Continuing Fallout from the 2004 Zoning Cycle

During Baltimore County's quadrennial zoning cycle in 2004, there was much talk about the continued downzoning of agricultural land north of Cockeysville. From the landowner's point of view, there was a very real risk that they could lose their right to subdivide their property more than once. This has been an ongoing issue since the county instituted RC (Resource Conservation) zoning in the 80s. Every four years, many of the same people who decry the destruction of the rural area that is northern Baltimore County lobby their councilman ( T. Bryan McIntire is the Councilman for the majority of rural Baltimore County) to opt them out of any change to their zoning. Mr McIntire has developed personal relationships with many residents over the years and seems genuinely devoted to preserving the rural landscape, much to the chagrin of some landowners.

Whatever may be said in criticism of Mr. McIntire, he deserves credit for the fact that despite pressures from the south - and more recently, from the growing southern York county area - our neck of the woods can still be called "a neck of the woods" in the literal sense.

The last zoning cycle must have been hell on the councilman, because he made at least two decisions that are haunting him today. One was the decision to forgo a planned downzoning on a property over in Phoenix. The Kassolis property off of Dance Mill Rd was to have been downzoned to further protect the Loch Raven watershed, but our Councilman agreed to forgo that because he believed the owner would only develop four lots and put the rest into conservancy.

Well, that didn't happen.

The owner immediately began plans for an 11-house development and the result so far has been the organization of residents into the Dance Mill Association and the retention of lawyers to fight (or limit) the planned development.

This scenario repeated itself in a much more ominous way here in Freeland, where developer Randy Shelley worked out a deal with the Hereford Zone Rec Council to donate 100 acres of agriculturally-zoned land for a recreational facility if our Councilman would have two adjoining parcels rezoned to allow 19 houses on heavily wooded, low lying land, where 10 was the maximum before - and that was too much already!
Despite the increased zoning (which was accomplished outside the process, thanks to an alleged "typo error",) Shelley may have sailed through without too much issue, until it became apparent that the plans for the athletic facility included a large indoor arena and would require over 600 parking spaces to accomodate it! McIntire, of course, had no idea that the plan was anything more than fields for sports teams. Instead, the community is fighting a bona fide athletic club , which is clearly intended for a more intense use than just providing recreational space "for the children."
We all want to what's best "for the children," but for many, this was beyond the pale (but par for the course for Mr. Shelley, as many who know have attested.)
So lawyers have been retained and another battle ensues.

There are other examples of this phenomena - and I call it that for two reasons:

1. When a land use zoning cycle introduces the threat of losing previously held property rights, it is not unexpected that those landowners who survive the initial threat are likely to exercise those rights sooner rather than later, and...

2. Having survived the threat of a rezoning, a property owner is ripe for approaches from developers eager to place options on a property, which appears to have happened on Dance Mill Rd and probably on the Ashe Property here in Freeland as well..

As someone who appreciates the quality of life that can only be experienced in a low density, largely rural area, I find it hard to argue against limiting development wherever possible, but I also wonder whether the zoning solution hasn't been somewhat counterproductive by focusing developers' attention on landowners who may not otherwise be looking to cash in.

As for our Councilman, I respect him greatly, but we seem to have a unique situation here in the north county - having a politician who gets hoodwinked by the citizens instead of the other way around!
Of course, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here...