BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Howard’s strict housing limits are hindering revitalization along the Route 1 corridor, county officials said.

To boost development from Elkridge to Laurel, the County Council is considering a measure that would allow developers to take housing allocations from future years to use for current projects.

“The intent is ... to give an opportunity for the residential components of projects to move ahead,” said Steve Lafferty, deputy director of the County Department of Planning and Zoning.

County law allows for 1,850 housing units to be built each year; 250 of those are along the Route 1 corridor.

The bill, introduced this week, would free up 125 additional units from future years, at least until the county’s growth guidelines, know as the General Plan, are revisited in 2010.

A few larger residential developments are awaiting housing allocations to proceed, Lafferty said.

For example, Petrie-Ross Ventures plans to build about 400 residential units, retail and office space, a hotel and a parking garage on a 13-acre site at the Savage MARC station.

But the change would not increase the number of houses built, and developers would still have to follow other adequate facilities limits, such as roads and school capacity, Lafferty said.

Patuxent Square, which opened last month, is the first project developed under the county’s 2004 revitalization plan for the corridor. The mixed-use project, built by Orchard Development, includes 80 apartments with retail space on the first floor.

Although obtaining housing allocation wasn’t a problem for Patuxent Square, any change would boost Route 1 revitalization, said Scott Armiger, vice president of Orchard Development. “If people are going to look to redevelop the corridor, the county needs to relieve some more allocations and streamline the process a bit,” he said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com