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Candidate for the Board of Aldermen September 2, 2005 My platform for the City's future is as follows: 1. The City must be business friendly so that we support and promote the success of City businesses and so that we attract new businesses (with high-wage jobs) to the City. This should be the focus of the Monocacy Boulevard development. Further development of the Airport should also be targeted. Bringing new employers to the City will strengthen the economic foundation of the City and increase the prosperity of the City and of the good quality of life that the City affords. 2. We must hold the line on our city property taxes. 3. We must lobby for the State and federal government to provide funding for an eastern by-pass road extending from I-270 to U.S. 15 north of Hayward Road. 4. We must finalize the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement with the County. 5. We must create opportunities for a proper amount of affordable housing for the elderly and disabled. The following gives additional explanation of my position on some of these issues: The biggest challenge facing Frederick City today is how to manage growth. The City needs to bring new businesses to the east side of the City, and it needs to address the problems that attend the growth that the City is experiencing. 
1. Continued economic growth in the CityInitially, our number one growth challenge is that we must promote and encourage the type of continued growth that would be best for Frederick City--and that is commercial/employment growth. Frederick City needs to bring good employers to the community. This includes development of Monocacy Boulevard with businesses that employ hundreds of people at high wages. Here is why this type of development is desirable for the City: (i) It would reduce commuter traffic to the extent that people work in town rather than commuting to Baltimore or Washington. (ii) It would have a positive effect in supporting businesses in downtown Frederick. (iii) It would bring in tax revenues, such that it could take some of the tax burden off of residents. Frederick continues to have issues with respect to the building of new residences, zoning ordinances, affordable housing, etc. But for the most part, except for the northernmost part of the city and except for a few pockets here and there, the residential character of Frederick City is already set. In the big picture for Frederick, the City's biggest need is to bring commercial businesses to the City. The City must be business friendly so that we support and promote the success of existing city businesses and so that we attract new businesses (with high-wage jobs). This should be the focus of the development of Monocacy Boulevard. Further development of the Airport should also be targeted. 2. We must trim our city property taxes. 3. We must lobby for the State and federal government to provide funding for an eastern by-pass road extending from I-270 to U.S. 15 north of Hayward Road. 4. We must finalize the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement with the County. 5. We must create opportunities for a proper amount of affordable housing for the elderly and disabled. 2. Support Downtown business. Putting money into downtown Frederick? The best way to support businesses in downtown Frederick is to bring new employers to the City. The future of downtown businesses is the little shops, restaurants and small businesses. These businesses will survive only if the City retains and attracts sufficient employers such that there is a strong, indirect benefit for the downtown businesses. I don't foresee the downtown area replacing the Francis Scott Key Mall area, as the main shopping areas of Frederick County. But the Downtown area can improve and grow in many ways. The City and County have agreed for the County to acquire Site G for school headquarters. I think this is an excellent use of the area. It will support downtown businesses and will therefore help to preserve the economic vitality of the downtown area. This will contribute to the overall success of City government and to a high quality of life in the City. The Downtown area needs another movie theatre (in addition to the Weinberg Center). This would help the tourism and evening businesses, including restaurants to do well. A cinema complex would complement the Weinberg Center as entertainment attractions for the City. Progress should continue in making the Weinberg Center to be self-sustaining, but the City should stand ready to give its continued support as necessary. 
