Last week, the Baltimore County Council approved a plan to use $10 million in state funds to purchase 85 acres on the former C.P. Crane coal plant site in Bowleys Quarters from North Carolina realty firm Forsite Development. The county plans to use those acres to preserve it as a park, but it’s uncertain when it will open. The Department of Parks and Recreation plans to first gather community feedback, according to agency director Bob Smith.

At a Monday news conference, elected officials including County Council members, the Baltimore County executive and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the deal came together after years of advocacy by community groups in nearby Seneca Park and Bowleys Quarters.

The plant closed in 2018 after environmental regulators cited it for exceeding pollution limits and failing to test its emission levels. It changed owners multiple times, but plans to redevelop the site for housing or to reopen the plant as a natural gas facility fell through after residents pushed back. In 2022, Forsite demolished the candy cane-looking smoke stacks that served as a navigational marker for boaters and pilots from nearby Martin State Airport.

“The candy cones were good for boaters, but less so for the environment,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. “We knew that there was an opportunity to preserve the site as both open space and parkland, and also to find ways to support the transition to a more modern green economy and future.”

Local advocates began lobbying County Councilman David Marks and other officials to preserve it as a park, according to Seneca Park Improvement Association Vice President Bonny Jasinski.

“We enjoy and appreciate the natural wonder that is the Chesapeake Bay, and know the reality of its fragile ecosystem,” Jasinski said. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here. The purchase of this property will connect and extend that undeveloped land in combination with local, state and federal lands.”

“People talk a lot about how government doesn’t work these days, but here’s an example of government working together across party lines and in partnership with neighborhoods,” said Marks, an Upper Falls Republican. He described the negotiations as “complex.”

Forsite will still own 33 acres on the site and is in charge of cleaning up the site, which includes a dilapidated pier, parking lot and warehouse. The company is applying for permits to build a battery storage center, according to Chief Operating Officer Ryan Ford.

Baltimore County will receive an additional $1.7 million in federal funding to acquire right-of-way easements to connect the property via a rail trail to Marshy Point Nature Center and Eastern Regional Park, according to U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat.

“There are very limited amounts for these congressionally directed spending projects, earmarks, so the ones that rise to the top are ones that are well thought-out and have community support,” Van Hollen said.

The Baltimore County Council approved a $1.2 billion contract in April for Republic Services to haul commercial garbage from the county’s three trash facilities and dispose of it in landfills in Little Plymouth and Richmond, Virginia. The contract began July 1 and can run for up to 20 years, according to fiscal notes. The company also transports and disposes of trash from Harford County, with whom Baltimore County has had a long-standing disposal agreement. 

Council Chair Izzy Patoka bristled at the price tag, calling it the “biggest contract we’ve seen,” but voted with five council members to approve it April 1. Republic Services’ competitor, Waste Management (WM), which previously handled county trash with Republic and incinerator-operator Wheelabrator Technologies, is now challenging that contract, according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun via a Maryland Public Information Act request.

WM argues that the county gave the two firms, who were the only bidders, “disparate treatment” and that Baltimore County acted “capriciously and arbitrarily” by refusing to negotiate with WM and instead awarding a contract to  Republic, according to redacted bid protest documents and letters dating back to last fall. 

Patoka said he was unaware of WM’s contract challenge until The Sun informed him. He said bid protests were “not unheard of” and that the Maryland Board of Public Works often fielded contract disputes when he was a Baltimore City and state employee. Baltimore County Department of Public Works spokesperson Ron Snyder said it was the first solid waste bid protest the agency had received. 

According to the documents, Baltimore County was poised last January to award  part of the contract to WM, which previously processed county trash alongside Republic and Wheelabrator, the city incinerator that also handles some of Baltimore County’s trash. WM’s contract with Baltimore County ended June 30. Wheelabrator’s current contract, which guarantees the county give the company 215,000 tons annually for processing, ends in 2026. 

A WM executive said the county did not respond to its follow-up communications and notified it only in late March that it was essentially granting Republic an exclusive contract to process and transport Baltimore County’s commercial trash. WM filed a bid protest four days after the council approved the contract. 

Until WM’s contract ended in June, it handled commercial trash at two county facilities, in White Marsh and Cockeysville.

