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For Artery, the price of violating development plans tops $36K

Friday, June 23, 2006

The Montgomery Planning Board has levied heavy fines against a developer in Clarksburg for violating the approved plans for bike paths in the residential development Greenway Village, also known as Arora Hills.

Artery Development Group has seven days to pay $36,750.

‘‘I understand the rationale behind the fines,” said Bernard Rafferty, vice president of planning for Artery during the Thursday morning hearing. ‘‘I acknowledge an error occurred and will take full responsibility. I accept the fines on this matter.”

When complete, Greenway Village will have more than 1,300 residences.

Artery was cited for two violations in separate locations.

Approved plans mandated that an 8-foot bike path along the south side of Skylark Road be built before Phase 1 of the development was 70 percent complete. But the path, intended to provide access to Ovid Hazen Wells Recreational Park, was not built on time.

Phase 1 reached 70 percent occupancy on Aug. 1, 2004. Artery asked for approval to delay building the path, but not until October 2005.

On Thursday, the board approved the staff-recommended fine of $22,150 for the Skylark bike path, representing $50 a day for the 443-day delay in filing for an amended plan.

In addition, Artery was fined for its failure to build a bike path on Persimmon Ridge Road according to plan. It was not constructed at the approved location and is only 7 feet wide instead of the mandated 8 feet. Planning staff recommended a $7,300 fine for this violation, $50 a day for the time period between the day the violation was discovered and the day a hearing was held.

But Planning Board members said $7,300 was too lenient.

‘‘The goal is to encourage a concise effort to find mistakes and deter people from doing it,” said Commissioner Meredith Wellington. ‘‘A fine of $7,000 is not large enough.”

The board decided to double the Persimmon Ridge Road fine to $14,600. Wayne Goldstein of the Montgomery County Civic Federation testified that he agreed with hefty fines.

‘‘I commend the applicant for his willingness to accept the fine,” Goldstein said. ‘‘It is a combination of oversight and inaccurate information. It sends a strong message that if you don’t follow the site plan, there will be fines.”

The board also approved a site plan amendment for phases 1 and 2 of the development. This amendment adds specific standards for building heights and setbacks, modifies street designs to fall under the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Service, and adjusts the time when the pool complex must be completed.