[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of
Forest Heights 7-20-2011 by Ord. No. 08-11. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
The purpose of this Article is to establish certain local procedures
in which to grant tax abatements, and to process petitions for annexation
or to initiate annexation proposals and resolutions in order to supplement
but not conflict with controlling state law generally governing municipal
annexations as found in Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
A.
In addition to all requirements of state law, each petition for annexation
shall be either typewritten or legibly printed and shall contain the
address of the property to be annexed and the address of each person
signing the petition. In the event that there is more than one petitioner,
the petition shall also contain the name, address and telephone number
of a designated representative of the petitioners who shall serve
as a contact person for the purpose of receiving notices from the
Town and requests for further information concerning the petition.
B.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the Town Council
from initiating annexations without a petition or otherwise without
the consent of the property owner as permitted by state law.
Each petition shall be accompanied by eight copies of a metes
and bounds description and of a plat of the property to be annexed,
prepared by a professional land surveyor or property line surveyor
licensed in the State of Maryland. The plat shall show adjacent Town
boundaries, the names of owners of adjoining properties with title
references, the zoning of the property proposed to be annexed and
of all adjoining properties, and shall have a site map or detail showing
the location of the subject property on the County Master Plan and
shall be of a scale as requested by the Mayor.
A.
Upon the filing of any petition for annexation with the Mayor, the
same or a copy of the same shall be forwarded to the Town Attorney
who shall cause to be made a verification of the signatures thereon
for the purpose of verifying whether the same comply with state law.
In the event that said verification fails to indicate compliance with
state law, the Town Attorney shall advise the Council and the petitioner
or petitioners thereof, and no further action shall be taken until
compliance is obtained by the petitioner or petitioners. In the event
that said verification indicates compliance with state law and that
the Town Attorney finds said petition to otherwise be in proper form,
then the Town Attorney shall prepare an appropriate resolution proposing
a change of boundaries for introduction at the next legislative session
of the Town Council and shall advise the representative of the petitioner
of such preparation and furnish such representative with a copy of
the proposed resolution.
B.
Prior to the introduction of said resolution, the petitioner or petitioners
shall pay to the Town the sum of $1,500 as a refundable deposit toward
costs to be incurred by the Town for publication of notices, review
of the request by the Town staff, advice and services by the Town
Attorney and review by any consultants engaged by the Town. The deposit
amount stated herein may be waived, modified or changed from time
to time by formal resolution of the Council.
A.
Upon payment of the sum set forth in Section 24.4, the resolution shall be formally introduced at a legislative session of the Council, which shall thereafter cause public notice of a hearing thereon to be given as required by state law and which shall also refer the same to the Town staff, outside agencies or any applicable consultants for study and recommendations.
B.
After the first publication, a copy of the public notice shall be
provided certain agencies as required by state law.
The Mayor and Council, in its discretion, may request additional
information from the petitioner or petitioners, such as, but not limited
to, topographic information, traffic studies, environmental reports,
land use plans, permits or municipal service provision studies.
A.
The Mayor shall cause any written report and/or recommendations made
by the staff or a consultant to be furnished promptly to the representative
of the petitioner or petitioners. At the conclusion of the public
hearing or public hearings thereon, the Council shall announce the
date of the legislative session at which it intends to act upon said
petition and shall give notice of that fact to the representative
of the petitioner or petitioners.
B.
At the legislative session designated for action upon said petition,
the Council may propose that the same be denied, be unconditionally
granted or be granted subject to conditions. In the event that the
petitioners fail to attend said meeting or attended the same but failed
to object to any of said proposed conditions, they shall be deemed
to have consented to the same in the event that said petition is granted,
and said conditions shall be binding upon the petitioners, each of
them and all persons thereafter acquiring an interest in the property
so annexed.
Upon the written request of any petitioner, signed by him or
her in person, or upon verbal request made by any petitioner at any
public hearing on the petition or at any legislative session at which
the resolution in connection therewith is being considered, the petition
may be withdrawn, or amended to exclude a given petitioner's
property.
A.
Before taking final action upon any such petition or in the event that any such petition is withdrawn, the Mayor shall advise the petitioners' representative of the total charges incurred for review of the same by the staff, services of the Town Attorney and any consultants and costs of publication of required notices of hearing, to which 10% will be added toward the Town's administrative costs and overhead. In the event that the resulting figure is less than the fee imposed in Section 24.4, then the difference will be refunded to the representative of the petitioners; but if greater, the petitioners shall pay the difference.
B.
Each of the petitioners shall be jointly and severally liable for
the payment of any such sum and, in addition to all other rights and
means of collection, the Town shall be authorized to withhold final
action on such petition until payment is made and to refuse to accept
any subsequent petition from any of the petitioners for annexation
or application for the issuance of any other permit, license or approval
which any of them may thereafter seek from the Town. All sums due
from the petitioners shall bear interest at 10% per annum commencing
30 days after written request for payment.
C.
In case the petition is approved and any charges incurred pursuant
to this Article are left unpaid for a period exceeding six months,
the charges may be added to the tax bill for the property and collected
in the same manner as municipal property taxes.
Upon application to the Mayor and Council, a commercial establishment
desiring to locate within the Town or a property owner desiring to
be annexed into the Town may be granted an abatement of real property
or other Town taxes by a majority vote and formal resolution of the
Council.
A.
Tax abatements for commercial development within the Town may be
granted when improvements made to real property would cause a significant
increase in the assessable base of the applicable real property by
at least 50% or would result in increasing employment opportunities
for the citizens of the Town.
B.
Commercial development tax abatements may be granted for all or a
portion of the expected tax increases resulting from real property
improvements.
C.
Commercial development tax abatements may be granted for a period
not to exceed five years.
Full or partial tax abatement incentives to property owners
desiring to be annexed into the Town may be granted for such periods
of time not to exceed 10 years as the Council finds is in the best
interests of the Town and is fair to the property owner desiring annexation.
In granting tax abatements pursuant to this Article, the Council
shall make specific findings as to why the tax abatements granted
are necessary and in the best interests of the residents of the Town.
Each grant of tax abatement shall be made by a separate resolution
duly offered and adopted at a public meeting of the Town Council.