2. Traffic Congestion. In particular, the City needs to address the rush hour traffic congestion in the city, both the congestion on Highway 15 (caused by the convergence of traffic coming from Baltimore and Washington) and on the feeding roads (including Route 85, Route 355, Patrick Street, Butterfly Lane, Motter Avenue and Rosemont Avenue). (Construction of the East Street Bridge will relieve only a part of this congestion.) The City needs to lobby for the building of a bypass road east of the City from I-270 to U.S. 15. The City also needs to make changes in traffic signals and roads within the city to better handle rush hour traffic. The City needs to promote usage of the TransIT bus system, as a partial solution to traffic congestion and parking problems. During morning and evening rush hours, traffic congestion is now bad. Obviously, growth is the indirect cause of our traffic congestion. But we cannot stop the growth; we can only manage it and give it some direction. A list should be compiled of the traffic problems within the city, after which solutions to the problems should be identified, and enacted by governing bodies to solve the problems. Here are some of the principal problems to be addressed: (1) During evening rush hour, the convergence of I-70 with I-270 creates a bottleneck that jams traffic both south on I-270 and east on I-70. The bottleneck effect is worsened by heavy traffic going north on Highway 15 from West Patrick Street. This bottleneck backs traffic up all the way into Montgomery County on I-270 and eight miles east of Frederick on I-70. There are three measures that can help with this: (a) Build a 4 to 6-lane bypass highway east of Frederick from I-70 (just north of Urbana) to I-70 and then to U. S. 15 north of Hayward Road; (b) Widen Highway 15 from 4 lanes to 6 lanes from the Jefferson Street exit to just beyond Hayward Land; and (c) Complete the construction of the proposed beltway around Frederick--meaning the combination Christopher's Crossing/Monocacy Boulevard roads, and including a by-pass route on the south side of 270 from the Route 85 exit south and west . 3. Finalize the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement. There is nothing more important for the City than to have an adequate supply of potable water. The City has an existing agreement with the County (the 2000 Agreement), which will provide the City with up to 4 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) in the future. But the City has projected that it will need to get 8 MGD from the Potomac River in order to meet its future needs. This would provide for the City's water needs for many years to come. A proposed 48-page agreement, entitled the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement has been proposed to address this. The Agreement encompasses the construction of a new, 42-inch pipeline from the river, with the construction of pumping stations and a new water treatment plant at New Design Road. Construction is underway on this project. The Agreement allocates costs between the City and the County according to projected usage. I would use that proposed Agreement as a basis for reaching a final agreement with the County as soon as possible. On September 2, 2005, the Frederick News Post announced that the County had withdrawn from negotiating with the City--blaming the City for the failed negotiations. So, for the time being we will be going forward under the 2000 Water Agreement with the County, which will provide a maximum of 4 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) to the City. But since the City has projected its future needs to be at least 8 MGD from the Potomac River, it seems to me that once the new administration takes office that it should take the initiative to resume negotiations with the County. 4. Upgrade the Airport. In this regard, it is important that we promote some development at the Airport, both as an indirect incentive for new businesses to establish themselves here and for the direct benefit that would come to the City from added businesses at the Airport. While it would not be good to bring large jet traffic to the City (with undesirable noise), nevertheless additional businesses could be attracted to the City if additional hangers were built--much like the one that is already there. I understand there are over 200 people looking for hangers for their aircraft. Many of these people are currently parking their planes at Hagerstown and other cities only because we cannot accommodate them here. But we have the space to build some hanger-office complexes at the airport. There would be three economic boosts that would come from this: (1) Frederick could receive rental revenues from the use of hangers; (2) Office space in the new hangers would attract additional flight-related businesses could to Frederick; and (3) both of these increased services would make Frederick a more attractive city for new businesses, whose owners would benefit by our airport services. 5. Trim Taxes. A comprehensive study should be made of the City government to eliminate or reduce programs that are either obsolete, excessive, ineffective or unnecessary. The result of this study will identify specific reductions that can be put in the next year's budget. 6. Promote Use of the TransIT system. One of the best kept secrets in Frederick is the existing, County-operated TransIT bus system, with seven or eight routes that run in and through and around Frederick City. It costs $1.10 for a one-way trip to whatever destination. (Seniors and disabled persons can ride for a reduced fee. There is also a special service for them that is pretty much like a taxi service for a greatly reduced fee.) Each of the routes runs regularly throughout the day. The system is funded in part by federal and state grants, in part by advertising revenues, and in part by fares paid by the riders. More that 500,000 persons rode the bus last year. The bus sizes, routes, and times are subject to modification to accommodate the developing needs of the city. Once city residents learn about the TransIT services, this will progressively become more and more serviceable to the City. In cooperation with the City, TransIT also operates a free Downtown Express bus service from the parking lot at Key Stadium to downtown and back. These buses run every 20 minutes. 7. Civility Historically, there has been considerable cooperation between City and County officials. A change in the composition of the City government will present an opportunity for a quick reconciliation. 