[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Hampstead 12-9-1997 by Ord. No. 304. The title of this chapter was amended to include the word "development" 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Planning and Zoning Commission — See Ch. 25.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 119.
Water — See Ch. 132.
Zoning — See Ch. 135.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Appendix A - Fee Schedule
As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless another meaning is plainly intended:
BUILDING PERMIT
The permit required by the Carroll County Zoning Ordinance and § 135-262 of the Hampstead Town Code for buildings, structures and additions.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308]
CAPITAL BUDGET
A separate budget dedicated to financing capital improvements.
[1]
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
Any and/or all of the following and including acquisition of land, construction, improvements, equipping and installing of same and which facilities are identified in the capital improvements plan to be financed by the imposition of an impact fee:
A. 
Parks and recreational facilities.
B. 
Water treatment and distribution facilities.
C. 
Police facilities.
D. 
Other facilities, the costs of which may be substantially attributed to new development.
COSTS
The monetary value of a capital project to include administrative, legal, planning, engineering and construction costs.
DEVELOPMENT
Activity that requires issuance of a building permit.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308]
IMPACT FEE
Any charge, fee or assessment levied as a condition of issuance of a building permit when any portion of the revenues collected is intended to fund any portion of the costs of capital improvements or any public facilities.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
Any development of residential units.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308]
SITE
The land on which development takes place.
TOWN
The Town of Hampstead.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308]
ZONING DISTRICTS
Those areas designated in the Zoning Ordinance as being reserved for specific land uses, subject to development and use regulations specified in the ordinance.
ZONING ORDINANCE
The official adopted zoning map and text regulating all the development and land use in the Town of Hampstead, State of Maryland.
[2]
[1]
Editor's Note: A definition of "capital improvements" which immediately followed was repealed 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 135, Zoning.
[Amended 9-14-1999 by Ord. No. 324]
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to development that occurs within or is annexed into the boundaries of the Town.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308; 9-14-1999 by Ord. No. 324]
A. 
From and after November 11, 1997, when an application is filed with the Town for a building or structure requiring the issuance of a building permit by the Carroll County Bureau of Permits and Inspections, an impact fee is hereby levied and imposed on the real property on which the building or structure is or is to be located. The Town shall not issue a zoning certificate until such impact fee has been paid.
B. 
From and after August 3, 1999, when previously developed property is annexed into the Town, an impact fee will be imposed for any lot on which there is a dwelling at the time the annexation resolution is adopted by the Mayor and Council. Said fee shall be paid as may be provided for in the resolution annexing the property.
C. 
Impact fees shall not exceed the cost of providing capital improvements for which need is reasonably attributable to those developments or newly annexed areas that pay the fees. The fees shall be spent on new or enlarged capital improvements that reasonably benefit those developments or newly annexed areas that pay the fees.
D. 
Impact fees that are assessed against new development or newly annexed areas shall be assessed in such a manner that any new development or annexation having the same impact on capital facilities shall be assessed the same impact fee.
A. 
The Town shall calculate the amount of the applicable impact due for each building permit by:
(1) 
Determining the applicable designated development area;
(2) 
Verifying the number and type of residential dwelling units and type of nonresidential development for which each building permit is sought;
(3) 
Determining the applicable per unit impact fee; and
(4) 
Multiplying the applicable per unit impact fee by:
(a) 
The appropriate number of residential dwelling units; or
(b) 
The quantity of the appropriate parameter for nonresidential development.
B. 
The Impact Fee Schedule to be used in making the calculations specified in Subsection A of this section is contained in the Impact Fee Schedule in § 134-Appendix A.[1] The Impact Fee Schedule may be modified from time to time by the Council of the Town of Hampstead by resolution after a public hearing.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Impact Fee Schedule is located at the end of this chapter.
C. 
If the development for which a building permit is sought contains a mix of uses, the Town must separately calculate the impact fee due for each type of development.
A. 
The impact fee shall be paid by the owner to the Town prior to the issuance of a building permit, and no zoning certificate shall be issued until such fee is collected. The amount of the impact fee assessment shall be set as of the date of application for the building permit. A building permit shall not be issued until any applicable impact fee has been paid.
[Amended 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 308]
B. 
Unpaid impact fees are a lien against the real property upon which a building or structure is to be erected and shall be levied, collected and enforced in the same manner as are Town real property taxes and shall have the same priority and bear the same interest and penalties as Town real property taxes for lien purposes.
C. 
The impact fee imposed by this chapter is separate from and in addition to any other fees which may be imposed by any federal, state or county governmental agency.
The Town shall establish separate accounts and maintain records for each such account whereby impact fees collected can be segregated.
A. 
All impact fees collected under this chapter shall be used solely for financing, in whole or in part, the capital costs of public facilities, services, improvements and equipment required to accommodate and/or benefit growth, construction or development, with the purpose that new growth, construction and development pay a proportionate fair share of the costs and expenses.
B. 
Nothing in this chapter shall release, relieve or in any way decrease a developer's obligation for assuming sole responsibility for financing the construction of all on-site and off-site improvements that are determined and are required by the Town or other applicable governmental authority to be constructed in accordance with approved plans, public works agreements and related documents.
C. 
Nothing in this chapter shall release, relieve or in any way decrease a developer's obligation to the Town for full payment of any and all other required fees and assessments, mandatory conveyances of land, execution of documents and for meeting any and all other requirements that are specified in this Code.
D. 
Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the use of funds by the Town from other sources to supplement or augment any special capital benefit assessment fees collected under this chapter.
The Town may issue bonds, revenue certificates and other obligations of indebtedness in such manner and subject to such limitations as may be provided by law in furtherance of the provision of capital improvement projects. Funds pledged toward retirement of bonds, revenue certificates or other obligations of indebtedness for such projects may included impact fees and other Town revenues as may be allocated by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Hampstead. Impact fees paid pursuant to this chapter, however, shall be restricted to use solely and exclusively for financing directly, or as a pledge against bonds, revenue certificates and other obligations of indebtedness for the cost of capital improvements as specified herein.
This chapter shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible use of property, density of development, design and improvement standards and requirements or any other aspect of the development of land or provision of capital improvements subject to Chapter 135, Zoning, and Chapter 119, Subdivision of Land, or the regulations of the Town, which shall be operative and remain in full force and effect without limitation with respect to all such development.
The impact fee is additional and supplemental to and not in substitution of any other requirements imposed by the Town on the development of land or the issuance of building permits. It is intended to be consistent with and to further the objectives and policies of the comprehensive plan, the capital improvements plan and other Town policies, ordinances and resolutions by which the Town seeks to ensure the provision of public facilities in conjunction with the development of land. In no event shall a property owner be obligated to pay for capital improvements in an amount in excess of the amount calculated pursuant to this chapter, but provided that a property owner may be required to pay, pursuant to Town ordinances, regulations or policies, for other capital improvements in addition to the impact fee for capital improvements as specified herein.