Baltimore County?s highest appellate board has approved plans for a nine-story condominium building on the outskirts of the Hunt Valley Towne Centre, despite neighbors? protests that the project will taint the area?s “rural” charm.
Members of the county?s Board of Appeals Wednesday unanimously ruled in favor of Wood Partners, a Virginia-based development company proposing 218 condominium units at 450 parking spaces at the edge of the 85-acre shopping complex. The project was first proposed as a “refinement” to the 1979 plan that created the Hunt Valley Mall, which was later redeveloped.
The metropolitan commercial district that exists now makes the site ideal for homes, said Robert Hoffman, an attorney representing Wood Partners.
“It seems like the exact right place to put a residential use,” Hoffman said. “It?s in close proximity to grocery shopping, there?s a theater and lots of restaurants.”
But the site also abuts the county?s “urban-rural demarcation line,” a boundary intended to distinguish between conservation areas and land targeted for growth. Kirsten Burger, president of the Sparks Glencoe Community Planning Council, said the proposal is seven times more dense than regulations for conservation areas.
She called the board?s ruling “disappointing.”
“There are good reasons the zoning regulations say the building should be kept small and the density should be kept low,” Burger said. “… In this instance, the county decided protecting the rural character was of secondary importance.”
The community was, however, victorious in its battle to overturn Wood Partner?s description of the project as a plan “refinement,” which expedites the county?s approval process and eliminates a public hearing.
The company dropped its request to proceed in that manner before the board could rule, Burger said.