The Republic contract is expected to generate $142.4 million in revenue for Baltimore County over 20 years via a $125 per ton disposal fee levied on commercial customers, according to fiscal notes.

Watchdogs have previously scrutinized Baltimore County’s trash practices. In June, Inspector General Kelly Madigan cited a waste hauler for defrauding the county of nearly $230,000. 

WM spokesperson Lisa Kardell said the company was “disappointed” with Baltimore County’s decision to sever its “long-standing relationship” which dates back to 2010. 

“We believe negotiations were ended prematurely, and we did not receive the same negotiating options as the other bidder,” she said in an email. 

A person who answered Republic’s media email declined to comment.

In an email, Snyder said the agency used its “established process” for soliciting competitive bids.

Bid negotiations

WM and Republic are the largest waste firms in North America, generating a combined $134 billion in revenue in 2023, according to federal business filings. They collectively operate 578 transfer stations in the U.S. and Canada. Both companies regularly donate to county politicians, including Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. 

Baltimore County appeared to unilaterally award the contract to Republic while increasing the fees Harford County must pay to transport its waste. Under the July 1 contract, Harford County pays $125 per ton to dispose of its garbage in Baltimore County facilities, an increase from July 2023 when the Harford County Council voted to raise the fees it pays Baltimore County to $117 from $72, citing higher transportation and disposal costs Baltimore County was incurring to transport Harford County’s trash.

Under the terms of its intergovernmental agreement, Baltimore County is supposed to notify Harford County and give it a chance to “provide input” when negotiating with potential trash haulers.

Harford County spokesperson Matthew Button said the county did not take an “active” role in Baltimore County’s negotiations with Republic but did not respond to follow-up questions. Harford County Attorney Jefferson Blomquist did not respond to a request for comment.

WM and Republic submitted proposals when Baltimore County opened the bidding process last fall. On Dec. 4, WM submitted its “best and final offer” and said it was willing to negotiate on certain issues. Those items were redacted in the documents, and Kardell did not respond to a question about what the company took issue with.

Baltimore County appeared poised to award part of the contract to WM, according to a Jan. 10 letter WM Maryland finance director Michael Magee sent Baltimore County senior buyer Scott Mitcherling.

“Thank you for the letter communicating Baltimore County’s intent to award [WM] the services at Eastern Sanitary Landfill,” Magee wrote. “However, WM is not able to accept the terms and conditions as currently proposed. WM requests the opportunity to directly discuss options to draft and finalize agreeable terms in the award.”

WM said Baltimore County did not respond until March 27, telling the company it was awarding Republic the entire contract. WM’s attorneys wrote to Mitcherling on April 5, calling the county’s decision “irrational.” They said the Virginia landfills Republic contracted with to offload trash did not have enough capacity to accommodate the full 20-year contract. WM also claimed Republic did not have a contract with a minority- or woman-owned business to comply with a subcontractor clause. 

“WM was obligated … to receive the same treatment by the county into negotiating acceptable terms and conditions that was afforded to Republic but was not,” wrote Edwin Childs and Jason Vespoli of law firm McGuireWoods. 

On April 17, Mitcherling said the county was “not willing” to negotiate with WM, and that the landfills Republic contracted with had enough life span, citing the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Republic also met the subcontracting requirement, Mitcherling said. 

“The county appreciates the time and effort WM put forth in preparing their proposal, but for the reasons stated above, the county’s decision to award the entire [request for proposal] to [Republic] stands,” Mitcherling wrote. 

Vespoli and Childs appealed April 29, which Baltimore County procurement and logistics services chief Rosetta Butler denied June 3. 

“In conclusion, after a comprehensive review of your protest and the evaluation process, I have determined that the award of the Transport & Disposal Services contract to Republic was conducted fairly and in accordance with all applicable regulations and guidelines,” Butler wrote. 

It’s unclear whether WM will take further action; Kardell did not respond to a question about whether the company was considering legal action.

Scrutinizing trash haulers

In June, Madigan said a commercial hauler defrauded the county of $225,000 by reporting all of its garbage as residential waste in order to evade a $100 tipping fee on every ton of commercial trash it dropped off at the White Marsh landfill. 

