State delegates decry Towson park project plans as unfair

Two state lawmakers decried County Executive Jim Smith?s plans to condemn an abandoned gas station in Towson to create a park, saying they?ve spent the past two years trying to convince Smith to do the same thing in Perry Hall.

Republican Dels. John Cluster and Joseph Boteler said they secured a promise from the state to sell a blighted 1-acre parcel on Belair Road and Minte Drive in Perry Hall for $30,000 ? well below its appraised value ? to create a park. But the county refused to buy the land because an underground fuel leak at a gas station across the street would force a costly environmental cleanup.