8. Affordable Housing For a period of time we should closely monitor the operation of the County's MPDU before we enact a similar ordinance for the City. The City already has a lot of affordable housing. And, except for the large section of land north of the City off of Opossumtown Pike and for pockets of land here and there throughout the City, the City is pretty much built up, and there exists considerable affordable housing, including the relatively new constructed developments in Whittier, Brookside, Heather Ridge, Amber Meadows, Hillcrest, Prospect Plaza and Old Farm; and including the substantial affordable housing in the southern parts of the City. There is much less affordable housing in the County outside of the City. Thus, there is a greater need for a law to provide for more affordable housing in the county than there is such a need in the city. Furthermore, the County MPDU ordinance is premised upon the economic need for the County to provide for such housing in the building of new developments of 25 housing units or more. But the ratio of affordable housing to higher priced housing in the City is much different that the ration in the County. Any time a government passes laws that alter the normal affects of supply and demand, it is important to ascertain as much as possible what the short-term and long-term effects of such a law will be. The fact that a MPDU law worked a certain way in Montgomery County, Maryland does not necessarily mean that such a law would have a similar effect in Frederick, Maryland. In addition, I don't know that Montgomery County, Maryland is the model that Frederick wishes to emulate. Rather, Frederick City has its own unique character, which will require a growth plan peculiar to itself. Before any law is passed to promote “affordable housing,” that term must be defined. One of the definitions that is being used in the County’s MPDU ordinance is that it means housing that can be purchased with 30% or less of one's income. The term is further complicated for families that have two incomes. One candidate has defined the term to mean housing that costs between $175,000 to $200,000. Thus, the term "affordable housing" is so vague that unless a precise, specific definition is given to it, any discussion of it is inherently ephemeral, elusive and abstract. There is a lot of affordable housing in the City of Frederick. The question is how much more do we want? Where to we want it? Will it be subsidized? If so, by whom? Developers? City residents (taxpayers)? By the federal government? By the State? By the County? The recently enacted Land Management Code, has resulted in a re-zoning of the entire City. This zoning will dictate where some new affordable housing can be built. The City should take a careful look at proposals to modify the LMC to promote "affordable housing." At this point, I am in favor of sticking with the new LMC for the most part, but I would consider amending the LMC to promote affordable housing for the elderly and the disabled, provided such housing is not concentrated in one specific area, but rather is interspersed throughout the City. I believe this is called "in fill" building or "inclusionary zoning." In addition, the concerns raised about the need for affordable housing in Frederick are mostly prospective--that is they are concerns about a problem that could happen some day because the property values in the City are rising so rapidly at this time. I do believe we should always look ahead, and attempt to prepare for the future. But to me a more urgent concern for the City to address is the rapidly escalating property taxes, which, if not checked will also work to caused the lower income individuals to rent and buy homes outside of the city. Immediate attention must be given to the operation of our City government. We must review all services and programs so that we can reduce the cost of Frederick City government. We must also take a hard look at the services provided by the City, and consider eliminating or trimming those that may be unnecessary. We must resist the temptation to make contributions to programs and activities for which we do not have the funds. All of these suggestions are commons sense courses of action--but it takes a disciplined focused government leader to do the analysis, state the suggested cuts and changes, and then follow through with a trimmed budget. This, I will do! 9. MPDU’s For a period of time we should closely monitor the operation of the County's MPDU before we enact our own ordinance. The City already has a lot of affordable housing. Except for the large section of land north of the City (off of Opossumtown Pike) and for pockets of land here and there throughout the City, the City is pretty much built up. The recently enacted LMC should be the general guide for future development. To the extent that the City passes legislation establishing MPDUs, those units should be interspersed throughout developments, rather than creating one, large development of MPDUs. 10. Land Mangement Code The recently enacted Land Management Code, has resulted in a re-zoning of the entire City. This zoning will dictate where some new affordable housing can be built. The City should take a careful look at proposals to modify the LMC to promote "affordable housing." At this point, I am in favor of sticking with the new LMC for the most part, but I would consider amending the LMC to promote affordable housing for the elderly and the disabled, provided such housing is not concentrated in one specific area, but rather is interspersed throughout the City. I would prefer to stick with the newly passed LMC for a while before identifying any new areas for increased development density. It is anticipated that there will be some modifications of the LMC in the near future. For example, the area around Hood College will probably be re-zoned from R8 to R6. I believe this would be a good modification. As a general principle, I believe that the higher density developments should be interspersed throughout the City (inclusionary zoning), with the maximum size of such units limited to 30 or 40 units. I am in favor of making revisions of the LMC in order to make affordable housing available for the disabled and elderly. 11. Transferable Development Rights I don't believe a TDR program would work in the city because there is very little farmland to which the program would apply. Such a program would be more appropriate for the County, if the County wanted to use it to preserve as much farm lands and forest lands as possible. If such a program were implemented, the receiving areas should be made close to projected bus routes and should be limited in density. 
