Expanding boundaries could take several years

Frederick officials say five properties are ‘priorities’ to include in city, but process will be lengthy

The Lee, Clemson and Dewey Jordan properties are all proposed for commercial use. The Spring Bank property would mix homes with office space, and the Homewood site would add 345 homes as the second phase to the existing Homewood at Crumland Farms senior living community, north of the city.

Before any can be officially reviewed, Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) must lift a nearly six-year executive order banning annexations due to lack of water supply. The Potomac River water agreement with Frederick County, in effect since July 1, allows the city to provide more water for development.

The mayor said lifting the order would be done soon.

‘‘We need to make a determination of the fiscal impact on the city, public infrastructure and do a good job bargaining for the city,” Holtzinger said. ‘‘We do not want to cost existing residents money for services and we don’t want a negative impact on the quality of life. That’s easier said than done.”

Holtzinger said residents can be assured he will ‘‘ask for the world” from landowners before allowing them into city limits and that landowners ‘‘can say no, but so can we.”

‘‘We are under no obligation [to annex],” he said. ‘‘Every step of the way after the annexation process, the city’s authority goes down.”

The city’s deputy director of planning, Joe Adkins, told aldermen last week that they may have to wait six months to weigh in on the annexations. Thorough reviews by the city’s planning, legal, engineering and public works departments will come first. Annexations also get reviewed by the county’s planning commission and the Frederick Board of County Commissioners, which under state law can delay an annexation by five years if it is not consistent with county zoning.

‘‘There may be differences of opinion, but both the aldermen and the commissioners want to do what is best for the general public,” Holtzinger said. ‘‘... We’ll work through the differences and it may require the applicant to do work in the county. We can’t close our eyes on the impact just outside the city.”

Alderman Alan E. Imhoff (R) said the city is well aware of the county’s power to delay, and so are the landowners. ‘‘I think anyone considering this assumes they won’t build for five years,” Imhoff said. ‘‘... Most projects take a minimum of three years before a spade gets into the ground.”

Adkins said city staff met on Monday to start strategizing on annexation procedures. The most recent city annexation was in 2002, and Adkins said ‘‘none of my staff, except me, has done this before.”

Adkins said grouping the smaller properties - Lee, Clemson and Spring Bank - is helpful since they have similar issues with water, sewer and traffic.

‘‘If one gets held up, it won’t affect the other two,” he said. ‘‘... With the smaller properties first, we won’t see the building of new roads or major infrastructure, which is good for both the planning commission and the mayor and aldermen to cut their teeth on these first.”