Commissioners OK lot reduction

Growth slashed by 35 percent

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The reduction shows the impact of the new Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance changes the commissioners passed earlier this year, which aim to slow the rate of population growth in the county and allow local school capacity to catch up.

‘‘This is a little bit different approach than you’ve seen in the last nine years,” said county planner Zak Krebeck.

Over half of the new home allocations, 74 of them, have been offered by the county for school zones feeding into Thomas Stone High School. Another 39 offerings have been allocated for Maurice J. McDonough High School zones.

Henry E. Lackey High School zones received 17 allocations; North Point High School zones received 12; and Westlake and La Plata high school zones received none.

Staff warned that the available allocations may not all be used if there are not eligible housing projects in the zones ready to take them. The county’s planning staff estimated that 12 housing projects currently on the books would be eligible to receive allocations, down from 17 in January.

The allocations do not include those approved by the towns of Indian Head and La Plata.

Economic director interviews completed

It’s been nearly 10 months since the departure of John Reardon, the county’s economic development director, and the county commissioners finished up interviews last week for a replacement.

This is the second round of interviews conducted by the county. County officials said the last round, held four months ago, failed to produce a qualified candidate.

‘‘We did a better search this time,” said County Administrator Paul W. Comfort, who said the second round produced a ‘‘higher level of candidates.”

In this round, officials selected three candidates. One of the candidates dropped out before the interviews began, so officials interviewed the remaining two Tuesday.

‘‘I am looking for someone who has experience, is energetic, understands Charles County and can hit the ground running,” said commissioners’ President F. Wayne Cooper (D).

‘‘This position, in my opinion, is the point of the spear,” said Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D), noting that the county’s economic development office is small but serves as the catalyst for most of the commissioners’ development goals.

The commissioners are offering a salary range of $116,000 to $144,000. County officials said they will take the next two weeks to conduct background checks on the candidates and they expect to make an offer in a month to six weeks.