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Anne Arundel’s Wacky Ag Building Permitting Process
Perhaps inspired by the Frederick County Equine Alliance, which was able to get sub- stantial improvements made to the zoning codes as they applied to horse farms, the horse folk in Anne Arundel County have formed an ad hoc Anne Arundel Horse Council to ad- dress concerns about the application of build- ing and grading permit requirements on farms. Many consider Anne Arundel’s process to be not just “horse farm unfriendly” but downright discriminatory against horse farms, despite the fact that horse farms are really Anne Arundel’s only remaining agricultural activity, as tradi- tional food and fi ber farmers fl ee the county for more ag-friendly locales (or just retire from farming). According to the USDA Ag Census, Anne Arundel County lost over 6,000 ag acres between 2002 and 2007. Meanwhile, AA County horse people are continuing to work with soil conservation ex- perts to install best management practices, im- prove their pastures, reduce erosion and nutri- ent runoff , and keep up with the marketplace by building barns and riding arenas to serve their clients. T e county has 950 places where 4,500 horses reside on 10,200 acres (2010 Maryland Equine Census). On June 15, 2011, 61 horse people gathered for a last-minute meeting of the Anne Arun- del County Horse Council. County Executive John Leopold was represented by Bea Poulin, who noted that the County Executive had re- viewed the concerns of the horse people and acknowledged that there is a problem that needs to be resolved. Councilman Jerry Walker, who was represented by a staff er, committed to working with the group to draft and present legislation to the County Council to better de-
fi ne agricultural exemptions from the building and permitting process. Councilman Benoit also was represented by staff at the meeting and has expressed interest in working with us on a solution. What follows are highlights of the discussion that will guide our follow-up in the coming weeks. 1. William Bower of
Drum, Loyka, and As- sociates, who has rep- resented horse farms in the permitting process and serves as a technical advisor to our group, explained how one goes about obtaining a “Standard Grading Plan” and a “Grading Permit.” When asked about the cost of hiring his fi rm to obtain these, he estimated $1,000 for the “Plan” and $4000 to $6000 for the more onerous “Permit.” 2. Jim Stein, District Manager of the AA
Soil Conservation District, put forth details of a document that he and George Eberle of Permits and Inspections had drafted explain- ing when farms need building permits, grading permits, and standard grading plans. He said that the Board of the District would be decid- ing whether to approve the document at its June 21 meeting. Mr. Stein described the docu- ment as a compromise between himself and Pemits and Inspections. 3) While the group thanked Mr. Stein for be- ing the fi rst county offi cial to attempt to clarify when farmers need permits, the document was criticized on a number of points. T e primary objections were that it states that farmers are required to have Building Permits for every- thing over 64 square feet (an average run-in is well over 200 square feet), as well as expensive
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Anne Arundel County uses the same formula for calculating building per- mit costs by square footage for a barn as for a house, and there is a require- ment for a grading plan whenever a tree stump is removed, whether the tree is dead or alive.
Grading Permits for most of the buildings con- structed, routine clearing of hedgerows and en- croachment of woods on pastures, trail clearing and stream crossing maintenance, and many other situations that are commonplace on farms. People were unhappy about the prospect of hir- ing engineers and obtaining grading permits for ordinary agricul- tural improvements that are standard in most other counties. T e AA Horse Coun- cil explained that Mr. Stein’s defi nition of exempt Agricultural Land Management Practices was too re-
strictive. Mr. Stein off ered to postpone action by the SCD Board and await suggestions from our group for new policy. 4) George Eberle, Acting Director of Permits and Inspections, acknowledged that Anne Ar- undel County is diff erent from most Maryland counties in that there are fewer agricultural ex- emptions to permitting requirements. He also acknowledged that the staff uses the same for- mula for calculating building permit costs by square footage for a barn as for a house, and that there is a requirement for a grading plan whenever a tree stump is removed, whether the tree is dead or alive. Mr. Eberle did not off er opinions on whether existing law and practice is justifi ed. He simply stated the requirements as he understood them. 5) Mr. Stein acknowledged that the County
Soil Conservation District Board had passed a resolution in 2007 stating that wineries on farms where vineyards exist and indoor and outdoor riding arenas are nonagricultural
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