Bill would curtail annexation powers!

Expansions of towns, cities would be delayed
By Timothy B. Wheeler
Sun reporter
February 4, 2006

A simmering political feud over where and how much Maryland should grow heated up yesterday with the introduction of a bill in Annapolis aimed at limiting the power of cities and towns to annex land for development.

Acting at the behest of county officials, environmentalists and residents upset about a recent flurry of municipal annexations on the Eastern Shore and elsewhere, three state senators proposed legislation that would delay an urban boundary expansion for up to a decade unless the neighboring county agreed to it.

"It's one of the hot-button issues related to growth," said Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a Republican and one of the bill's sponsors. He represents the upper Eastern Shore, where annexations that would double or triple the sizes of some small towns over the next 10 to 20 years have generated bitter debates and at least one lawsuit.

Other sponsors are Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, a Baltimore County Democrat, and Sen. John C. Astle, an Anne Arundel Democrat.

"What we're trying to do is bring the municipalities and counties together to provide them incentives to work together to provide some kind of planned growth," Pipkin said.
County officials welcomed the measure. Municipal leaders said they had not seen it and vowed to oppose it. It runs counter to Maryland's Smart Growth law, which uses state funding to encourage development in and around communities, they said.

"Basically, it is an anti-Smart Growth initiative," said Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer. If it passes, she said, it will encourage suburban sprawl.

Though municipalities other than Baltimore have long been able to expand their boundaries, the number and scope of annexations have grown in recent years, particularly in the state's small towns, sparking acrimony over the size and types of development planned.

County officials say towns and cities might gain tax revenue from annexing land to develop but do not share the costs of building roads and schools, and providing other services.
Critics point to Cambridge's annexation of farmland to build a 3,300-home resort near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge as an abuse of the Smart Growth law.

Caroline County has gone to court in a bid to block Denton's annexation of farmland across the Choptank River.

Municipal officials counter that annexation is the most environmentally sensitive way to grow and that county governments have permitted more sprawling development.
"Underneath it all, there are sharply different views of how people see the Eastern Shore and other parts of the state, how they should grow," Pipkin said.

Under current law, county governments cannot block a municipal annexation but can delay for up to five years any zoning changes that would allow more intense development.

In what Pipkin called a "carrot and stick" approach, the bill would encourage counties and their municipalities to negotiate agreements on annexations and financing infrastructure for new development. If there was no agreement, counties could delay development on the annexed land for 10 years, and residents within a mile of the property could petition the expansion to a referendum.