(6/15) During the May meeting, the Town Council discussed adjusting the growth boundary line or adding a second, flexible line into the Comprehensive Plan to allow for future annexation into the Town. Town Planner Najila Ahsan said that expanding the boundary would aid the municipal growth chapter in the Comprehensive Plan, which is based on population projections and what infrastructure would be needed in the future to accommodate the projected population growth.

The projected growth boundary expansion would include 60 to 70 properties on Track Road and Rte. 140. Ahsan stated that many of the homes in the potential area already have water and sewers and are currently zoned low residential and agricultural. She said that including these properties would allow the property owners to apply for annexation in the future, although no one has applied as of now.

Town Council liaison Valerie Turnquist and Commission member Patricia Galloway both questioned the impact that adding 60 to 70 properties would have on the water and sewer availability for undeveloped properties already existing in Town. Town Attorney, Clark Adams, explained that the expansion would allow the properties to be annexed into the Town but would not require it, therefore there would be no impact until the annexation process was initiated. Ahsan also pointed out that the water and sewer could be expanded as part of the annexation agreement.

Eric Soder, previous Director of Planning for Frederick County, was at the meeting to offer his advice. He suggested giving the boundary a "fuzzy" quarter to half mile buffer along with supporting text in the Comprehensive Plan to allow flexibility in the future. "If you build the flexibility in now, you will still control the terms," he said.

Adams pointed out that the flexible boundary would save the Town time and money because if a property is not within the growth boundary line but was interested in being annexed into Town in the future, to do so would require a 90-day process before they could even begin the annexation process. With the flexible line in place, the property could begin the annexation process sooner if it follows the guidelines according to the Comprehensive Plan.

Soder said the City of Frederick has a similar flexible growth boundary line, however he will check in with other local municipalities to see who else may have a flexible boundary line and how it works for them. "Sometimes municipalities find themselves boxed in because of a hard drawn growth boundary line. This would allow you to address opportunities or issues when they arise." The Commission decided to investigate the idea further for discussion at a future meeting.