Anne Arundel County

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LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY ISSUES IMPACTING ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 

Anne Arundel County Executive Lifts Sewer Capacity Moratorium

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman announced on June 3rd that the sewer capacity moratorium for the Baltimore City Sewer Service Area has been lifted effective immediately. Lifting the moratorium allows projects that are in the pipeline and ready to receive their allocations from the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works (DPW) to move forward. Anne Arundel County and the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) have signed a letter of intent that will allow the county to borrow unused wastewater treatment capacity from BWI Airport. The MAA has reviewed BWI Airport’s current usage, as well as their plans for the next five years, and is comfortable loaning Anne Arundel County capacity while the county continues its long-term work to build additional capacity for their systems. June 5th, 2026

Anne Arundel County Council Fails to Pass Sewer Moratorium Bill

Anne Arundel County’s proposed emergency legislation, Bill 24-26, which would have temporarily halted most new development approvals in the Baltimore City Sewer Service Area through legislation, did not pass the County Council. The bill aimed to address critical sewer capacity limitations by pausing new allocations until infrastructure improvements or alternative solutions could be implemented. While the legislation would have formalized and extended the pause, the existing administrative action ensures that development activity is still on hold as the County evaluates long-term infrastructure solutions and capacity improvements. County officials are expected to continue evaluating options to ease the development moratorium. May 1st, 2026

Anne Arundel County Council Fails to Pass Campaign Finance Law

Anne Arundel County Bill 23-26 proposed new restrictions on campaign contributions tied to zoning actions and development applications. The legislation would have imposed broad prohibitions on contributions from property owners and required extensive disclosure obligations for applicants and their affiliates. While the bill was framed as an ethics measure, our association raised concerns about its potential to discourage civic participation, create compliance burdens, and introduce uncertainty into the development process. The bill failed to pass at the hearing on Monday April 20th. April 24th, 2026

Anne Arundel County Sewer Capacity Moratorium - Baltimore City Sewer Service Area

Anne Arundel County has reached peak flow capacity limits in parts of the Baltimore City Sewer Service Area connected to the Baltimore County Patapsco Interceptor and pumping station. Due to aging infrastructure, increased wet-weather flows, and existing consent decrees limiting additional capacity from Baltimore City and County, the Department of Public Works has declared a temporary development moratorium on new sewer capacity allocations in the affected area. Existing allocations will be honored, but new development approvals and permits requiring additional capacity are on hold. Exceptions may be considered for infill lots with failing septic systems, and some tenant fit-outs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis until additional capacity becomes available. MBIA is in contact with the Department and we are working on finding out more information. March 6th, 2026

Anne Arundel County Introduces MPDU Moratorium 5 Miles from College Parkway

Bill 5-26, introduced by Councilwoman Fiedler, proposes a temporary moratorium on approving new residential developments that include Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) or receive density bonuses within a 5 mile radius of the MD 2 and College Parkway intersection. The bill cites traffic congestion and safety concerns identified in a recent County study and pauses these approvals until either local intersections achieve improved traffic performance or the replacement spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge are completed. While the MPDU program remains in effect countywide, this legislation would suspend its application in this area for an indefinite period of time. MBIA plans to oppose this bill at the upcoming public hearing on February 2nd. January 16th, 2026

City of Annapolis Passes Bill to Push Water and Sewer Connection Charges to Use and Occupancy

On August 25th, Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier introduced a bill to defer capital facilities charges for sewer and water installation until use and occupancy for projects constructing six or fewer dwelling units. Before introducing the bill, Alderman Schandelmeier attended our Anne Arundel County Chapter meeting to gather feedback from members on the benefits of delaying these charges from the building permit stage to use and occupancy. MBIA then submitted a letter of support to the Annapolis City Council before their hearings on the bill. The bill passed the council unanimously. June 4th, 2025

Anne Arundel County Council Withdraws Bill to Increase Water and Sewer Connection Fees

On May 1st, the Anne Arundel County Council introduced Bill 45-25 at the request of the County Executive. The bill proposed increasing the capital facility recoupment charge from $4.00 to $4.40, and Water and Wastewater Capital Facility Connection Charges from $10,800 to $11,880 per equivalent dwelling unit. Our Anne Arundel County Chapter along with NAIOP Maryland wrote a letter to the County Council in opposition to this bill. The Council eventually withdrew Bill 45-25 a few weeks later, and there is no plan to reintroduce it at this time. April 9th, 2025

Draft MPDU Policies Now Available for Public Comment

Anne Arundel County’s Housing Attainability Act, enacted in 2024 and effective July 1, 2025, creates the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) Program which requires that all new development in the County with 10 or more units (with the exception of development in the RA-Rural Agricultural and RLD-Residential Low Density districts) contain a certain percentage of MPDUs. Rental developments are required to reserve 15% of total units as MPDUs for households earning 75% or below of the Area Median Income (AMI) adjusted for household size, for a period of 40 years. For-sale developments are required to reserve 10% of total units as MPDUs for households earning 100% or below of the AMI, adjusted for household size, for a period of 20 years. Arundel Community Development Services, Inc. (ACDS) will administer the MPDU program, and has released their initial draft of the program’s policies, procedures and documents. Our Anne Arundel County Chapter met with Erin Karpewicz, CEO of ACDS, to discuss our initial thoughts on the program and they have requested written comments from our membership. If you would like to contribute to our formal written comments, please reach out to Alex as soon as possible. The deadline to submit comments on the MPDU program is May 7th.