Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith?s plans for a park amidst a heavily congested traffic circle in Towson are firm, his spokesman said this week, despite rumors in an online debate that suggest otherwise.
Towson activists have exchanged e-mails since Smith announced his plans to condemn the former Shell gasoline station last month, suggesting the decision could set precedents for future county land seizures. Smith is invoking the government?s right to eminent domain ? confiscating private land for public use ? after the gas company refused to pay for environmental clean-up, he said.
The county is scheduling hearings to entertain ideas for the park, said county spokesman Don Mohler.
But activists such as Richard Parsons said they worry the county will later try to sell or lease the land privately.
“If a decision has been made for this extremely small and difficult-to-access tract for use as a park ?in perpetuity,? what value or significance would public input be after the fact?” Parsons said.
In February, the privately run Towson Chamber of Commerce tried to buy the land from Shell affiliate Motiva Enterprises LLC for $500,000, the same price the county estimates it will pay, according to chamber President Todd Huff. Shell officials never responded to their offer, he said, and their current office lease expires soon.
Though some residents said the site is better suited for a welcome center or office, Smith is uninterested, Mohler said.
“Jim Smith does not think that?s an appropriate site for a welcome center,” Mohler said. “We?d be glad to help the chamber find a location for a center if they want.”
A judge will ultimately determine a fair market price for the land, Mohler said. Towson resident and state Sen. James Brochin, D-District 42, said he has secured $175,000 in state money for the purchase.
In e-mailed discussions among Towson leaders, Brochin was quoted as supporting the chamber?s use of the site once it is county-owned. Brochin on Friday said chamber officials told him they would maintain landscaping and security at the park and said the idea is “worthy of further discussion.”
“I?m agreeable to the Chamber of Commerce putting an office there as long the majority of the land is utilized for a park which is what it?s supposed to be,” Brochin said.
