APFO PASSED BY COUNTY

At their meeting October 2, 2006 the county commissioners passed the long awaited APFO. In an attempt to manage growth by timing developments to the school capacity or have the developer pay a 15,000 plus fee per house the commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of the APFO. The APFO committee and UC Planning Boards passed or agreed with a stricter version of the APFO than that of the commissioners. It is my opinion that the commissioners passed the "watered down" version because it represented the most defensible document. The APFO is not designed to stop developement only to slow it down and manage it so that school capacity can catch up. The fees involved are voluntary to the developers and my impression is the county would rather not collect dime one in fees if they could get the timing adjusted. Besides, the fees don't come close to paying the $ needs of the schools and is kind of like spitting into the ocean. Being on the UC Planning board...we passed the stricter version and sent it to the commissioners. The stricter version of the ordinance was not perfect and certainly the one the commissioners passed was not either. However, it is a starting point to manage growth that can be altered as we go forward. It is now up to the towns to adopt the APFO and certainly there will be those that will not adopt it and if enough town follow suit would render this ordinance useless. Some opponents of the APFO have stated it has holes in it, it was the watered down version, it was this, it was that......blah...blah...blah.
Reality is, those that opposed the APFO do so with no alternate plan...no recommendations other than to stall.
Is the APFO perfect....NO and no ordinance like this ever will be.
The APFO is a start to manage growth...not to eliminate it, or to collect fees. It can be changed as the powers see fit to change it. Much like other ordinances that evolve over time.