A controversial bill containing a change to development law was taken off the County Council agenda for Monday night, and county officials say they have other options to achieve the desired results.

The bill would have allowed the county hearing officer to send failed development plans submitted through the county’s Planned Unit Development process back to the county Planning Board for additional work.

The bill was pulled after it became clear community groups were pressing for a larger overhaul of the PUD process, said Don Mohler, a spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith.

“For us, it seemed prudent to not have this particular change get entwined in that discussion,” Mohler said.

County officials said they can get the same effect as the failed bill by sending a written opinion from the county attorney to the county Board of Appeals.

The change, proposed by Smith, was withdrawn Wednesday, May 27, the same day Council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder asked county attorneys for a legal opinion on the necessity of the bill.

“If it’s already in the law, then why do we need to codify it?” Bartenfelder said in an interview on Friday.

Other than Bartenfelder, who sponsors administration bills in his role as council chairman, there were no other sponsors on the bill.

And other than county officials, no one spoke in favor of the bill during a May 26 hearing.

But about 10 people spoke against it. All were opponents of projects planned for Bowleys Quarters and Millers Island — both PUD projects the Board of Appeals struck down.
 
The rulings on those projects were the ones that created the need to change the law, said Mohler, who said they had  cast doubt on the hearing officer’s authority to send whole plans back to the Planning Board.

Many of those who testified said they were concerned the bill would not only resurrect defeated developments, but breathe new life into other failed projects and create an endless loop of appeals back to the Planning Board.

During the hearing Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who authored the 2004 revamping of the development process, said further tweaking might be needed based on the concerns of communities.

Councilman Bryan McIntire, the council’s lone Republican. agreed, and said he was surprised the bill had even come before the council.

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