In November of 2003, the Smith administration introduced draft legislation to establish a Baltimore County Renaissance Redevelopment Pilot Program to the Planning Board. The introduction was followed by extensive public review and input, including a public hearing on January 15, 2004, and a series of public meetings in the community. The Planning Board established an ad hoc advisory group, comprised of 37 community leaders, developers, attorneys, and business leaders, to review the legislation and advise the Planning Board about possible revisions.County Executive James T. Smith, Jr. addressed the group by describing his vision for the pilot program and his desire for extensive citizen input into the process.
On April 1, 2004, the chair of the advisory group, Planning Board member, H. Edward Parker, introduced a report to the Planning Board that contained revised enabling legislation to establish the proposed pilot program. The report and accompanying legislation were adopted by the Planning Board on April 15, 2004, following a public hearing, and transmitted to the County Council.
The County Council held a public hearing on the report and legislation on Monday, May 17, 2004. Representatives of several constituent groups spoke favorably about the proposed program and encouraged its adoption. Others expressed agreement with the intent of the bill, but voiced technical concerns, particularly about two aspects of the proposal: 1) that the concept of consensus was not defined in a way that could be verified by a simple vote, and 2) that in tailoring a project to a particular site, the program could be vulnerable to charges of "spot zoning," or creating a special zone for one property owner.
In October 2004, the Council asked the administration to seek additional public input on the legislation, particularly on the issues of consensus and spot zoning that were raised at the public hearing; and to consider recommending additional changes to the proposed legislation to address those issues. The administration has done so, and the County Council introduced and adopted the resulting bill during November 2004.
There has been substantial opportunity for public input on this proposed program—perhaps more than any other piece of county legislation—and many issues and concerns have been addressed. The proposed program would be a pilot—designed to apply only to a limited number of carefully selected sites in opportunity areas pre-selected by the County Council. The intent is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a collaborative design process in achieving broad public consensus on proposed redevelopment projects, and to show that a process which is both flexible and inclusive can lead to better results for all stakeholders.
Finally, there is broad public support for the goals of the program: to overcome barriers to the high-quality redevelopment of vacant and underused property in the County’s older communities; to provide for early and substantive public input into project planning; to encourage collaboration among key stakeholder groups, particularly the community, the developer, and County government; and to spur community renaissance.
Revised July 22, 2005
Courthouse 