More News

Two controversial decisions, which have drawn resident input in the last few months, are scheduled to come for a vote before the Board of Aldermen tonight.

Aldermen will consider the use of speed cameras in city school zones and whether to move forward with the city's 2010 comprehensive plan. The public meeting is set for 7 p.m., today in the City Hall boardroom.

The idea of bringing speed cameras to city school zones was proposed by the Frederick Police Department last month, after state legislation (effective Oct. 1) allowed all counties and municipalities in the state to use the cameras in school and work zones.

The cameras photograph drivers going over the posted speed limit by at least 12 mph, and could carry a citation not to exceed $40, per the state law.

Though the law allows for cameras in work zones, the city will only consider school zones. In school zones, cameras would be placed within a half-mile radius of any school, and would be in effect 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Frederick Police Department said it has been gathering data on five locations around city schools as candidates for the cameras, including Hayward Road, Schifferstadt Boulevard, Motter Avenue and Market and Madison streets.

Aldermen and Frederick police said they were confident the cameras would prove effective in Frederick when they vetted the possibility last month.

Speeding cars are among the top complaints at all of the city's Neighborhood Advisory Council meetings, the police department reported. The department wrote about 2,600 speeding citations in the city between July 1, 2008 and June 30 of this year.

Frederick Police Chief Kim Dine said it will take some time before the cameras can be installed.

"We have a list of tasks ahead of us before any implementation will occur," Dine said. Those tasks include purchasing the cameras, continued analysis with the city's traffic engineer to determine potential placement and educating Frederick County judges and prosecutors about the program.

Also on tonight's agenda is the city's 2010 comprehensive plan. It was due to be approved by aldermen on Nov. 5, but was delayed. The plan — updated every six years — is the blueprint to the city's growth and development for the next 20 years.

The plan includes an updated land-use map and outlines future transportation and housing needs and challenges.

More importantly, the plan outlines and tiers future land use, including infill development, municipal growth boundaries and a new component recommended by the city's planning commission that shows "potential areas of consideration" that span as far as 30 years into the future.

"There's really a whole range of philosophical issues here and the map sort of reflects those," said Joe Adkins, deputy director of planning.

Those philosophical differences had city leaders concerned about some of the long-term potential growth areas because they are not covered by any infrastructure agreements. Leaders were mixed about keeping the areas shown on the map because it could help them lobby for future road and infrastructure improvements.

"I really think we should be real careful about what we're showing outside of that agreement," Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) said, adding that many annexation applicants who rely on city infrastructure look to the city's land-use map for planning purposes.

Aldermen are also scheduled to vote on the ninth and 10th annexations of the current administration tonight. They include the 64-acre Sanner property, located west of Opossumtown Pike and bounded on the western side by Walter Martz Road and on the southern side by Poole Jones Road; and 52 acres of land owned by Landmark Development Group LLC, located on the eastern boundary of the city bordered on the north by Interstate 70, the Monocacy River and Md. Route 144.

E-mail Erica L. Green at egreen@gazette.net.