Columbia residents express concerns about infill proposal

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - A proposal aimed at curbing new development being squeezed into established neighborhoods could harm Columbia communities, residents say.

“Don’t transfer the problem,” said Oakland Mills resident Bill McCormack, who took issue with a resolution introduced by County Council Chairwoman Courtney Watson, D-District 1.

Watson wants to preserve certain small residential lots and direct development to more dense areas.

Landowners would sell the right to build to a developer, who then could use that right to build on a more dense project.

One of the areas she proposed allowing for the transfer of that development is Columbia.

McCormack, chairman of the Oakland Mills Village Board’s housing committee, said he could sympathize with the intent of the bill to tackle so-called “infill” development, but adding Columbia as a district for more development was “unnecessary.”

“We’d like to keep the zoning density as it is so that each proposal would come before the community and the community would have ... say into it,” he said.

The county has started a review of the zoning in Columbia, which should be completed before considering the additional density, McCormack said.

Wilde Lake Village Board Chairman Vince Marando echoed the concerns, saying the proposal could add up to 10 percent more housing to the village when it undergoes redevelopment. The board is expected to take a position on the legislation this week.

Former longtime Columbia Association Board Member Barbara Russell said, “It would take a problem from [one] area and move it another area.”

Councilman Calvin Ball, D-District 2, whose district includes the villages of Long Reach and Oakland Mills, said he was concerned about how the resolution would affect the infrastructure and amenities in Columbia neighborhoods.

“I am not convinced that it would be good for our communities,” he said.

However, since the proposal was introduced as a resolution, it simply means that as the Columbia zoning regulations are rewritten, the county will consider adding Columbia as one of the areas to receive more density, Watson said.

Further, the measure would affect only a small number of houses, she added.

“This is a very, very small scale. It’s literally one house here and another house here,” she said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com

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