A nationally published photographer converted a long-vacant Arbutus grocery store into a studio.
Graphic designers in Reisters-town set up shop in a restored Victorian mansion.
And in Overlea, an engineering firm operates out of an abandoned funeral home.
Now, Baltimore County lawmakers are hoping to extend an incentive program to “spruce up” small businesses and redevelop neglected commercial property to merchants in Lansdowne.
If approved, Lansdowne would become the county?s 14th commercial revitalization district, with low-interest loans for repairs,free architectural consulting and tax credits to property owners who want to improve their appearance.
“We have old buildings and buildings that people just kind of paint over versus fix up,” said Craig Rankin, president of the Lans-downe Improvement Association.
“We?ve been pushing for this for a long time.”
The proposal, sponsored by Council Chairman Sam Moxley, a Democrat who represents the area, is slated for discussion at the council?s work session Tuesday.
Businesses in a commercial strip roughly along Hammonds Ferry Road between Hollins Ferry Road and Minebank Lane would be eligible for the program.
The newly re-created Lans-downe Business and Professional Association is endorsing the proposal, said president and local lawyer Charles Kountz.
A resurgence of the group ? with 20 to 30 business owners attending the most recent meeting, compared with two or three during its launch one decade ago ? has motivated the community to improve on aesthetics, he said.
“The thinking is, if we work together as one unit, we can certainly accomplish more,” Kountz said. “Many of our goals are the same ? to revitalize the entire area.”
The council Tuesday also is scheduled to:
» Discuss spending $32,000 in profits from the county?s first Senior Expo to purchase equipment for fitness rooms in eight senior centers.
» Consider a proposal to reduce property taxes for an Essex apartment complex for low-income seniors that is undergoing renovations. The agreement would reduce the county?s property tax revenues by about $1.6 million over 40 years.