The Sun identified the hauler as Ruppert Sanitation. Baltimore County spokesperson Erica Palmisano said Public Works severed the Ruppert contract Aug. 9 and gave one of its routes to Eagle Transfer Services. Jack Haden, Eagle Transfer’s owner, was the subject of an inspector general complaint in June 2022. Former Solid Waste bureau chief Michael Beichler said then-Public Works director D’Andrea Walker advanced Haden’s application for a private transfer station days after Haden threw a fundraiser for Olszewski. 

Beichler said he opposed Haden’s plan because the private transfer station would have cost the county millions of dollars in annual revenue. Now retired, Beichler publicly identified himself earlier this year when he opposed Walker’s appointment as county administrative officer.

Walker and Olszewski, who is running for Congress, denied wrongdoing. The council shelved Haden’s application shortly after Beichler’s complaint came to light.

“The next step for WM would be through the court process,” Palmisano said.

The council passed legislation in July to put a question on the Nov. 5 ballot asking residents to add two members to the legislative body. The bill, sponsored by Council Chair Izzy Patoka, passed 5-1. Councilman Pat Young, a Catonsville Democrat, cast the dissenting vote against the charter amendment, which required a five-vote supermajority to pass. Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, said the effort hinged upon a “fragile” coalition between the council’s four Democrats and three Republicans.

State Democratic lawmakers and the ACLU of Maryland said a map included with Patoka’s legislation proposing two new council districts could violate the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting Black residents’ voting power and that bill language undercut state legislators’ authority to appoint people to the county school board. The ACLU previously sued Baltimore County over redistricting in 2022.

Young introduced legislation Tuesday to repeal the proposed map and strike a section halving the governor’s power to appoint four people to the county Board of Education and shifting them to the two new council members. His bill requires a simple four-vote majority to pass, but it looks unlikely to pass. Both Patoka and Council member Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, have signed on in support, but Councilman Mike Ertel of Towson, the other Democratic member said he opposed it.

The three Republicans are now pushing back, saying they voted to expand the council despite early opposition because of the proposed map, which would add a new district in conservative-leaning southeastern Baltimore County. The other new district would be in majority-Black western Baltimore County, which is represented by Jones, who is the council’s sole member of color.

David Marks, an Upper Falls Republican, said he voted for Patoka’s bill because the map “preserved a sense of balance” and created competitive districts that Republican or Democratic candidates could win, despite southeastern Baltimore County’s Republican leanings. He framed Young’s bill as a threat to council members’ working relationship, and pointed out that the state Democratic lawmakers opposing the map supported “extreme gerrymandering” during a contentious state redistricting process in 2022.

“Baltimore County is not the State House or Capitol Hill. We have always functioned in a bipartisan manner,” Marks said. “We had an agreement on the map and it was a consensus of three Republicans and two Democrats. Now all of a sudden, under pressure from partisan members of the Democratic Party, there’s a willingness to get rid of the map.”

Councilman Todd Crandell, a Dundalk Republican, said Patoka had brokered a deal with the Republicans for their support to pass his bill, which required a five-member supermajority because it would amend the county charter.

“Now it appears, without discussing it with any of us [Republicans], he’s going back on his word,” Crandell said.

Councilman Wade Kach, a Timonium Republican, could not be reached for comment Friday through messages to him and an aide.

WYPR first reported Kach’s, Marks’ and Crandell’s opposition.

Young said he proposed his amending bill because of his frustration that council staff created the map without public input.

“While there was one work session, people didn’t see the [proposed] map then,” he said. “If there will be an expansion, there should be a commission process tied to redrawing new districts. It shouldn’t be on seven council members who are elected officials.”

Patoka previously called state legislators’ opposition to his bill a “political stunt” and said the map “would and should change” via a public redistricting commission process. He said Thursday that he would support Young’s bill because it gave the council further opportunity to improve on the map even as Republicans said they supported it under the assumption it would not shift.

“We can make another map,” Patoka said. “The County Council will have to work harder and show up to participate in developing the map. There are members who did not participate in the legislative process. They’re gonna have to participate and work harder.”

Jones, who is co-sponsoring Young’s bill, previously said he opposed the map because it would split his district. He was not present and did not vote on Patoka’s original bill. He and Patoka are expected to run for county executive in 2026.

“Repealing the current map and following county code will ensure more transparent dialogue and meaningful feedback with the public,” Jones said Thursday.

