BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The drab strip malls and aging shops with peeling paint along Route 140 — Carroll’s main drag — have long been eyesores.

The area desperately needs a makeover, said Dave O’Callaghan, president of the Finksburg Planning and Citizens’ Council, which represents residents of the unincorporated area.

“Who wouldn’t get behind sprucing up the gateway to Carroll County?” O’Callaghan asked. “The Finksburg planning council is 100 percent behind fixing up the gateway.”

Commissioners voted 2-0 Tuesday to offer up to a 75 percent property tax credit to businesses that improve their appearance. Commissioner Julia Gouge was not present.

Renovations qualifying businesses for the credit could be made to windows, veneers, painting, roofs, landscaping, lighting, sidewalks or plazas.

“We’re trying to make that corridor look better and be a

better front door for us, rather than continue the haphazard development that occurred many years ago,” said Larry Twele, the county’s economic development director.

At Finksburg residents’ request, county officials revised the legislation to offer a greater credit to existing businesses instead of new businesses.

Existing businesses between the Baltimore County line and Sandymount Road along Route 140 can receive the 75 percent property tax cut for five years if improvement costs equal more than 25 percent of a property’s value.

New businesses can earn up to a 50 percent credit for up to five years if improvement costs equal more than half of the property value.

It would be easier to reach a greater percentage of improvement by building a new business on a vacant piece of land instead of improving an existing building, the Finksburg Planning and Citizens’ Council had argued in persuading county officials to target existing buildings.

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com