Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski is backing away from a controversial proposal to take some mixed use zoning decisions out of the hands of the County Council.
That announcement came hours before the County Council approved the 10 year master plan which some council members said would drive unwanted development in their districts through the mixed use legislation.
Olszewski and Council Chairman Izzy Patoka Tuesday announced a compromise which would keep mixed use zones but would give the Council the authority to create them in certain areas of the county that are targeted for development.
But soon after they made that announcement, council members fumed that Olszewski was not withdrawing the original legislation right away.
Seventh district Republican Councilman Todd Crandell called the original bill “toxic.”
Crandell said, “We need to table it and kill it.”
Patoka said Olszewski’s plan is to withdraw the original legislation on March 4. On that same date, the compromise legislation will be introduced.
Proponents of the original legislation argued Council members should not have total control over where mixed-use developments go because it’s too easy for communities to kill projects. They said instead they should be considered from a county-wide perspective of where they are most needed.
Nick Stewart, a cofounder of the community group We The People-Baltimore County said the demise of Olszewski’s original legislation was sad news for the county’s economic future.
“Our crisis is real,” Stewart said. “Working families cannot afford homes, and we have a major glut of empty commercial land.”
Olszewski’s original legislation hit a buzzsaw of opposition from council members and others because the council would be cut out of some mixed use decisions.
Sixth District Democratic Councilman Mike Ertel said he has seen no other legislation receive so much opposition from his constituents.
“50, 60 emails a day against this bill,” Ertel said. “I think the administration should have been a little more thoughtful about it.”
Mixed use are developments that contain a variety of businesses, from apartments, to grocery stores to shops.
Planners believe they can help rejuvenate economically-disadvantaged communities.
In a statement Olszewski said, “Baltimore County needs to act now and with urgency to revitalize aging communities, support housing creation and cultivate thoughtful, more transit and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.”
Ryan Coleman, president of the Randallstown branch of the NAACP supported the original legislation. He said he looks forward to working with the council on the bill that will replace it.
“A bill that really addresses the affordable housing, the revitalization and redevelopment and just the mixed use of Baltimore County,” Coleman said. “It’s very clear that Baltimore County has fallen behind a number of jurisdictions when it comes to those things.”
Under the compromise reached between Olszewski and Patoka, the coming legislation would empower council members to create mixed-use development within certain targeted districts if they want it.
Those mixed use districts could go in specific areas which are prime for redevelopment and are targeted in the county’s proposed Master Plan.
However, during Tuesday’s discussion about the master plan, several council members moved to remove some of those redevelopment areas out of their districts.
Republican Wade Kach had the proposed redevelopment areas for the controversial Lutherville Station project removed.
Councilman Crandell requested that all of the areas be removed from his district and the council agreed.
Stewart with We The People said, “Councilman Crandell went so far as to remove his entire district from the master plan.”
The council then approved the amended master plan on a 6-1 vote with Crandell voting against it.
“Council members may be taking a victory lap, but they are shooting themselves in the foot,” Stewart said. “We witnessed a retrenchment tonight.”
