County Sets Meeting to Discuss Impact Fee Zone for Odenton

Business and community leaders will meet with Anne Arundel County officials later this month to discuss the creation of a special impact fee district that would funnel money toward road and infrastructure improvements in Odenton.

Those invited to the June 27 meeting said they hope it will result in the crafting of a bill to be presented to the County Council later this year, and said the goal is to see more money raised from fees on developers spent on upgrades right in town. 

“This is about self-determination,” said Jay Winer, president of A.J. Properties in Odenton. “This is about making sure revenues generated from fees here stay here to take care of the improvements that have to be made.”

The county currently has six impact fee zones, in which money is collected from fees on developers and put toward infrastructure improvements in those zones. Odenton is included in a zone that stretches as far south as Crofton and portions of Davidsonville and Edgewater. Business leaders are pushing for a zone that would include only Odenton and the area around Fort Meade.

The meeting will include Winer, along with Steve Horne, a vice president with Elm Street Development; Claire Louder, the president and CEO of the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce; real estate consultant Jonathan Williams; and Don Price, chairman of the Odenton Town Center Plan Oversight Committee. The county will be represented by Larry Tom, the director of the county's office of planning and zoning. Alan Friedman, the legislative director for County Executive John R. Leopold and George Cardwell, the county's transportation planning administrator, could also attend.

Winer said business leaders have pitched the idea of a dedicated impact fee district in Odenton for two years. Most recently, leaders requested a meeting with Leopold and his staff in March, but were told to wait until after approval of the county budget.

In previous interviews, Leopold said he would not oppose an impact fee district for Odenton, but stopped short of saying he would introduce a bill. District 4 County Council member Jamie Benoit has

“The impact fee district is something I have a lot of concerns about,” Benoit in March. “That’s not to say I don’t support it, but it’s something I’m not going to just hastily put together and introduce because it’s a proposal that’s filled with consequences that affect other communities in the county.”