The Baltimore County Council is poised to reject a controversial proposal from County Executive Johnny Olszewski. It would allow mixed-use development to happen in parts of the county without the Council’s approval.
Olszewski said the legislation would help revive communities that are economically dying on the vine. Council members counter it would cut them and their constituents out.
Republican Councilman Wade Kach doesn’t like that Olszewski's mixed use legislation is coming now.
The county’s quadrennial Comprehensive Zoning Map Process has begun. That’s when any piece of property in the county can be rezoned. The deadline has passed for people to submit their rezoning requests. And now, Kach said this opens the door for a zoning switcheroo, where, say, people living near a piece of property zoned to be a business could find themselves with new neighbors, lots of them.
“Never ever thinking it would be for apartments, suddenly it’s for apartments,” Kach said. “That’s not the way we should do things. I was pretty disgusted with it, I really am.”
Kach said it would be a gift for developers because they could dodge county council scrutiny and that cuts out his constituents.
“We as a government have got to work with the people. We are representing the people,” Kach said.
In a letter to constituents, Kach warned Olszewski’s legislation could lead to the urbanization of substantial parts of suburban Baltimore County, including the York Road corridor from the Hunt Valley Towne Centre to the beltway.
Timonium lies in that corridor. Kathleen Beadell, the president of the Greater Timonium Community Council, told the county council that the legislation would allow a developer to build a mixed use development by right.
“Without regard for overcrowded schools, roads and overburdened sewer capacity,” Beadell said.
But on WYPR’s Midday January 23, Olszewski pushed back on that, saying the legislation would not give developers a blank check.
“To the extent there are concerns or needs around school capacity, water and sewer, road capacity, all of those concerns can and should and would be addressed through the development process,” Olszewski said.
You’ve seen mixed use development around. Towson Row, for instance, has apartments, a Whole Foods, a wine shop and a place where you can get chicken fingers.
Officials credit it for helping to revitalize downtown Towson, giving people a place to live and things to do within walking distance.
Olszewski said they can be an economic shot in the arm for the aging, urban parts of Baltimore County. The problem is the county doesn’t have a mixed use zone. They have to be created from scratch.
“This is really about creating mixed use development zones in the county’s business areas that have been frankly allowed to sort of wither as we haven’t kept pace with the changing economy,” Olszewski said.
The rural parts of Baltimore County are protected from widespread development. Officials estimate the county will run out of developable land in its urban area within 20 years. So the idea, according to county planning director Steve Lafferty, is to replace older buildings like run-down shopping centers with mixed use development.
Lafferty said, “The county’s future growth will be stagnant if we don’t find new and creative ways in which to look for new opportunities.”
Steve Sibel, a partner in the real estate development company Caves Valley Partners, told the Council that development opportunities in the county are drying up for various reasons.
Sibel said, “There is not one crane in the sky and that will eventually lead to a tax increase which none of us want.”
The mixed use legislation is in deep trouble with the seven member council. Two council members, Kach and fellow Republican Todd Crandell oppose it. Four others, including Council Chairman Izzy Patoka said they would vote against it the way it’s currently written.
Patoka said needed changes include the council keeping its land use authority.
Patoka said, “Council in many respects is the closest way that residents and community leaders get to touch county government.”
Councilman Julian Jones did not return a request for comment.
Council votes on both the mixed use legislation and the county’s proposed 10 year master plan for development are scheduled in coming weeks. Council members said the two votes are related and Patoka expects both will be delayed.
