Baltimore County?s offer to buy the development rights of a private Towson golf course for millions offers no immediate public benefits, one councilman said, because the land will remain a private course indefinitely.
Council members Tuesday discussed a contract to pay $2 million to ban development on about 143 acres of the Country Club of Maryland?s for the next 25 years. If the club stops using the golf course after 25 years, a 45-acre parcel will be turned over to the county, officials said.
In exchange, the club has agreed to build 36 homes on 14 acres instead of 56.
But as long as the land remains a golf course, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2, said county taxpayers don?t benefit.
“It?s a dangerous precedent on the part of the council,” Kamenetz said. “Are we going to be asked to reduce the zoning on every development by ponying up money?”
Kamenetz suggested the county buy the land for a public park.
Environmental Protection & Resource Management Director David Carroll said the county wants to keep the private golf course ? which he said the community considers an asset that provides “visual relief.”
“You don?t have to physically drive your ATV through it or walk through it to have it be an amenity,” Carroll said.
Councilman Vince Gardina, D-District 5, compared the contract to agricultural easements the county routinely makes with farmers ?paying land owners not to develop property that remains in private operation.
The 600-member country club considered developing its entire property, said county spokesman Don Mohler.
He said the club has offered to spend $800,000 restoring an on-course stream, part of the Herring Run watershed.
The club donated $700 to County Executive Jim Smith?s election committee since 2002, according to state campaign finance records. The law firm representing the club is headed by Smith?s former law clerk and the county?s former zoning commissioner.
The council will vote on the contract at its meeting Monday evening.
