By Rik Forgo
LSIA Vice President
Way back at the beginning of May 2011 the County Council was near finalizing the Comprehensive Rezoning bills for Districts 1 and 4. About that time the Arundel Hills and Linthicum communities became aware of a proposed upzoning for multifamily homes in a highly questionable location that had found its way into the final rezoning bill for District 1.Thankfully, our communities were able to avoid having this measure approved with the help of a watchful eye from Anne Fligsten, the coordinator of the Growth Action Network of Anne Arundel County, our County Councilman Daryl Jones, County Executive John Leopold, and an understanding County Council.
When we learned of this proposed multifamily development, both of our communities were aghast. It would have doubled the residential density in the Arundel Hills community – right across the street from Linthicum – from R-5 to R-10 and shoehorned an unwanted multifamily development in a neighborhood where traffic and noise issues were already big problems. The Linthicum-Shipley Improvement Association had already worked very closely with Councilman Jones on a host of other proposed developments in this Comprehensive Rezoning cycle, but somehow this one eluded our notice. It borders Linthicum, but isn’t actually in Linthicum proper. To say, however, that it wouldn’t have affected us would be flatly wrong.
The GANAAC started spreading the word on this development to local residents as the rezoning cycle began clicking toward the end. The LSIA finally caught up with it a little more than a week before it was to go to the Council for final approval. We took our concerns to Councilman Jones and he explained his dilemma: If he pulled the bill, which was fast approaching its 90-day expiration date, it would have to be reintroduced and the community would be exposed to another 90 days of potential rezoning applications. The latest round was difficult enough to manage, and the prospect of 90 more days of it was not attractive to anyone.
One option, he suggested, would be to approach County Executive Leopold and ask for a line-item veto of the bill’s amendment. It would shed the bill of the unpopular multifamily amendment, but allow the rest of it to proceed. This approach was not popular, mostly because of the uncertainty involved in the process. Would Mr. Leopold support the veto option? Would the Council sustain it? The arguments seemed to support the community but there was lots of doubt. Thankfully Mr. Jones and Mr. Leopold had that conversation, and Mr. Leopold agreed that this measure didn’t fit in with what was recommended by the BWI-Linthicum Small Area Plan or with the General Development Plan. In the end he felt, as we did, that this development simply didn’t belong there, so he
red-lined it.
The County Council mulled the veto thoughtfully. There were other line-item vetos in the overall bill, but they didn’t affect our communities. In the end the Council sustained this particular veto. We are grateful. Some members of the County Council don’t appreciate the line-item veto, believing it unfairly usurps the role of the County’s legislative branch. There is merit in that argument. But for one day in June, it helped two of communities out of a jam.
I think all involved would probably agree that passing a bill into law, then circling back to root out the bad stuff probably isn’t the best way to legislate. Obviously we need to get the bad stuff out before we pass the law. In the case of Comprehensive Rezoning, the best way to do that is make sure that everyone knows what’s being done before the process is finalized.
We are getting better. The transparency afforded by the County in the rezoning process is far better now than in years past. Zoning applications are available on the County’s website, and with a little searching you can find out a lot about what’s being planned. But it’s not enough. Not all of us are Internet savvy.
Right now there’s a law requiring open meetings with the community before a developer can begin building. That would be a great model to follow.
