Al Ritter
A battle has been brewing in Baltimore County,
Maryland for the last 4 years. It has revolved around a commercial building in
Lutherville that now stands abandoned. Once owned by KLNB the purchase happened
by multiple LLC’s in 2020 for $9 million.
The front group is called Lutherville Station LLC by
there are other LLC’s operating in the background. It is called Lutherville
Station because the Light Rail system that runs from the city to Hunt Valley
borders its western edge and its stop is called Lutherville Station.
The building used to house companies like Circuit
City, Caldors, Big Lots and others over time.
Lutherville Station LLC bought the property with the
intention of leveling the 12 acres and placing 450 apartments, 100,000 sq. ft.
of office space, and 75,000 sq. ft. of retail space.
Now 4.5 miles separates this project and Hunt Valley. Hunt Valley has expanded exponentially in the last 3 years adding living spaces, a retirement facility, and increased retail areas.
Historic Lutherville has been fighting this project since its inception, citing that the roads and infrastructure can’t handle the expansion. The intersection of York Road and Ridgely has been the constant victim of failing sewer and water feed lines for decades and this expansion would only place undue stress on that struggling area.
The formal Historic Lutherville borders to the south
of this project. The quaint little town has narrow roads and houses that date back
over 100 years, and the residents think this expansion would most certainly
ruin the neighborhood.
The Baltimore County Council has been debating this
issue for years but recently came to a consensus. There are 7 members 5 are
Democrats and 2 are Republicans. They unanimously agreed to follow the wishes
of their constituents and change the zoning to only allow 16 apartments and cap
building height to 60 feet, which would virtually eliminate most of the
project.
One would think that would be the end of the
discussion, but it’s not. The Maryland Legislature proposed a bill to require
local jurisdictions to increase development density in areas around mass
transit.
One the opposite side of the coin the Light Rail
System has never lived up to expectations in ridership. The initial charter
said that rider’s fares had to support half is operating expenses, but that
goal has never been met, and yet the operation continues.
None of the Maryland Legislature lives in this
immediate area, nor does Johnny Olzewski, the Baltimore County Executive who of
course is with Gov. Wes Moore and in favor of the project.
It all seems to boil down to one thing in Maryland.
The citizen’s voices and concerns are never heard, and elected officials are
NOT representing us, they merely rule over us.
The greed in additional available tax base is obvious
to the Historic Lutherville group as well as me!
Read the following from Lutherville Station project:
https://jp2architects.com/projects/lutherville-station/
https://www.luthervillestation.com/about-the-project
Concern by neighbors:
3 comments:
This isn't a left or right issue as the county council voted together. This has to do with doing what your constituents want, and to the council's credit they did just that, but now the state wants to stick it's nose into the whole situation and bring section 8 housing into this area. Maybe there wouldn't be a housing shortage in this area if so many illegals weren't bussed here
It's just not Baltimore County, the corruption runs deep in Maryland, PG county, Montgomery county, Baltimore City to name but a few. This whole state is filled with corruption! You can tell by how many Democrats go to jail here!
Corruption in Maryland is nothing new, started out with Nancy Pelosi's father Thomas DeLesandro
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