Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith signed an agreement Thursday that will require the county to make as many as 80 changes to its development requirements and review process within the next three years.
The pact is the product of a yearlong review that examined how the county could reduce the environmental impacts and construction costs of development. More than 60 representatives of the environmental, government and development communities, who have been meeting since June 2005, drafted what officials called a “collaborative” document.
“Some of the policies and laws that guide the development process in Baltimore County have been around for 10, 15, 20 years,” Smith said. “We must find ways to make the process more user-friendly and transparent, and meaningfully engage our communities.”
Recommendations include narrowing street and driveway widths, reducing parking requirements, and smaller lot sizes and setbacks. The agreement also calls for buffer systems along all streams, new stormwater management plans and stricter guidelines for the use of fees in lieu of building requirements.
To satisfy residents who say the county?s review of proposed development is kept from the general public, the agreement calls for an online permitting database and suggests that a copy of smaller development requests be sent to officials of the nearest community association ? with contact information.
David Carroll, director of the county?s Environmental Protection and Resource Management Department, said addressing the growing mistrust among residents is a top priority. Carroll said he would like the county to organize “Development 101” courses to educate residents on the process.
“Our concern is this growing NIMBYism,” Carroll said. “These folks have a selective memory. Trees were torn down 20 years ago when their houses were built.”
But residents like Pikesville activist Alan Zuckerberg said Thursday?s agreement doesn?t convince them the pact was a complete consensus between environmentalists and developers.
“It?s pretty easy to pack a committee and have it come out the way you want it,” Zuckerberg said. “Based on previous history and the county?s relationship with developers, I?m skeptical until proven otherwise.”
Baltimore County is the sixth of 12 sites in the Chesapeake Bay region to undergo the program, called Builders of the Bay.
Other roundtables were completed in Harford County, three Pennsylvania towns and one Virginia county.
MAJOR PLAYERS
» Baltimore County government
» Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
» Home Builders Association of Maryland
» Center for Watershed Protection
