Law Stalls Construction in P.G. County

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) - A Prince George's County law that ties the construction of new homes to response times of ambulances, fire trucks and police has had the unintended effect of halting most development in the county for the last five months.

The ordinance bars any new home construction where authorities and emergency crews can't respond quickly to calls for help - within six to 10 minutes for emergencies and 25 minutes for all other calls. Prince George's was apparently the first in the nation to tie development to emergency response.

But the law also stymied development, since many planned projects would be too far away from stations to meet the time requirement. That has kept the county from collecting a new impact fee of up to $6,000 per home that was supposed to help pay for new fire and police stations.

"There were some unintended consequences from the legislation," F. Hamer Campbell Jr., government affairs director of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, told The (Baltimore) Sun.

Since the ordinance was passed in November, three new residential subdivisions have been approved, according to county officials. Four plans were withdrawn and 35 subdivision proposals for 2,100 homes are in limbo because they may not meet the emergency response test.

"I think everybody in the building industry is very concerned about it," said Michael Ruehr, president of Charleston Homes. "It's going to have an impact."

The law was passed because county lawmakers were concerned that rapid growth, especially in rural regions outside the Capital Beltway, was outpacing the county's ability to protect its residents.

"You can't compromise public safety," said County Councilman Douglas J.J. Peters, who spearheaded the legislation.

Three of the county's six police districts have been unable to meet the required response times. The county fire department also has not supplied monthly reports on response times, as required by law. The department produces its data every six months, and Deputy Fire Chief Col. Karl Granzow said a monthly report would be too costly.

Peters said the legislation was drafted in consultation with county police and fire officials who told him they could meet the requirements in all but Prince George's rural region.

The county law requires fire trucks to respond within eight minutes of a call within the rural reaches and six minutes elsewhere. Ambulances with lifesaving equipment must arrive within 10 minutes countywide.

Data shows that fire and ambulance response times over the past year were within the legal requirements in less than half the county. County Executive Jack Johnson has proposed hiring 200 more police officers and 80 additional fire and ambulance staff to help improve response times.

County lawmakers have proposed changes to relax the standards somewhat. That includes limiting development to areas of the county within five minutes driving time of the nearest fire station. But 30 percent to 40 percent of the county is more than a five minutes drive away from a station.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)