(10/2021) This past month the Frederick County Council had an important briefing about Governor Hogan’s plan to expand I-270, a briefing on the small area plan for the future of the Sugarloaf area, and we began discussions about a potential, one-time tax credit. I hope everyone had an opportunity to visit the Great Frederick Fair. It was certainly a welcome sight to see the Fairgrounds packed with families after a 24 month hiatus.
First, we all know that traffic in Frederick County has been and will continue to be a major problem affecting the quality of life for all of our residents. Route 15 and Interstate 270 in Frederick County need to be expanded. They have been over capacity for decades. Governor Hogan has proposed a comprehensive solution that does not require additional government revenue (no new taxes). Adding privately managed lanes will not only allow residents to bypass all traffic when necessary, but studies show that managed lanes make the ‘free lanes’ move 20% faster.
If you have been to Virginia, you have likely seen these managed lanes as they are building them quickly. In Maryland, we are on track to begin this expansion with a key hurdle having been passed with the beginning of an environmental study. Additionally, for the first time, the Maryland Department of Transportation has included in its Transportation Plan money for the engineering phase for expansion of Route 15 through Frederick. This is a key priority for all of Frederick County as this route now gets backed up and has reduced speeds on every day of the week.
The Planning Commission will be hearing the plan to preserve the Sugarloaf small area soon. The Council had a briefing on this and there is general agreement that this is a part of the county where preservation of agriculture and open spaces should be prioritized. Sugarloaf is a special area of the county that we will need to actively work to keep from being developed.
There has been a proposal by the County Executive to purchase the former State Farm building in Frederick that can be seen from Route 15 near the split to 340. This will be long term proposal as this building comes with hundreds of thousands of square feet and 9 acres. We will learn more about this proposal over the coming months.
Finally, the Council has just started the discussion about a potential tax credit. I am pleased that there is recognition that county residents have been paying an increasing tax burden. I have been alerting residents that tax assessments have dramatically increased over the past year. This means that tax bills will also be increasing as every property is reassessed over a three year period. I hope that we can expand on the modest tax credit proposal to provide more meaningful tax relief for Frederick County residents.
