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Bill 2-24, Police - Traffic Stops - Consent Search of Motor Vehicle and Data Collection "Freedom to Leave Act"
Review: The PS Committee will review Bill 2-24, Police - Traffic Stops - Consent Search of Motor Vehicle and Data Collection, also known as the “Freedom to Leave Act.” Bill 2-24 would prohibit consent searches of a motor vehicle or person by a police officer during a traffic stop, require the collection of certain data and information related to traffic stops, require annual reporting of traffic stop data and exclude the prohibitions on traffic stops from collective bargaining. The lead sponsor of Bill 2-24 is Councilmember Jawando.
Building Energy Performance Standards
Review: The TE Committee will hold its fifth meeting to review Executive Regulation 17-23, Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS). The regulation is required by Bill 16-21, which was enacted by the Council on April 19, 2022. This meeting will focus on financial issues and opportunities associated with BEPS, the potential fiscal impact on property owners of meeting the regulation’s Site Energy Use Intensity (EUI) targets, how the alternative compliance process will work, how economic feasibility is defined in the regulation and how that determination is to be implemented by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). One additional meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 23 to hear from a panel of representatives from the faith community.
The bill expanded the number of buildings covered by existing benchmarking requirements, created a Building Performance Improvement Board, and required energy performance standards to be established by regulation for covered buildings with a gross floor area of 25,000 gross square feet or greater. Executive Regulation 17-23 would set numerical site EUI performance standards for each building group, define how renewable energy will be incorporated into the performance metric and define the elements required in Building Performance Improvement Plans (BPIPs).
The committee first discussed Executive Regulation 17-23 at a meeting held on Jan. 24 and received an overview of the regulation from DEP representatives. At a meeting held on Feb. 26, the committee heard from representatives involved in affordable housing development. At a meeting held on March 18, the committee met with representatives from the life sciences and technology industries. At a meeting held on July 15, the committee heard from developers and representatives of multifamily housing, including both rental properties and condominium housing.
Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) Memorandum Report 2024-10: Housing Units Authorized for Construction by Permit in Montgomery County
Review: The joint PHP and ECON Committee will review OLO Memorandum Report 2024-10: Housing Units Authorized for Construction by Permit in Montgomery County. The purpose of the report is to examine and compare available data on newly permitted housing units in Montgomery County from the years 2000 to 2023. The report was written in response to concerns that revised data on permitted housing units in Montgomery County overestimated housing production. OLO received a request to examine other sources of data on housing production and the report includes a comparison of revised housing permit data to data from the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT).
2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy
Review: The PHP Committee will review 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy. This meeting will include a review of the Planning Board’s recommendations for school adequacy and testing. It will also cover the first seven recommendations related to transportation adequacy. A second meeting is scheduled for Sept. 15 to review the remaining transportation recommendations and touch on impact taxes as they relate to the school. A third meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7 to review any remaining follow up items.
The 2024-2028 Growth and Infrastructure Policy is the resolution or guidelines adopted by the County for administering the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. Although commonly referred to as a separate ordinance, the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is part of Montgomery County’s subdivision regulations of the County Code. The ordinance was adopted by the Council in 1973 with the goal of synchronizing development with the availability of public facilities needed to support that development.
The Growth and Infrastructure Policy is updated every four years to ensure that the tools used for evaluating the impacts of development reflect the latest growth patterns and trends in the County. Its purpose is to evaluate individual applications for development to determine if the County’s public infrastructure is adequate to meet the demands of such development.
The Montgomery County Code requires the Planning Board to approve and send to the Council a recommended Growth and Infrastructure Policy by Aug. 1. The Planning Board submitted their recommended draft policy on July 25, 2024. The Planning Board often recommends other legislative changes concurrent with its recommended changes to the Growth and Infrastructure Policy. Bill 16-24, which was introduced to the Council on Sept. 10, is the Planning Board’s recommended changes to the impact tax law.
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