On February 18, Executive Director Michael Sanderson testified before the Environment and Transportation Committee in opposition to HB 751 – Municipalities – Annexed Land – Land Use and Density.
This bill would effectively eliminate the longstanding transition period before a municipality is enabled to change the underlying zoning, following an annexation of previously unincorporated areas. Mr. Sanderson noted that while much of the bill hearing focused on local matters in the Hagerstown area, the bill was statewide in scope.
Mr. Sanderson referenced the multiple mentions of 2006 legislation (heard in the same House committee) that created, and adjusted, the laws surrounding municipal annexations. “There was quite a lot to that debate,” he recalled, “but this Committee decided to not change the time frame that this bill proposes to essentially eliminate.”
Handing annexed lands with immediate zoning control to municipal officials risks overwhelming infrastructure that municipal leaders neither manage nor oversee. Likewise, nearby communities may struggle as their services and neighborhoods bear the sudden impact. This sudden shift could have a disastrous effect on road capacity, wastewater treatment, classroom size, emergency services, etc.
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