Gov't Affairs News

The monthly meetings are being eliminated in favor of email lists of members with interests and knowledge in specific topics/issues. When issues develop that require meetings/coordination, Committee members will be notified. Please email if you are a member would like to be included on this list.

Jefferson County will be having a special planning commission meeting July 1. The subject is comprehensive plan compliance of the draft zoning ordinance. Planning staff has released a draft report for review. The subject documents are on Jefferson's website.
www.jeffersoncountywv.org

Berkeley County staff continue to work on their draft subdivision ordinance. An all day staff meeting has been tentatively set for next week. The goal is to review proposed changes and prepare a final draft for commission and public review.

Morgan County is also in the subdivision rewrite business. This week the citizen land use committee is meeting. Next week there is a scheduled workshop for the planning commission specifically about subdivision and land use matters. The current draft subdivision document is on the Morgan County Planning Commission web site.
http://www.morgancountyeda.com/gov/whatsnew.html

This week will feature several high interest items. Monday night the Berkeley planning commission will be looking at some preliminary plats. Two of them include several hundred diversified housing products. The challenge to all parties involved will be following current county and state regulations. Tuesday night Jefferson's planning commission agenda includes setting dates for the zoning draft ordinance public hearings and review. There may also be some discussion of a planning staff wage adjustment request presented to the county commission last Thursday. The wage issue was made in executive session. The county commission adjourned on a 3-2 vote immediately following the request without discussion or action. Wednesday the Jefferson County commission is hosting a public hearing. The subject is an Impact Fee ordinance amendment to deal with school impact fees and age restricted housing. This hearing and series of actions that will follow may have very important lasting consequences in how the community deals with senior housing cost and availability. Thursday Berkeley and Jefferson County commissions are in session. The agendas haven't been completed but you can be sure issues effecting "America's Industry" will be discussed.

Age Restricted housing projects and Impact Fees are being reviewed again. A proposed change in Jefferson County's Impact Fee ordinance to exempt age restricted housing from school Impact Fees has been submitted to the County Commission. This action comes almost two years to the day after a court failed to clarify the age restricted issue. A public hearing has been set for June 25 at 7 PM on the proposed ordinance amendment.

Berkeley County has posted their latest Draft Subdivision Ordinance. Everyone that may be impacted is encouraged to review the document. While the formal public hearing and comment schedule hasn't been set, it is important that we review any comments or issues as soon as possible. The draft can be viewed and downloaded at........

The following note to EPHBA members is an excerpt from the June 2008 EPHBA Foundations Newsletter:

Government Affairs covers a broad range of member issues. Some involve regulatory initiatives that take months or even years of monitoring, research and action. Others may be helping a member work through an individual problem involving process or permits. I look forward to calls and emails from members that have suggestions or comments on issues we all face at one time or another. There are new challenges every day.

It seems like members are under pressure from every point on the compass. The list of concerns is daunting. Local regulation changes, cash flow in uncertain times, market conditions and the national economic situation. There is another factor that should not be overlooked. It is the intangible of public perception related to the home building industry. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t hear or read a comment about the negative aspects of our local land development and building industry. The comments are rarely supported by any relevant facts. It is simply people and officials making statements without regard to their impact on the issue being discussed.

The best example of this misinformation has been clearly demonstrated over the past months. The term is “Infrastructure”. The suggestion or accusation is that “growth” will raise taxes for current residents forcing them to pay for “infrastructure” expansion. Supporters and opponents of the proposed land use regulatory changes used statements regarding growth, infrastructure and raising taxes. Candidates for public office often use the same statements. I can’t remember a single public statement by any individual or official that had this simple fact. “County sewer and water expansion projects are being totally funded by new user fees. Not a single dollar of county tax revenue is being spent on capacity expansion.” Fees and capital improvements being required of new commercial and residential customers are in the Millions of dollars. The public also has no idea of the transportation improvements that are standard requirements for development project approval. Turn lanes, sight distance improvements, traffic lights and even road construction are routinely provided at no cost to current residents. Additional tax revenue from economic expansion is rarely considered in public discussion.

Is the system perfect? Not by a long shot, but infrastructure isn't the single sided tax issue the public perceives. Our industry needs to once again become proactive in public education. It may be as simple as mentioning the amount of taxes paid and the number of jobs created to customers. Sponsorship and participation in community activities could be included with your business promotional materials. We can also compile information to demonstrate combined community impact of the organizations members. When residents and public officials are reminded of facts and asked to be objective in their comments the community will benefit. We encourage every member to continue providing input for the betterment of the community and this organization.

Fred Blackmer
EPHBA, Government Affairs
fredblackmer@aol.com

Government Affairs Updates

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