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Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson briefed the County Council on proposed changes, including doubling developers’ fees and certain taxes to pay for schools and roads, to the county’s annual growth policy on Tuesday. A vote is scheduled before the council takes its August break.

The growth policy, which is reviewed by the council every two years, is a guideline for establishing how the county grows, what development is allowed and who pays for it. This year’s review has attracted the attention not only of residents but of other governments in the region as forecasters predict more increases in home prices, population and traffic.

‘‘I think we’re moving toward a trend in developing a policy that emphasizes sustainability ... toward a way that doesn’t compromise our ability to meet the future needs of the county,” Hanson said.

To do that, Hanson said, the county has to deal with new growth as well as current development while providing more support for preserving neighborhoods. The third piece of the balance is establishing a system to reduce the number of cars on the roads and move people onto public transportation.

Hanson and his staff recommended a new policy area mobility test that determines whether parts of the county can handle more growth based on car and bus congestion.

With three of the four new council members and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) elected last year on slow-growth platforms, a growth policy approved with stricter development limits would not be unexpected.

‘‘Think public is interested in how do we manage growth so that their conditions on the ground get better? ... While we can’t do much about highways and traffic on the Beltway, we can do something about local roads,” said Andrews. ‘‘What people don’t want is expanded road capacity to fill up with additional development.”

Last year, Council President Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton tried to alleviate the growth problems by proposing a temporary moratorium in certain parts of the county. Moratoriums in certain policy areas were used in the county as late as 2003. Although Praisner’s idea failed, it provided the impetus for council members to revisit its views on growth and attempts to develop sustainable communities.

The problem, some council members and community activists have said, is that under the county’s earlier growth policies — with resulting increases in residents, school children and cars on the road — development has outpaced the goods and services, such as adequate roads and schools, needed to support the growth.

Jim Humphrey, chairman of the Montgomery Civic Federation’s land-use committee, said his organization supports increases in the recordation tax and school and transportation impact taxes. It also endorses using the schools’ program capacity as a more realistic measure, he said, but a setting a 135 percent capacity ceiling before development must stop allows too much overcrowding.

However, new transportation tests ‘‘should place greater emphasis on road adequacy because police, fire and ambulance service as well as all transit except Metrorail rely on roads,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said he is pleased that sustainability issues, such as social equity and the environment, are finally getting some attention, albeit not enough.

One thing that the council will have to debate is the actual rate of growth. Although the rate has been perceived as outpacing services, Hanson told the council that the growth rate is less than 1 percent annually in areas outside Rockville.

‘‘I think we have to be careful and not promise to deliver something that can’t be delivered,” said Councilwoman Nancy Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park. ‘‘What we do locally does not affect the [Base Realignment and Closure Plan], what Rockville does and what other municipalities not governed by our policies do.”

Floreen also referred to several letters from developers and others that said higher taxes and fees would discourage businesses.

‘‘Encouraging businesses to go outside the county’s borders will not make the traffic situation any better in Montgomery County,” she said.