Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. should lead the effort to gain approval of the zoning necessary for the proposed Lutherville Station transit-oriented development (TOD).
November 7, 2023
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. should lead the effort to gain approval of the zoning necessary for the proposed Lutherville Station transit-oriented development (TOD). It is time for him to demonstrate that his professed commitments to fostering environmentally sustainable and inclusive communities, and to a regional approach to economic and transportation issues, are more than hollow political rhetoric.
The proposal stalled earlier this year when Olszewski withdrew it from the county’s planning board because of community opposition. If he fails to make a concerted effort to restart the process and advance the proposal, it will send the message that he only delivers on his promises when politically expedient to do so.
TOD is high-density, mixed-use development near transit stations intended to maximize the use of mass transit, decrease reliance on cars and reduce consumption of land for development. The United States Department of Transportation recently expanded transportation funding to include TOD. The administration of Maryland governor Wes Moore announced plans to take a more active role in encouraging TOD, describing it as an opportunity to create sustainable and inclusive communities.
Olszewski boasts that under his leadership the county has become a “statewide leader” on sustainability by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and promoting walkable neighborhoods. He has pledged to address historical racial inequities in the county by fostering more inclusive communities. Inclusive communities embrace a diversity of people and ideas, and discourage stratification based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or similar classifications.
He frequently touts his support for a regional approach to economic and transportation issues and chairs the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board. TOD is an important component of a regional approach. At the other end of the light rail line, Anne Arundel County has initiated the process to convert a struggling shopping center across the street from the Cromwell Station stop in Glen Burnie into a TOD.
Lutherville Station is an ideal TOD project, located on a site in the York Road commercial corridor next to the light rail station and served by bus routes and major roads. No raw land would be consumed because it would be built by redeveloping a 13-acre site now occupied by a derelict shopping center. Long story short, you can’t make the claims that Olszewski has made and not be an enthusiastic advocate for TOD on this site.
Olszewski, a Democrat, only recently expressed his support for the project after saying nothing about it for over a year. He may have been shamed into speaking up by a Sun editorial that suggested that aspirations for higher office may have caused his silence or by the actions of Wade Kach, the Republican county councilman who represents the district in which the proposed project is located. Kach has virtual control over land use legislation affecting his district through the much-maligned practice of “councilmanic courtesy” and initially opposed the project.
In April, however, Kach released a statement indicating his willingness to support the project and referred to a possible compromise on the number of apartments in the project. The project would include office and retail uses, but it is the 400 apartments, a percentage of which could be set aside as affordable housing, that have been the focus of the opposition. Kach noted in a letter to The Sun that he intends to continue discussions with the developer despite pushback from constituents.
The Sun editorial raised the possibility that some of the opposition is rooted in the county’s history of racially discriminatory housing practices and fear of poor Black families moving from the city to the county. I have no doubt that is true.
I am not dismissing concerns about whether public facilities, including schools and public sewerage, are currently adequate to support the project. Such concerns can be addressed later during the development review process but have no bearing on the policy decision on the use of the site that best meets the overall needs of the county. First things first.
Expressions of support by Olszewski are not enough. He can’t just leave the Lutherville Station TOD proposal in the hands of Kach and the rest of the council and hope for the best.
He must lead from the front, task his planning department with crafting any needed legislation and then actively lobby to get it passed. If he isn’t willing to risk losing some votes to press for a high-quality TOD at Lutherville Station, then he isn’t the type of county executive that he says he is.
Read the article on The Baltimore Sun.
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