agreements:

(1) The source facilities, storage tanks and local pumping stations have sufficient available capacity to provide maximum day demand and fire flow to the proposed development
(2) The distribution system is capable of providing normal required pressure as well as minimal residual pressure to the proposed development. It should be noted that water taps are not guaranteed for the project until such taps are purchased, or a multi-year tap agreement has been executed between the town and developer.
(3) Water supply capacity (taps) will be allocated according to a plan developed by town staff that will assign the number of taps and a time frame in which to use them.
(4) If water supply capacity is found to be inadequate, preliminary subdivision and/or site plan application shall be denied except as provided for in §14.04.090.
(5) Improvements necessary to achieving the required capacity shall be determined by the town staff and may be provided by the developer as allowed in §14.04.090.
(6) Upon completion of construction of APFO water system improvements for a development the APFO water capacity approval shall be vested for the capacity created by the improvements and shall not be subject to further APFO water capacity testing unless the density or intensity of the development increases.

(C) Public Sewer Capacity. For development applications that will require sewer capacity in addition to that which is existing on the site, the proposed capacity usage will be evaluated relative to the existing available units of treatment capacity at the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Creamery Road. It should be noted that sewer taps are not guaranteed for the project until such taps are purchased or a multi-year tap agreement has been executed between the town and the developer.

(1) Sewage treatment taps will be allocated according to a plan developed by town staff that will assign the number of taps and a time frame in which to use them.
(2) If public sewage treatment capacity is found to be inadequate, preliminary subdivision and/or site plan applications will be denied.
(3) Upon completion of construction of APFO sewage treatment system improvements for a development, the APFO sewer capacity approval shall be vested for the capacity created by the improvements and shall not be subject to further APFO sewage treatment capacity testing unless the density or intensity of the development increases.

(D) Schools. Adequacy tests apply only to residential development. APFO test data include:

(1) Adequacy of every public school serving the proposed development shall be determined using the most recent quarterly enrollment data published by the Frederick County Public Schools.
(2) Schools shall be considered adequate if the enrollment for each school serving the development is less than 100% of state-rated capacity during the entire period for which APFO approval is granted by the Planning Commission.
(3) Procedure. Town staff shall send a written request to the Board of Education or its designee, requesting a school adequacy test, and specifying:(a) the number of years for which the development should be tested; (b) the number and types of residential units to be tested; and (c) data concerning the approved developments in the school attendance areas that should be factored into the test. The BOE or its designee shall forward its school adequacy test results to town staff for presentation to the Planning Commission. After consideration of the school adequacy test results at a public meeting, the Planning Commission shall determine whether the proposed development meets the school adequacy requirements in this chapter.
(4) Request to redistrict. If a school is not adequate based on the BOE school adequacy test, and an adjoining school district at the same level is at least 20% below state rated capacity, then the applicant may request the Frederick County Board of Education (BOE) to determine the viability of redistricting to accommodate the new development. If the BOE determines that redistricting is a viable alternative, and the BOE approves a specific redistricting plan that would result in all the schools serving the proposed development meeting the standards utilized to provide the BOE school adequacy test results described in §40.04.140(3), then the schools shall be considered adequate.
(5) Denial. If a school is not adequate and the BOE has not approved a specific redistricting plan that would result in the school meeting the BOE school adequacy standards, then the preliminary subdivision or site plan shall be denied, except as allowed for in §14.04.090.
(6) Mitigation. Improvements necessary to meet the standards herein shall be determined by the Planning Commission with the assistance of the Frederick County Board of Education.
(7) Any BOE-required mitigation must be funded by the developer