Good

evening, Commissioners; Tonites hearing is for the public to comment, and for you all to consider the information and opinions of all in our community before making a decision regarding this 193 parcel piecemeal rezoning. My guess, based on comments and one particular letter to the editor by Commissioner Young, is that the decision has already been made, and the campaign promises he has alluded to are about to be fulfilled. So, my comments this evening are really meant for our community and our friends in the development community. It has been said that If you dont know your history, you are doomed to commit the mistakes of the past. My comments tonite focus on those mistakes of the past, the mistakes we are currently making, and the future. The mistakes of the past were: Too many loopholes in the ordinance that was supposed to balance growth with infrastructrure and too little funding for capitol programs such as school construction. Too few funding sources such as the excise fee to help additionally with road construction And an Impact Fee that was woefully under the real costs of the infrastructure that would be required by the growth that was occurring. The correcting of these factors were To amend the APFO so that the letter of the law matched the spirit of the law to balance growth with infrastructure To build 2 schools per year instead of 1 To raise the Impact Fee substantially to provide more adequate funding for schools, roads, water & sewer, and later parks and libraries To seek additional revenue to help with the costs associated with growth in new fees such as the excise fee and hotel tax. These corrections took years as each of them required a lengthy public process, and on some, a year of study in committee. They became the strands of the weave to provide our county, our community, and yes even the development community with a more sustainable future. And I think many of us on both sides of the aisle in this room came to understand that it was not about growth or no growth but more about HOW we grewHOW to provide a sustainable future for our county. The mistakes of today are the unraveling of those threads of sustainability the weakening of the APFO, the elimination of the excise fee for roads, the decrease in fees for new construction, and quite honestly, the change that this BOCC has initiated with using this piecemeal zoning to undo a two year long established Comp Plan process. Frederick County has a long history of swing elections, going from Pro-Growth boards to Balanced Growth boards, and what has just been done and what is being done can quickly be undone by the next board that is elected. This BOCC has set all kinds of new precedents; including this series of hearings to change the zoning on a large number of properties. And in the remaining couple of years between now and the next election we will have forfeited several years of revenue that could have helped provide adequate infrastructure, and our schools will be overcrowded at a higher percentage and our roads will become even more the parking lot than what they have already become. This is a recipe for disaster, both for our community and for the development community. As in the past, I believe that the way we move forward is to have all parties at the table, and to begin a conversation about how to get back to a more sustainable future for all of us rather than these large swings in governing that do not provide stability or attract new home buyers or new businesses. It is my hope that there are those in the room tonite that will take up that offer because they too care about our community. We simply can not afford the mistakes of the past.