Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski today announced new legislation that aims to promote smart growth, encourage economic revitalization, and support the creation of attainable housing by expanding opportunities to redevelop vacant or underutilized big box stores, shopping centers, or malls into modern, mixed-use developments.

“To realize our fullest potential, Baltimore County must do more to reimagine and revitalize today’s aging infrastructure into the thriving community hubs of tomorrow,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “By supporting opportunities for mixed-use developments across Baltimore County, we can drive a new generation of smart growth that protects our environment, creates new housing opportunities and builds stronger communities for years to come.”

In 1967, Baltimore County became one the earliest adopters of smart growth policies in the nation, with the Urban Rural Demarcation Line (URDL), which focuses infrastructure investment and development in the county’s growth area, while limiting development and protecting natural and agricultural resources on the remaining two-thirds of the County’s land.

Consistent with the protections provided within the URDL, Master Plan 2030 promotes thoughtful redevelopment within the County’s growth area, by shifting the focus away from building on undeveloped open space, referred to as greenfield development, and towards the thoughtful redevelopment of shopping centers, malls, and big box stores, referred to as “greyfield developments.” To promote this effort, Master Plan 2030 established core retrofit areas or “nodes,” that identified areas prime for redevelopment by using criteria such as transit access, employment centers, and community assets.
 
Consistent with the goals of Baltimore County’s award-winning Master Plan 2030 – and fulfilling recommendations of the County’s Affordable Housing Work Group – the new legislation proposed today would allow mixed-use development in the County’s business zones, if they are within the URDL. A mixed-use development combines multiple uses – including residential, commercial, cultural, and/or institutional uses – to create vibrant, dynamic, and pedestrian-friendly communities with amenities and new economic opportunities.

In an effort to incentivize the creation of attainable housing for working families, mixed-use developments that include inclusionary housing would be eligible for parking reductions and a greater floor area ratio. In addition, the proposed legislation requires mixed-use developments that receive financial support from Baltimore County government to set aside a percentage of affordable housing units as part of their development plan.
 
By encouraging thoughtful “retrofitting” of vacant or underutilized big box stores, shopping centers, or malls, Baltimore County can incentivize community redevelopment, expand attainable housing options for residents, and create new economic opportunities, while continuing to preserve Baltimore County’s natural and agricultural resources outside the URDL.
 
This is the latest effort from the Olszewski administration to improve access to quality housing in Baltimore County.

In his first year in office, the Olszewski administration secured passage of the HOME Act, ending housing discrimination by source of income and helped pave the way for similar statewide legislation in 2020.

In May 2021, Olszewski created Baltimore County’s first dedicated Department of Housing and Community Development to centralize Baltimore County’s housing efforts, eliminate overlapping functions, and streamline planning for key outcomes that are previously dispersed across multiple departments.
 
In 2023, Olszewski introduced a package of foundational housing reforms proposed to:

• Establish a dedicated and permanent Baltimore County Housing Opportunities Fund to allow for reoccurring investment to support the ongoing development, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable and attainable housing;
• Create Baltimore’s County first-ever process to designate properties as “vacant,” serving as the foundation for future efforts to convert blighted and abandoned properties into housing, including homeownership opportunities;
• Update the County’s regulations to expand family-member use of accessory apartments (accessory dwelling units or “ADUs”) to increase opportunities to keep families together and allow older adults more opportunities to age in place; and
• Modernize new townhome construction to create additional housing opportunities aimed at residents who may be priced out of the current housing market.

This legislation is expected to be introduced at the Baltimore County Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 16, 2024.