Planning Board Sends MOU Up

On Thursday April 26th the Indian Trail Planning Board voted to accept the MOU for the APFO as presented by the county with a positive recommendation and send it to the Council for a vote.
The vote was 4-2 in favor of acceptance. Now the ball is back in the hands of the council.
Both sides of the issue were discussed with very legitimate arguments on both sides. The concerns varied from the fee itself, easing of school overcrowding, higher costs to the home buyer. There is no cost to the town, and the MOU can be disoved on our part if any changes to the APFO don't agree with the direction the town wants to go in. The APFO currently has 2 lawsuits against it, both brought by developers in the county.

The MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) is an agreement that the town will work with the county in association with the APFO (Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance). The IT Town Attorney is OK with the MOU. It is not binding to the town and can be voided if the county makes changes to the APFO that the town does not agree with. If...because of using the APFO guidelines, the town happens to get sued by an over zealous developer, the county will handle the defense of the APFO.
The APFO is not designed to stop growth...in fact, it encourages growth in parts of the county that are lacking growth. It attempts to defer/delay more development in the higher density parts of the county where school overcrowding is overwhelming us. Currently, .64 cents of every tax dollar collected goes for school construction. The county is responsible for the school construction and that is why the APFO was designed with schools in mind. The county does not control roads, water, or sewer. That is not to say they are not important, the county doesn't control them. (What they do control of water and sewer is a mess)
The fees associated with the APFO are designed as a deterrant to building right away...the money only represents about 20% of the construction costs.
The APFO is being challenged currently by two lawsuits. The courts could throw the power of the APFO out or not? If that happens the MOU is a moot point. If not, the county will start the implementation and go from there. No one you will talk to will be 100% in favor of the APFO. No one knows if this will work. But it is a start and its better than nothing. We have seen throughout the county how nothing works. If it doesn't work...change it, throw it out or come up with something else. Right now no viable alternatives have been presented and yet our schools become more over crowded every day. Something has to be done to ease the school situation. There is talk of a .01 cent sales tax or a transfer fee from the sale of existing houses, but nothing set in stone yet...the APFO is not the magic bullet that can guarantee sucess, nothing will but it is seemingly worth a shot.