Open-space debate continues in Baltimore Co.

Latest proposal to increase developer fees is withdrawn

Attempts to increase the fees that Baltimore County developers pay for openspace projects have stalled again.

County Councilman David Marks introduced and then withdrew a resolution that would have increased some of those fees. His district includes Towson, where residents have been pushing for greater fees to pay for parks and fields they say are needed.

Marks introduced the resolution this month but withdrew it before a scheduled public hearing last week.

Like most local governments, Baltimore County requires developers to include a certain amount of open or green space within their projects. If the developer can’t fit the space, they can apply for a waiver and pay a fee instead. The fees are used for open-space projects.

Baltimore County’s fees vary by zoning district, and there are some exceptions in place — including some in the Towson area that mean some projects in Towson’s core will pay little in open-space waiver fees.

Marks’ resolution would have required that projects in town centers such as downtown Towson to pay $2,000 per residential unit for open-space fees. The resolution included provisions so that projects already in the pipeline — such as Towson Row — would have paid a portion of that new fee structure.

But Marks said last week he realized a more comprehensive approach addressing fees in all county zoning districts is a better strategy, after homebuilders and preservationists opposed his resolution. “It is a complex issue,” Marks said. In a report this year, the county’s Department of Planning called for the fees to remain as they are. The Planning Board then forwarded the report to the County Council with a different position, suggesting that increasing fees be considered.

As Marks works with other council members on a new plan for open-space fees, he said, he’s negotiating with developers in hopes of getting them to volunteer to pay for some community projects.

Councilman Tom Quirk, a Catonsville Democrat, said he also wants to revisit the open-space waiver fees and the exceptions in certain areas.

Before raising the fees, Quirk said, the county first needs a plan for what kind of open spaces are needed. He’s crafting a bill asking county government for such a plan.