"The agreement established a mutually beneficial working relationship between the ACPT and the county that hadn't existed for 10 or 15 years," ACPT's Craig Renner tells GlobeSt.com. "It established a win-win situation."

Development of the St.Charles community began in the 1960s and is scheduled for completion in 2035. Attorney for Charles County Roger Fink explains that negotiations yielded a four-part document involving various zoning orders and other agreements designed to end litigation between the two parties. In regard to long-term planning--five villages will ultimately make up St. Charles; the third is currently in progress--the county has committed to selling bonds that will help finance road construction and other improvements throughout the development process.

"St. Charles will build the second two lanes of a cross-county connector, and the county will also construct the remainder of the St. Charles Parkway," Fink notes. About $15 million in bonds will be issued to assist ACPT in financing that work. The roads will add accessibility to the community, thus increasing area land value. "And $5 million in bonds will be issued for work on a server pumping station that must be upgraded to serve the planned community."

In return for the county's commitments, ACPT will, as soon as possible, begin designing and constructing the two roadway links, thereby allowing for the early completion of the remaining three villages. "The substantial importance of the amendments is that the county established several protocols to resolve the disputes in legislative branches, as opposed to seeking relieve in the judicial branch of local government," Fink says. "It's a cooperative agreement to give better assurance of sustained viability, and it creates a whole new relationship between the county and the developer--a more positive one."