EMMITSBURG, Md. – Only two other years in the past 35 did Frederick County grow slower than it did last year, according to the Maryland Department of Planning.

The county’s population was estimated at 220,701 last year, an increase of 3,245 people or 1.5 percent. That is the lowest percentage increase since the county grew by 1.3 percent in 1983 and 1.4 percent in 1970.

“It’s easy to explain,” said Frederick County Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. “We had a moratorium in 2002 and that pretty much put a crimp on any new growth on the City of Frederick water system.”

While data from the county’s division of permitting and development review shows a definite drop in housing units built in the City of Frederick in 2002, it was back to normal the next year. From January through July 2002, the city’s new housing units made up only 3.6 percent of the county’s total, while the city’s construction made up 29.1 percent over the same time period from 2003-2006.

Commissioner Mike Cady added that the county has seen a 20 percent decrease in new construction compared to that of the previous board of county commissioners and a 10 percent decrease over the county’s average for the previous 20 years.

“To label us as a growth-out-of-control commission is not accurate,” Cady said.

While many people complain about how fast the county has been growing, the rate of growth has been dropping since 2002.

Commissioner Jan Gardner agrees with Thompson that the moratorium reduced the number of homes, but she also noted that the county’s birth rate has been dropping. The county’s birth rate was 13.6 births per 1,000 people in 2004. It was 23 births per 1,000 in 1960.

This can also be seen with a slowing in the enrollment growth in county schools.

“But this was predicted,” Gardner said. “When Ray Barnes told us that, we all looked at him like he was crazy, but it has happened. He also said would begin to increase again in 2015.”

Thompson also said growth will accelerate due to the county’s and city’s approval of the Potomac River water line.

“Since the city has no APFO they are going to be going like gangbusters,” Thompson said.

For the past three years, the county’s rate of growth in each of the years’ ranks among the county’s 10 slowest-growing years since 1970. The 2005 rate of 1.5 percent is the third slowest. The 2004 rate of 1.8 percent is tied with 1974 for the fifth-slowest-growing year and the 2003 rate of 2.1 percent is tied with 1972 and 1998 for the eighth-slowest-growing year.

Even the number of additional people living in the county has been decreasing since 2002. The 3,245 additional people represent the 11th smallest annual increase in population since 1970.

Gardner points out that even though growth has slowed, it is still continuing and whether it is too much or not depends on the person’s perspective. The county’s division of planning estimates population differently than the state and its population estimates are thousands of people higher.

“With a small town, you can add 100 units and people don’t get too worked up,” Gardner said. “But if you get growth that doubles the size, that’s when people get upset.”

Frederick County’s growth rate has also been dropping in relation to other Maryland counties. In 2002, Frederick County’s growth rate was the third-highest in the state. Last year, it was the 10th highest.

Thompson said any slowing of growth in the county now is due to the actions of the previous board of commissioners.

“The Gray Administration decreased the amount of land available for residential,” Thompson said. “We pulled back the growth line in Point of Rocks and Lewistown.”

While Cady said some of the credit does indeed go to the previous board, the current board reduced the growth in New Market, which won’t make itself known until the next board of commissioners.