12 Adequate Public Facilities OrdinanceThe essence of an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) is that the City should not build new homes and other buildings unless and until we have the infrastructure (roads, water, sewer and schools) necessary to support such development. I am a supporter of this concept. And many people today are lobbying hard for the City to enact an APFO to cure our growth problems. However, as I have listened intently to many of these discussions I have yet to hear a particular problem that a specific APFO solution would cure. To merely state that one supports passage of an APFO is meaningless unless one specifies exactly to what growth limitation proposal he is referring. I am still listening for this type of discussion. In the meantime, while I don't oppose an APFO, in principle, I will evaluate the merits of any specific APFO proposal before I support it. With respect to school construction, that is governed by the Frederick County Public School system, for which all city residents pay a hefty county tax. FCPS does a wonderful job planning for future schools. They have ten-year projections for future growth and where schools can be built both in the City and outside the City. The lack of a City APFO is not responsible for the County's booming growth. The future City growth can be projected and estimated very well. The greatest growth that has affected and will continue to affect our schools will be occurring outside of the City. The County is able to adequately address the school growth issues, and City residents (being also County residents) can have input on those issues. The temporary use of portable classrooms is a smart solution to handle temporary student increases that are projected to be followed by declines in students. In that regard, Frederick High School, which was formerly a 4A school, was 3A last year; and it is 2A this year; its student body has been greatly reduced, while Tuscarora High School is busting at its seams. The City growth is not responsible for this. Similarly, some people contend that the use of "portable" classrooms on a temporary basis is a terrible thing. I disagree. The use of "portables" is a smart way to handle fluctuating student bodies. They were used at Frederick High School just a few years ago, because it would have been unwise to add on to that school, when we knew that Tuscarora High School would soon be built. In addition, while Frederick City does not currently have an ordinance that is specifically titled an "APFO," nevertheless, new construction is regulated and restricted here by existing state, county and city laws that do restrict new construction. City and State laws do not allow for new homes to be built unless water and sewer are available. We have had building moratoriums in the past when our water supply was lacking. And the City can impose moratoriums again as necessary. With the recent impasse between the City and the County in negotiating the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement, such a moratorium may very well be imposed in the future, unless and until an agreement is reached to supply the City with more water. 13. Working with the County. The Board should immediately initiate a dialogue with the County Commissioners to identify the issues that they should be jointly addressing, such as water, traffic and growth. A joint timetable should be set for when and how these issues will be addressed. Until we unite with the County on the building of Monocacy Boulevard and on the building of a major by-pass highway from I-270 to US 15, we will not get the State to join with us and provide needed funding for these projects. Similarly, we must work out our differences with the County on the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement if we are to secure needed water for our future. 
14. New Parks.City planners have identified several areas for park land in the City. I would like to see some of this developed in the near future. We need some new soccer fields and baseball fields. This type of capital development is relatively inexpensive, and such facilities are greatly needed for city youth. In particular, I would like to see one or two new, nice, fenced baseball diamonds for youth ages 13-18. I know there is a need. The City would be wise to promote sports participation for older teenage boys, who are often neglected, and yet are often in great need of such a program. |
© 2006 C. Paul Smith
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Contact the Web Master, Jimmy Smith, at jrs76@hotmail.com
or visit his website at www.jimmyandheather.com