Ertel said he did not support Young’s bill in its current form.

“The map that was used for the council expansion originally is not set in stone,” Ertel said. “There will be public input on the map and changes can be made. This bill is unnecessary in my opinion and will likely fracture the council in a critical time when we likely need to select a new county executive in two months.”

County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. is expected to win election to Congress in November to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger.

“I applaud efforts to ensure an equitable, inclusive and lawful map-drawing process that ensures our districts represent the communities they serve,” Olszewski said in a statement. “We are carefully reviewing the newly introduced legislation as we continue to support efforts to expand the County Council in a way that appropriately engages our residents and reflects Baltimore County’s diverse neighborhoods and substantial growth.”

The council will discuss Young’s bill at its Tuesday meeting and again Oct. 1, and will vote Oct. 7.

Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Barker contributed to this article.

In March, Baltimore County announced that it intended to acquire part of the decommissioned coal plant near Carroll Island and use it as a park after years of lobbying by nearby residents and environmentalists.

The former 400-megawatt facility is on a 118-acre site that faces Seneca Creek, Saltpeter Creek and the Gunpowder River near Middle River. Since its 2018 closure, multiple owners have contemplated reopening it as a natural gas plant or building housing there, neither of which came to fruition.

The $10 million will come from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Project Open Space, a fund that helps local governments finance and develop green space. The county will buy 85 acres from Bowleys Quarters Investments 1 LLC, a firm tied to Forsite Development, which owns the site. Baltimore County has an additional $1.7 million in federal funding and $1.25 million in state capital grants to spend on the project.

The land consists of “vacant redeveloped residential land,” which includes a “pier in poor condition,” paved parking areas, a warehouse and security fence. The current owner will continue to own 33 acres of the site, according to fiscal notes.

The county intends to build a walking and biking trail and connect it to nearby parks like the Eastern Regional Park and Gunpowder Falls State Park, according to a promotional video Councilman David Marks showed other members during Tuesday’s meeting. Marks, an Upper Falls Republican, has shielded a number of former industrial properties in his district from further development.

“This not only eliminates development from a sensitive area of the east side, but helps create a nearly unbroken green space from Carroll Island to Gunpowder Falls State Park,” he said in a statement. “It is a huge win for nature and our communities.”

Retiring U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Baltimore County Democrat, and County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., who is favored to win Ruppersberger’s seat in November, both supported the project.

The coal plant began operating in 1961 when it was owned by Baltimore Gas and Electric. Exelon, BGE’s parent company, first sold the property in 2012, which then changed hands multiple times. The plant closed in June 2018 in a settlement with state environmental regulators, who fined the operator $105,000 for not properly testing emissions and violating pollution limits.

An affiliate of Middle River Power wanted to reopen the plant in 2019 as a natural gas fire facility, but those plans fell through even after it won a court battle against environmental groups who worried reopening the plant would further pollute the area and contribute to climate change.

North Carolina realty agency Forsite Development bought the site in October 2021 and began dismantling the facility. In August 2022, it demolished the facility’s iconic stacks, which for years had served as a “navigational beacon” for boaters, according to the promotional video.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican now running for U.S. Senate, advised Forsite as its owners pondered what to do after residents pushed back on plans to build 285 townhomes there. Under the terms of the sale, Forsite will retain 33 acres, where it plans to build a battery storage center.

Forsite will also be responsible for razing the remaining warehouse; removing fencing, trash and debris; and filling and capping any remaining wells and septic and storage tanks, according to fiscal notes.

At 10:09 p.m., officers from the Eastern District responded to reports of a shooting in the 1800 block of East North Avenue, according to Davis. There, the officers found a 30-year-old woman who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the back.

Authorities transported her to an area hospital, where she is listed as being in stable condition.

Eastern District detectives are leading the investigation, Davis said. Those with information are urged to contact detectives at 410-396-2433. Anonymous tips can be sent via the Metro Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-866-7LOCKUP or via the MCS website.

Joseph Gillespie, 35, admitted to accepting payoffs as part of a plea agreement after federal prosecutors charged him in a separate wire fraud conspiracy case. U.S. Attorney Erek Barron said Gillespie and another defendant fraudulently obtained nearly $139,000 worth of COVID relief loans in 2021.

