A drive through the Route 1 corridor in Howard County 10 years ago may have shown piles of used tires, vacant lots filled with trash and rows of tattoo parlors and run-down bars.
“Almost anything the county didn?t want in certain places, they would turn a blind eye and allow in the Route 1 corridor,” said Steven Adler, managing partner of the Historic Savage Mill and co-chairman of the county?s Route 1 Corridor Task Force.
Today, the 11-mile stretch shows a much differentpicture.
Through community efforts and county rezoning, the corridor is changing and being held up as an example of the success of the state?s Smart Growth initiatives.
“Route 1 is the first example of where we really targeted where we wanted development to happen,” said Mina Hilsenrath, chief of environmental and community planning at Howard?s Department of Planning and Zoning.
Revitalization efforts steer development and protect undeveloped areas and the Chesapeake Bay, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director for Washington, D.C.-based Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“We should be able to take advantage of the parking lots we have left behind in places like the Route 1 corridor,” he said.
Howard officials wanted to move away from mainly industrial growth to mixed use, including residential, retail and office space.
Through new zoning districts, such as the corridor activity center, Howard brought in several new development projects, Hilsenrath said. The county also is working with the state to make road and pedestrian improvements, including possibly widening a section of Route 1 to six lanes.
Hilsenrath credits the success of the initiative with support from local leaders and the fact that the county didn?t wait for the planning process to be complete before starting the revitalization.
“We did whatever we could in terms of adding a sidewalk here, street trees there to show we are committed to making the improvements,” she said.
AT A GLANCE
The state?s Smarth Growth policy guides development to areas where the infrastructure is available, preserving rural areas.
Funding for growth-related infrastructure is focused on designated priority funding areas.
Source: Maryland Department of Planning
