The Baltimore County Council took a major step Thursday towards wresting control of the planning board from the county executive.
The council agreed to put a referendum on the November ballot for voters to decide whether to change how the board’s members are selected.
Currently the county executive gets to pick eight of the 15 members of the planning board free and clear. The council wants to change that so it confirms those appointments.
Councilman David Marks, who proposed the change, said the current planning board is aggressively pro-development.
“This is not an insignificant body and the public deserves the opportunity to review those members recommended for appointment,” Marks said.
The planning board plays a critical role in developing the county’s 10 year master plan.
“It formulates land use policies, can introduce zoning changes and is the first step in modifications to the Baltimore County water and sewer plan,” Marks said.
In an interview last month, planning board chair Nancy Hafford said the legislation caught her by surprise.
“I don’t understand the need to change it because nobody has told me there’s a problem with it,” Hafford said.
The remaining seven seats on the planning board are filled by the County Council. Currently, each of the seven council members gets an unchallenged planning board pick. That would change under the referendum. Those appointments also would be confirmed by the full County Council.
County Executive Johnny Olszewski proposed an amendment that would limit planning board members to three three-year terms. However, current board members would be grandfathered so they could potentially be reappointed three more times.
The County Council changed that to make the term limits retroactive. In other words, if the ballot measure passes, any planning board member who has already served three or more terms could not be reappointed.
Four of the 15 planning board members are serving at least a third term. Hafford is in her fifth term. Wayne McGinnis is in his eighth.
Councilman Todd Crandell said, “Term limits are a way to get fresh faces and new ideas into positions.”
