Saint Michaels City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XX
Development Rights and Responsibilities Agreements
§ 340-201 Authority.
This article of the zoning chapter is enacted pursuant to the authority of § 7-302 of the Land Use Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended (hereafter in this article referred to as the "Maryland Agreements Statute").
§ 340-202 Purposes.
This article is intended to grant to specified public bodies of the Town (each hereafter in this section referred to as a "public principal") the authority, and to establish the procedural requirements, to execute development rights and responsibilities agreements (hereafter in this section referred to in the singular as "agreement" and in the plural as "agreements") to accomplish the following purposes:
A.
To provide a developer, and to its successors and assigns having an ownership interest in the real property of the developer that is the subject of the agreement (hereafter in this section referred to as the "subject property"), with a level of security over a period of time that the development plan, and the accompanying design details, for the subject property that is approved by the Town may be completed without substantial changes or impediments; and thereafter to preserve property values by protecting against individual lot owners deviating from the development plan, and the accompanying design details; caused or permitted by future amendments to the Town laws, rules, regulations, and policies governing the use, density and/or intensity of development by an agreement granting to the developer, and to its successors and assigns having an ownership interest in the subject property, qualified vested rights in the existing laws, rules, regulations, and policies governing the use, density and/or intensity of development of the subject property ("qualified vested rights") without the developer having to immediately make substantial improvements to all portions of the subject property; and
B.
To provide a public principal with the authority and procedures to accept from a developer, and to bind a developer and its successors and assigns to, the consideration offered by the developer without the necessity of an analysis of the nexus and/or rough proportionality between the consideration offered by the developer and the impacts on the Town from the development of the subject property; provided that:
(1)
The consideration offered by the developer and accepted by the public principal shall be solely and exclusively for the benefits to the developer, and its successors and assigns, of the qualified vested rights; and
(2)
The consideration offered by the developer and accepted by the public principal shall not be for any impacts on the Town from the proposed development of the subject property.
C.
To provide an alternative Town entity authorized to contract with a developer so that the ultimate zoning authority of the Town concerning a development may avoid the actuality and the appearance of contracting for zoning with the developer.
§ 340-203 Applicability.
A developer of real property located in the Town, or of real property for which a petition for annexation to the Town is pending, and who proposes to develop that real property pursuant to the land use laws of the Town, may petition the Town to enter into an agreement with respect to the real property of the developer identified in the agreement. Such a petition shall be entirely voluntary on the part of the developer, and shall not be required by the Town, any of its agencies, or a public principal of the Town, as a condition of any land-use classification, designation, permit or approval.
§ 340-204 Grant of authority.
A.
Authorization of public principals. The Town Commissioners and the Planning Commission are each hereby independently designated as a public principal of the Town, authorized, subject to the procedural requirements and qualifications of this article, to:
(1)
Consider petitions for agreements relating to real property located in the Town or real property for which a petition for annexation to of such property the Town is pending;
(2)
Execute agreements with the developers of real property located within the Town;
(3)
Execute agreements with the developers of real property for which a petition for annexation of such property to the Town is pending, conditioned upon such annexation, which agreements shall become effective and binding only upon, and simultaneous with, the annexation of the subject property to the Town; and
(4)
In an agreement in which the Planning Commission is the executing public principal, the Town may be included as a third-party beneficiary or as a direct party to the agreement, giving the Town the right to enforce the agreement.
B.
Authority of the Town Commissioners.
(1)
The authority hereby granted to the Town Commissioners to execute agreements shall be independent of the authority of the Planning Commission to execute agreements. However, this provision is not intended to negate or circumvent any procedure by the Planning Commission that is required by the Maryland Agreements Statute as a condition precedent to the Town Commissioners executing an agreement.
(2)
The execution of an agreement by the Planning Commission, pursuant to the procedures required by the Maryland Agreements Statute, shall immediately and automatically revoke and terminate all powers and authority by the Town Commissioners to execute an agreement, or to take any action having the effect of replacing, expanding, supplementing, amending, limiting or terminating all or any part of an existing agreement, involving all or any portion of the same land as was the subject of an agreement previously executed by the Planning Commission.
C.
Authority of the Planning Commission.
(1)
The authority hereby granted to the Planning Commission to execute agreements shall be independent of the authority of the Town Commissioners to execute agreements. However, this provision is not intended to negate or circumvent any procedure by the Town Commissioners that is required by the Maryland Agreements Statute as a condition precedent to the Planning Commission executing an agreement.