In addition to the $139,000, Gillespie also used his position as an employee of the city Department of Finance’s Bureau of Revenue Collections to collect more than $250,000 in payments between early 2016 and September 2023 in exchange for erasing property owners’ outstanding debts to the city, according to court documents.

Gerald Ruter, Gillespie’s attorney, said in an email that his client accepted responsibility for the bribery scheme, in addition to pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

“He will continue to work in his community and make amends for the mistakes he has made,” Ruter wrote. “He has expressed his remorse.”

If a U.S. District Court judge accepts the agreement, Gillespie will be sentenced to serve between two and five years in prison, according to court documents.

The city first hired Gillespie in June 2006 to work for the finance department in the Abel Wolman Municipal Building on Holliday Street, according to a statement of facts. Beginning in 2016, Gillespie began “routinely” taking payments from residents who owed money to the city for outstanding water bills, citations, taxes and other financial obligations and marking them as paid in exchange for receiving bribes.

The payments were typically 10% to 15% of whatever the resident owed, and in exchange, Gillespie “remov(ed) or extinguish(ed) these financial obligations….thereby causing losses to the city…in excess of $1,250,000,” prosecutors said. Gillespie also accepted payments, without officials’ permission or knowledge, in exchange for delaying or postponing bill due dates, which prevented the city from placing liens on properties and auctioning them at an annual tax sale.

Once he received a resident’s payment, Gillespie would then mark the person’s financial obligation as “paid” in the city’s records system and send the person a photograph reflecting that they had paid when they had not, according to prosecutors.

Undercover FBI agents recorded multiple video and phone conversations in which Gillespie spoke in detail about his bribery scheme, according to prosecutors. In one recording, Gillespie confirmed accepting a $100 payment per property saying, “yeah, that’s basically how I do.”

Gillespie had help from multiple other people to carry out his bribery scheme, according to the statement of facts. He told an undercover agent during a phone conversation he “had a girl” in “water” (the city’s Water and Wastewater Bureau) who could “wipe some shit out,” meaning she could extinguish someone’s financial obligation. One co-conspirator referred “multiple” people to Gillespie in exchange for receiving their own bribes, while another co-conspirator paid Gillespie $2,500 in exchange for Gillespie erasing almost $12,000 worth of funds owed by that person to the city.

In another covert video, an agent recorded Gillespie saying he had the power to “wipe a bill off” of a person’s record or “put paid next to ‘em,” even when that person had not fulfilled their obligation to the city. During the same conversation, the agent recorded Gillespie saying, “there was a couple, extra miscellaneous bills that y’all had that I wiped off …. That sh– gone now.” In exchange for delaying payment on eight properties, Gillespie asked for and received $800 in cash from the agent, according to the statement of facts.

Gillespie’s scheme ended in September 2023, the same month he was indicted, according to court documents.

In addition to the bribery scheme, Gillespie paid a co-conspirator to help him apply for loans starting in July 2020 from Cross River Bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration to cover “various purported businesses.” Prosecutors said Gillespie falsely claimed that his real estate business, JAG Investments, had five employees and generated $20,000 in gross revenue in 2019 to receive loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

In a March 2021 application, Gillespie claimed JAG had 19 employees and a monthly payroll of almost $56,000. He also doctored a tax form claiming he had paid his employees a total of $276,209.72 in 2019. In reality, JAG had no employees and did not report withholding income taxes or paying anyone that year, according to prosecutors. Gillespie also fabricated a February 2020 Wells Fargo bank statement to support the application for PPP funds, prosecutors said.

In exchange for submitting all of the documentation and applying for the loans on his behalf, Gillespie paid the co-conspirator a “kickback” that equaled about 27% of the loan amount, or $38,000, according to court documents.

The same day, Gillespie researched “ppp loan audit,” “ppp loan how to pay myself,” and “what can PPP loan be used for” on YouTube. Gillespie then hired a payroll services provider to “make it appear” as though the loans were being used for legitimate purposes, according to the statement of facts. The provider withdrew money from JAG’s bank account and made about $60,000 worth of payments via CashApp and Zelle to supposed JAG employees, including Gillespie, his brother, his friends and associates, and one of his fellow bribery co-conspirators.

