Current and former leaders from our State are drawing attention to a bill before the General Assembly this session to create a State constitutional amendment to protect the right to a healthful environment in Maryland. Delegate Wanika Fisher, a sponsor of a bill, notes that: “There is a difference between regulations, which address a particular issue, […]
A failure to plan is a plan to fail. ~ Winston Churchill A year ago, I wrote an article in this publication recounting the findings of the 2019 Spending Affordability Report authored by a committee of the same name and chaired by first-district councilman, Tom Quirk. The report detailed a history in our County of […]
Bill 37-19 eliminated one long-standing loophole, which has been in our law since at least 2010, that allowed parking islands, otherwise known as “zoning amenity open space” to reduce the amount of public open space that developers of major subdivisions are required to provide.
A. Executive Summary We respectfully ask the Council to Pass Bill 37-19 without amendments for 3 reasons: 1. Our Unique History of Development Set the Stage for an Enormous Open Space Deficit Beginning with the Great Depression and the severe housing shortage that ensued, history and policy created our inner suburbs with […]
Our County has a unique land-use history, shaped by federal zoning law and housing policy, the Great Depression, World War II, the GI Bill, the 1st Eisenhower Beltway, the Plan for the Valleys, and the Urban Rural Demarcation Line. The upshot of this is that we are NOT like Harford County, Carroll County, Howard County […]
“I am deeply saddened by the actions of lower level [County] staffers who cooperated with and illegally endorsed the developer’s efforts to totally gut the County’s open space requirements.” (Attorney Robert Smith, testifying in favor of Bill 37-19 on Tuesday, August 27, 2019) At the end of 49 minutes of testimony on Bill 37-19 on […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 7, 2019 Contact: Barbara Hopkins 443-377-3760 barbara@neighborspacebaltimorecounty.org Baltimore County Council Bill 37-19 Would Remove Loopholes in Adequate Public Facilities Law Governing Open Space NeighborSpace estimates well over $1 million “left on the table” since July 2016 Towson, MD – Today, NeighborSpace of Baltimore County applauded Councilmen Tom Quirk and […]
Suburbs, like cities, need many more neighborhoods where residents can meet daily needs on foot; streets that give priority to walkers, cyclists, and light rail and buses over cars; and high-quality public spaces. Retrofitting suburbia, to quote Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, who wrote a book with that title, is “the big project for this […]
I started out writing this article from the perspective of wanting to share with you a summary of items from the recently-released Baltimore County Government Transition Report (2019) that impact the NeighborSpace mission of improving livability in the inner suburbs. Maybe I would have stuck to that more limited scope had another document, the Report […]
“Environmentalist and philanthropist Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin has teamed up with state legislators, interfaith leaders and environmental advocates to spearhead an effort to change Maryland’s constitution.” So reads a January 25, 2019 article in the Baltimore Jewish Times. Rabbi Cardin, who has been a real friend to me and to NeighborSpace, put me on notice […]