Committee conditionally supports sewer extension to serve Glen Hills property; directs staff to craft language for neighboring lot

The Montgomery County Transportation and Environment Committee on June 23 recommended conditionally approving one amendment to the county Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewage Systems Plan to allow a sewer main extension that would serve an unimproved one-acre property on Ridge Drive in the Glen Hills area, and asked county staff to develop qualifying language to allow a neighboring property to receive a conditional approval as well.

Planning and Department of Environmental Protection staff told the committee both requests were transmitted by the county executive on March 19, considered by the Planning Board on May 1, and heard at a council public hearing on May 7. DEP staff said category changes to the water and sewer plan require Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) approval and that only amendments with complications reach the County Council for action.

The first request, from a property referred to in meeting materials as the Bagheri property, abuts the planned sewer service envelope and therefore is eligible under the plan’s peripheral sewer service policy. Planning staff described two service options: a short, roughly 50-foot low-pressure connection that would require an easement across a neighboring yard, or a longer roughly 1,600-foot extension following public rights-of-way along Ridge Drive that would abut about 12 additional properties. Planning staff and the county executive recommended approving the Bagheri request, conditioned on WSSC Water’s confirmation by hydraulic analysis that the longer public-rights-of-way extension would work.

“WSSC has conceptually reviewed this extension as a main extension, but they have to confirm through a hydraulic analysis that it can actually work,” planning staff said. DEP’s Mr. Soukup added that the abutting-mains policy does not require the main to be physically built prior to eligibility; it requires that WSSC approve the design and construction. Mr. Soukup said, “The main does not have to be there, existing. It has to be approved by WSSC for, for design and construction.”

Committee members discussed cost and who pays. DEP staff said applicants are generally responsible for the extension cost; WSSC can deduct an estimated front-foot benefit charge revenue from the applicant’s extension charge and may build extension mains in growth-support situations using system development charges. DEP provided an estimated construction cost range of about $700 to $900 per linear foot for a public-rights-of-way extension.

The adjoining one-acre Lou property does not abut the planned envelope and therefore lacks eligibility under the peripheral sewer policy. Planning staff recommended denying Lou. Committee members pressed for a parallel approach and, by unanimous consent, asked staff to draft conditional-approval language that would allow Lou to qualify if the Ridge Drive extension were approved by WSSC and met the specific design and financing conditions the county and WSSC require. Planning and DEP staff said carefully worded conditions will be necessary to avoid piecemeal approvals that create partial mains that do not reach the property that initially justified the extension.

Committee members and staff said that even if the committee forwards conditional approvals, MDE must ultimately approve any Water and Sewer Plan amendment and WSSC must complete hydraulic and design approvals before construction. The committee instructed staff to return recommended language for the full council’s review before transmittal to MDE.