None of the people who received payroll payments worked for JAG, according to federal prosecutors. Gillespie used the money to pay himself, resolve “various personal debts,” and to buy and renovate several properties in Baltimore, according to the statement of facts.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 9.

The decision came as the council voted on 389 zoning requests across seven county districts Tuesday, ending the yearlong process known as the Comprehensive Zoning Map Process. The CZMP occurs once every four years and lets residents, council members and officials request rezoning on any property in Baltimore County.

The council, at Councilman Wade Kach’s request, voted Tuesday to zone a property next to a light rail station in Lutherville for single-family housing, which caps the number of apartments that can be built at 16 units per acre and bars buildings higher than 60 feet. Kach, a Timonium Republican, had previously said he wanted residents and the developer, Mark Renbaum, to reach a compromise. Residents had fiercely protested the proposal.

“We are currently reviewing last night’s downzoning decision by Councilman Kach and the implications for the project,” Renbaum said Wednesday via spokesperson Rick Abbruzzese. “On its face, the downzoning appears to be an unreasonable limitation to a state transit-oriented development under House Bill 538. Lutherville Station is the first real test case for this important legislation.”

The project could still go forward if the state approves a state transit-oriented designation (TOD), and Renbaum has asked the county to help expedite the approval process for Lutherville Station.  The project must receive local council support to be considered as a TOD, which allows denser housing if it’s within 0.75 miles of a transportation hub, according to the state Department of Transportation. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., Council Chair Izzy Patoka, and Jake Day, the Maryland secretary for housing and community development, all said they support Lutherville Station becoming a TOD.

Kach acknowledged that Renbaum’s proposal could still move forward, albeit at a “scaled back” size.

“By rezoning (to single-family homes), the number of allowable multifamily units will be smaller than the alternative of leaving the zoning intact, despite continued reservations regarding school overcrowding and traffic should the project be approved,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “However, I remain willing and able to listen to any alternative proposal regarding this site that is capable of reaching a consensus, between the community and the developer, that could then be the subject of a Planned Unit Development.”

Baltimore County faces state pressure to approve more development as Maryland experiences a 96,000-unit housing shortage, a third of which is concentrated in the Baltimore area. Last spring, the General Assembly passed a state law that will allow denser housing projects to bypass local jurisdictions if they meet certain criteria, such as being located near public transportation. Baltimore County must also build 1,000 affordable housing units by 2027 to comply with a federal agreement to correct decades of housing discrimination.

The Lutherville Station project was the subject of intense opposition from area residents, who argued that it would overrun the neighborhood with traffic and noise that public facilities can’t accommodate the plans.

Lutherville resident Kathleen McGee called Kach’s decision to block Renbaum’s zoning request “fabulous.”

“I’m really glad it was downzoned,” she said Wednesday. “I’m very suspicious of Johnny [Olszewski] and this guy. I’m skeptical, because every time they get denied, it seems like they do something to give him more concessions.”

Olszewski said last fall that he supported Renbaum’s efforts to repurpose the property as part of a county planning strategy to redevelop aging properties, as does Patoka. The planning board voted to approve Renbaum’s rezoning request earlier this year.

Another Lutherville resident, Daniel Symonds, said he objected to Renbaum’s plans to include a parking lot, citing congestion on nearby York Road.

“That tells you right there that it’s a charade, a fantasy,” Symonds said. “The majority of people can’t use the light rail to get to work.”

Ashley Richardson, a Realtor in nearby Timonium, said she also applauded Kach’s decision, calling it a “positive for the community.”

Council members wield almost unfettered power over projects in their districts, however, a practice known as councilmanic courtesy. Critics say the policy leaves members susceptible to pressure from developers and allows projects to proceed even if they conflict with county planning practices. Last spring, the council shot down a series of proposals Olszewski put forth to encourage development, arguing that they should have final authority over land use.

The CZMP occurs once every four years and lets residents, councilmembers, and officials request rezoning on any property in Baltimore County. This year, the council considered 389 requests across seven districts, including a developer’s proposal to build almost 600 apartments next to a light rail station in Lutherville that residents have fiercely protested.

Councilmembers wield almost unfettered power to propose projects in their districts, a practice known as councilmanic courtesy. Critics say the policy leaves members susceptible to pressure from developers and allows projects to proceed even if they conflict with county planning practices. Last spring, the council shot down a series of proposals County Executive Johnny Olszewski put forth to encourage development, arguing that they should have final authority over land use.

