db:paygo.pr                     97-345                         Contact: David Weaver, 301-217-6530

DUNCAN SIGNS "PAY AND GO" 
LEGISLATION;  ASKS COUNCIL FOR 
IMMEDIATE CHANGES ON 
RESIDENTIAL RE-APPLICATIONS             FOR RELEASE: November 10, 1997


     Citing a need to "jump start" the economy, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M.
Duncan today signed legislation that will allow developers to move forward with their projects
by paying a development tax upfront to help cover any needed infrastructure improvements. 
At the same time, Duncan issued a stern warning that the bill is far from perfect, and he is
asking the County Council to revamp the Annual Growth Policy process, and make immediate
changes to the legislation to exclude already approved residential development from re-
applying under the new system. 
     "I am signing this legislation; however, I do so with serious reservations about how the
bill came to be and about certain provisions of the measure itself," said Duncan.  "I am
troubled that the Council's bill allows previously approved residential subdivisions to re-apply
under a lower cost option."
     Duncan noted that he does not believe that re-application poses the same problem for
commercial development.  "To the contrary, such re-application may be necessary for the bill
to have its intended effect, particularly for those commercial developments that are ready to
proceed, but are unable to obtain financing to pay for infrastructure improvements that were
imposed during the previous subdivision approval process."
                                  (more)

DUNCAN SIGNS "PAY AND GO" LEGISLATION                            2-2-2-2

     "Two years ago, when I submitted my Annual Growth Policy recommendations, I
noted that the system was broken and needed to be fixed,"  said Duncan.  "Today, the
development approval process is still broken.  This bill is just a temporary solution that fails
to address the real problem:  The AGP process must be streamlined, clarified and simplified. 
I urge Council to work with me to do just that."
     A recent report by the Council of Governments (COG) indicates that Montgomery
County commercial development has substantially trailed other areas of the region -- with
only 26,000 square feet of office space constructed during 1996, compared to 1.5 million
square feet of office space built in Fairfax County during the same year.  On Friday, a local
panel of economists, business leaders and government officials issued an economic
development report card that graded the County's residential development activity below
average, and recommended increasing housing starts from the current 3,000 per year to 4,500.
     "I recognize that the current review process poses impediments to residential
developments; however, I believe that we need to close the loophole in the Pay and Go
legislation that allows residential developers who have already obtained subdivision approval
to re-apply under the new rules at a substantially lower cost, " Duncan said. "I will be
transmitting to Council in the next two weeks amendments to prohibit the re-application of
approved residential development plans."
     Duncan also announced that he would be reviewing the bill's fee structure to ensure
that the rates were high enough to cover a fair share of the costs of development.
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