(2)
The execution of an agreement by the Town Commissioners, pursuant to the procedures required by the Maryland Agreements Statute, shall immediately and automatically revoke and terminate all powers and authority by the Planning Commission to execute an agreement, or to take any action having the effect of replacing, expanding, supplementing, amending, limiting or terminating all or any part of an existing agreement, involving all or any portion of the same land as was the subject of an agreement previously executed by the Town Commissioners.
(3)
A vote of the Town Commissioners in which a majority of the Town Commissioners vote against executing an agreement shall immediately and automatically revoke and terminate all powers and authority by the Planning Commission to execute an agreement with the same developer involving all or any portion of the same land.
§ 340-205 Contents of development rights and responsibilities agreements.
A.
At a minimum, an agreement shall contain the following:
(1)
A legal description of the subject property;
(2)
An attorney's certification as to the nature of the petitioning developer's interest in the subject property;
(3)
The names of all parties having an equitable or legal interest in the subject property, including lien holders;
(4)
The duration of the agreement;
(5)
The permissible uses of the subject property;
(6)
The density or intensity of uses on the subject property;
(7)
The maximum height and size of structures on the subject property;
(8)
A description of the permits required or already approved for the development of the subject property;
(9)
A statement that the proposed development of the subject property is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and development regulations of the Town;
(10)
A description of the conditions, terms, restrictions, or other requirements determined by the Town Commissioners to be necessary to ensure the public health, safety, or welfare;
(11)
A description, and all other terms, of all consideration, including concessions, transfers of property, and payments, if any, given by the petitioner for the agreement; and
(12)
To the extent applicable, provisions for:
(a)
Dedication of a portion of the subject property for public use;
(b)
Protection of sensitive areas on the subject property;
(c)
Preservation and restoration of historic structures on the subject property;
(d)
Construction or financing of public facilities on and/or leading to the subject property;
(e)
The responsibilities of the petitioner according to the terms of the agreement shall be binding on its successors in interest and shall run with the subject property;
(f)
Whether an amendment of the agreement related to only a portion of the subject property shall require the consent of only the owners of the portions of the subject property directly affected by the amendment, or shall require the owners of all of the subject property; and
(g)
Responsibility for attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses incurred by the Town in the event the agreement is abandoned or breached by the petitioner or its successors in interest.
C.
An agreement shall be void five years after the day on which the parties execute the agreement unless:
§ 340-206 Procedures.
The procedures required before a public principal may execute an agreement shall be as follows:
A.
A petition for an agreement shall be submitted by a developer to a public principal;
B.
A petition for an agreement received by the Town Commissioners shall be referred to the Planning Commission;
C.
After the Planning Commission receives a petition, and before the executing public principal shall be permitted to execute a proposed agreement, the Planning Commission shall determine whether the proposed agreement is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan of the Town.
D.
Before the executing public principal may execute a proposed agreement, it shall conduct a public hearing. A public hearing by the executing public principal that is required relating to the approval process for the proposed development of the subject property satisfies this public hearing requirement.
E.
Recording.
(1)
An agreement shall be void if not recorded in the land records of Talbot County within 20 days after the day on which the last of the executing public principal and the petitioner execute the agreement.
(2)
The parties to an agreement, and their successors in interest are bound to the agreement after the agreement is recorded.
§ 340-207 Amendment of agreements.
The parties to an agreement may amend that agreement by mutual consent after the following procedures:
§ 340-208 Termination and suspension of agreements.
A.
The parties to an agreement may terminate the agreement by mutual consent.
B.
If the Town Commissioners or the executing public principal determines that suspension or termination of an agreement is essential to ensure the public health, safety, or welfare, the Town Commissioners or the executing public principal having made such determination may suspend or terminate that agreement after public notice of a public hearing and such public hearing.
§ 340-209 Applicable laws, regulations, and policies.
A.
Qualified vested rights. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, the laws, rules, and regulations and policies governing the use, density, and/or intensity of development of the subject property shall be the laws, rules, regulations, and policies in force at the time the executing public principal and the petitioning developer execute the agreement.
B.
Qualification of vested rights. If the Town Commissioners determine that compliance with laws, rules, regulations, and policies enacted or adopted after the effective date of an agreement is essential to ensure the health, safety, or welfare of residents of all or part of the Town, the agreement may not prevent the Town Commissioners from requiring any person, including the executing public principal and the developer, and its successors and assigns, to comply with those laws, rules, regulations, and policies.
§ 340-210 Enforcement by interested parties.
Unless an agreement is terminated under § 340-208 of this chapter, the parties to an agreement, any third-party beneficiary named therein, or their respective successors in interest, may enforce the agreement.