Nothing under the terms of this chapter shall prohibit or prevent the Mayor and Council of the Town from reaching an agreement as to a mitigation program with a developer for the purpose of advancing the adequacy of public facilities as required by this chapter. Prior to entering any such agreement, the Town shall invite comment from the BOE regarding the same.
Notwithstanding any other provision or term of this chapter, the Mayor and Council of the Town may not be compelled to enter into an agreement as to a mitigation program with a developer for the purpose of advancing the adequacy of public facilities as required by this chapter.
A mitigation program providing for deferred payment of fees shall include the types, methods and schedules for the implementation of the mitigation program for the purpose of advancing the adequacy of public facilities.
In its sole discretion, the Mayor and Council of the Town or its designee may approve a mitigation program that allows a development to proceed in a school district otherwise designated as inadequate for development under the following conditions:
A. 
The Mayor and Council of the Town determine that approving this development benefits the community by:
(1) 
Encouraging certain types of development that offer advantages to the community, including but not limited to the following:
(a) 
Development in designated revitalization areas;
(b) 
Renovation of abandoned or underutilized structures;
(c) 
Affordable or workforce housing or community revitalization projects; or
(d) 
Developments with preliminary plat approval prior to July 1, 2006.
B. 
Development occurring while a particular school is in an inadequate status must not cause the enrollment level at that school to reach a level where temporary measures such as portable classrooms are not sufficient to prevent the average class size from rising beyond the class size based on state-rated capacity or prevent the school's core services from serving the increased number of students in an acceptable manner.
C. 
A mitigation program for major subdivisions under this section must provide for improvements that will occur within three years in order to return a school attendance area to adequate status.
D. 
A mitigation program proposed under this section must include an acceptable phasing program for the development that is approved by the Mayor and Council of the Town or its designee.
E. 
Any developer-funded mitigation program construction project shall be excluded from the adequacy testing calculation in Article V of this chapter.
With regard to any public facility required to be adequate under the terms of this chapter, the Board of County Commissioners for Washington County, the Mayor and Council of any incorporated municipality in Washington County, the Washington County Department of Water Quality, Division of Environmental Management, the State of Maryland, or any other governmental body may elect to participate in the cost of any necessary improvements to advance the adequacy of facilities as required by this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
Any mitigation program providing for deferred payment of fees shall be contained in a legal, binding, adequate public facilities agreement between the developer or other responsible party and the Mayor and Council of the Town. Such agreement must have been approved for form and content by the Town Attorney.
A mitigation program providing for deferred payment of fees shall be binding on the heirs, successors, and assigns of a project and shall run with the land. The deed or title for a property shall contain references to the mitigation program.
If a developer fails to agree to a mitigation program to assure adequacy of public facilities, the Planning Commission shall disapprove the project for want of adequate public facilities as required by this chapter.
The Mayor and Council of the Town shall require security as appropriate to cover the costs of the facilities and lands not under the developer's ownership that are part of a mitigation program providing for deferred payment of fees, in a form acceptable to the Town. The amount of the security shall be reduced as payments are made under the mitigation program. Upon default, the Mayor and Council of the Town shall have the authority to redeem the security in addition to any other remedy provided by law.