Baltimore County faces state pressure to approve more development as Maryland faces a 96,000-unit housing shortage, a third of which are concentrated in the Baltimore area. Last spring, the General Assembly passed a state law that will allow denser housing projects to bypass local jurisdictions if they meet certain criteria, like being located near public transportation. Baltimore County must also build 1,000 affordable housing units by 2027 to comply with a federal agreement to correct decades of housing discrimination.

One project, Lutherville Station, has become the subject of intense opposition from nearby residents. Developer Mark Renbaum asked to rezone 13 acres on a Ridgely Road property next to the Lutherville light rail station, where he wants to build 560 apartments and a five-story office building. Critics oppose the project because they say it would strain local facilities with an influx of traffic and residents. The planning board voted to approve Renbaum’s rezoning request earlier this year. Olszewski also supports the project as does Council Chair Izzy Patoka.

“We need to look towards the future in Baltimore County,” Patoka said after Tuesday’s hearing.

Councilman Wade Kach, a Timonium Republican, scrapped Renbaum’s request and rezoned it for single-family housing, which caps building heights at 60 feet. Earlier this month, he said Renbaum was not “acting in good faith” after the developer asked Baltimore County to help expedite the project for state approval.

Renbaum declined to comment Tuesday.

Lutherville Station could still move forward if the state Department of Transportation designates it a transit-oriented development, which would allow it to pass through under the state law that takes effect in January.

Jake Day, the state Secretary for Housing and Community Development, sent a letter of support Tuesday to Olszewski.

“I would be hard-pressed to invent a TOD from whole cloth that checks as many boxes for economic development, employment, and
community benefit as this project does,” Day wrote.

Councilman Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, voted against a request that would have let Santo and Debra Mirabile relocate their construction office to a former fire hall in the northern Baltimore County community of Boring. Dozens of Boring residents spoke out against the Mirabiles’ request at a June hearing, arguing it would burden the rural agrarian neighborhood with industrial traffic, noise and pollution.

Santo Mirabile said he and his wife were “understandably disappointed” with Jones’ decision, and “will now start thinking about our next steps forward.”

“We are saved,” said Samuel Blum, whose family owns a property next to the fire hall, via text message. “This is a HUGE relief.”

The CZMP, which began in August 2023, allows residents, business owners, developers and lobbyists to request to rezone a property anywhere in Baltimore County. Planning staff made recommendations, and public hearings were held for each council district in June. But council members have the final say on the rezoning requests, which can remove obstacles to development for their districts.

County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and the county council have had a long-simmering debate over who should have final authority over land use in the county, which faces a declining population and is running up against a federal deadline to produce 1,000 affordable housing units by 2027.

In February, Olszewski withdrew a bill he’d introduced that would have allowed approval of certain projects to bypass the county council.

Council members are barred from taking campaign donations during the process. Anyone can submit a request to rezone a property via an online portal, which is then reviewed by county staff. Council members submitted their own rezoning requests in November.

While most rezoning requests are routine, a few invoke passionate protests. In 2020, business owners Santo and Debra Mirabile wanted to rezone a former fire station in the northern Baltimore County community of Boring to allow them to relocate their construction company there. Neighbors said allowing the business to relocate to the property on Old Hanover Road would subject the idyllic rural community to increased industrial traffic and noise. Councilman Wade Kach, a Timonium Republican, encouraged the two sides to reach a consensus, and approved the Mirabiles’ request to rezone four acres and allow a local business there.

The Mirabiles have asked to rezone 9.8 acres for light manufacturing in this CZMP cycle. Planning staff recommended that half the property be preserved for local agriculture, and the other half be preserved for its current zoning, according to the log of requests. In April, the planning board approved the Mirabiles’ request, and recommended that they “negotiate an owners/neighbors private covenant, to be recorded in land records.”

The request is now in the hands of Councilman Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, after the council redrew district boundaries in 2022. Jones declined to comment, saying he had yet to make up his mind.

“I’ve gotten more lobbying and community participation on this issue than any, by far,” he said.

Over two dozen people spoke out against the rezoning at a public hearing in June, wearing stickers and blue t-shirts that said “Keep Boring boring,” and “No ML,” referring to the requested rezoning demarcation.

