Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance

An Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO, also known as a Concurrency Regulation) is an American legislative method to tie public infrastructure to growth for a region.[1]

APFOs take into account the availability of infrastructure. They can manage growth, but are considered separate from growth controls such as building moratoria.[2][3]

History

View of Ramapo, New York

Ramapo, New York (see Golden v. Planning Board of Ramapo); Petaluma, California; and Boulder, Colorado were some of the early adopters of this tool in America.[4] The state of Florida uses the term "concurrency" in its growth management act.[5]

Scope

APFO regulations are typically applied to a jurisdiction which has legislative control of a given area. In America, this can be at a state, county, or city level. A conflict can occur when APFO regulations differ in scope between jurisdictions where there is shared funding and legislative authority (such as a city located inside a county that funds schools).[6] While APFOs are intended to mitigate infrastructure shortcomings for a particular area, the mitigation may apply to areas offsite of the development project.[7] APFO regulations usually apply to individual projects on a case-by-case basis.[8]

APFO regulations take into account some or all of a jurisdiction's infrastructure requirements, including:[9]

Other elements include:

  • CIP – Capitol Improvement Programs
  • Service Level Standards

Criticism

Traditional opponents of APFO legislation include industries affected by moratoria or fees, including realtors, developers, and some Smart Growth advocates.[10] Home costs for some locations that have enacted APFO have experienced increases in housing prices affecting affordable housing, in conjunction with positive effects of relief from school capacity shortcomings.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dustin Cole Read. The Cost of Concurrency: A Legal and Empirical Analysis of Adequate Public. p. 40.
  2. ^ Eric D. Kelly. Managing Community Growth. p. 60.
  3. ^ Sherry Greenfield (10 January 2008). "Gardner says moratorium will not hurt building industry". The Gazette.
  4. ^ Lewis D. Hopkins. Urban Development: The Logic Of Making Plans. p. 138.
  5. ^ American Planning Association; Frederick R. Steiner; Kent Butler. Planning and Urban Design Standards. p. 377.
  6. ^ Sara Newman (1 January 2015). "Calvert County finds northern school populations inadequate Multiple schools closed to future district development". The Gazette.
  7. ^ Kristine Williams. Driveway Regulation Practices. p. 58.
  8. ^ Daniel R. Mandelker (1982). Land Use Law. Michie Company. ISBN 9780872155251.
  9. ^ S. Mark White. Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances and Transportation Management. p. 17.
  10. ^ "The National Center for Smart Growth". Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  11. ^ Dustin Cole Read. The Cost of Concurrency: A Legal and Empirical Analysis of Adequate Public. p. 123.