Santo and Debra Mirabile said that they intended to host a quiet office on the property, and were willing to negotiate with the immediate surrounding community of single-family homes and farmland.

“There’s a sense that this was a community building, and we’re taking it away,” Debra Mirabile said. “Our feeling is that a small construction building fits in with the existing landscape. We have no tractor trailers. We believe (our business) will be quieter than what people are afraid of.”

State Sen. Charles Sydnor, an attorney and plaintiff in a previous voters’ right lawsuit against the county, said he could sue again if the council didn’t amend its “unconstitutional” legislation. The bill sponsor, Baltimore County Chair Izzy Patoka, said his legislation was being misconstrued for a “political stunt,” and would leave it to voters to ultimately decide.

The seven-member Baltimore County Council voted July 1 to put a measure on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters to approve expanding the council to 9 members starting in 2026. Advocates have argued for decades that adding members would create opportunities for people of color, women, and other minorities to run for public office. The county population has grown threefold since 1956, when it adopted its charter, and is nearly 50% people of color. The council is made up of six white men and one Black man.

A host of state Democratic lawmakers, including House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, threw their weight behind a competing effort to expand the council by four seats, which failed to gather enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot. County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., who is running for Congress and currently attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, initially said he supported any expansion effort. He endorsed the four-seat expansion effort led by the Vote4More coalition in late July, a week before its signature collection deadline.

In a letter sent Monday to Patoka and Baltimore County Attorney James Benjamin, ACLU of Maryland legal director Deborah Jeon said Patoka’s bill was illegal because the proposed maps were “racially dilutive and unlawful” and could weaken Black residents’ voting power, a potential violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.

The group previously sued the county in 2021 after the council redrew district boundaries, which advocates said did not create enough opportunities for Black residents, who make up a third of the county population, to elect candidates of their choosing. A federal judge threw out that map but approved the county council’s second attempt over the plaintiffs’ objections.

“The redistricting plan and map appended to (the bill) as exhibits were not adopted through the county’s ordinary redistricting process, which is undertaken through involvement of an appointed redistricting commission and includes extensive opportunity for public review, comment, and analysis,” Jeon wrote to Benjamin and Patoka. “As such, if the ballot measure passes in its current form, the county will almost certainly expose itself to renewed voting rights litigation to invalidate this racially discriminatory plan.”

In an interview, Jeon said the group’s main issue was that the maps did not undergo a public process before the council voted to adopt and send the ballot measure to voters. “Here, they just slipped it in without any sort of vetting public process,” she said. “All they need to do is eliminate the map and let the ballot measure move forward without linking to that map.”

The American Civil Liberties Union’s state affiliate is asking for the council to pass amending legislation that would strike the maps before Sept. 5, the day ballots are finalized. It is also asking the council to strike a provision of the ballot measure that allows the two additional members to appoint members of the county Board of Education by siphoning two members away from the governor, who has the power to appoint members from a list of nominees. That was the reason state lawmakers, including Sydnor and Jones, said they opposed the legislation.

Patoka said the council did not have enough time to draft, vote on, and adopt amending legislation by the Sept. 5 deadline. He said the maps were temporary, and that the council would convene a redistricting committee or “similar entity” to make changes via a public process if the measure passes.

“The concept that the maps can’t be changed is flawed. They can change and they will change,” he said in an interview.

He also took umbrage with lawmakers saying the legislation usurped their authority to nominate county election board members. Patoka argued the bill merely “notified” the General Assembly that the council could add two more members, and state lawmakers could adopt legislation to modify their nomination power.

“How that got construed to, ‘we’re telling the state what to do,'” Patoka said, “Is more of a political stunt than actual reality.”

Sandra Branson Bentley, an attorney for the General Assembly, said in an advisory letter to Sydnor that the legislation must be read as non-binding because the council does not have authority over the General Assembly: “Should the voters approve the amendment, the General Assembly has authority to determine how — and if — the state provisions will be amended.”

Sydnor said he could only take the council “at their word,” and read the legislation as a demand, rather than a suggestion.

“If the county doesn’t see fit to address the unconstitutional provisions in their legislation,” he said, “One remedy is to file a lawsuit. I’ve been a plaintiff against the county before.”