Community Issues - Special Laws

Bill 73-21, Residential Use in BL


Sponsor: Patoka
Benefits: Garrison Properties, LLC and neighboring Garrison School

This Bill allows a "2 over 2" condo for residential use in BL by Special Exception if the tract is:

  • inside the URDL
  • primarily zoned BL as of Jan 1, 2021
  • has a portion of its boundaries adjacent to a private, independent educational facility
  • abutting DR16
  • is part of a planned shopping center approved prior to Jan 1, 2021.

(You can't get more specific or "special" than that!)

This is the property behind 9915 Reisterstown Rd, owned by Garrison Properties, LLC. which is mostly BL and is adjacent to DR16 and the Fort Garrison School. (Not sure if the recent development plan process was to approve a shopping center.)

According to testimony from Izzy Patoka, "Bill 73-21 is supposed to help Garrison Forest School get out of a problem created by Vicki Almond’s up-zoning of land next to the school." (in CZMP 2016, issue 2-009). Later, he said it was to stop a Wawa from being built, which was the whole purpose of the 2016 change in zoning to BL AS (to allow the Wawa). Apparently, the Garrison School wasn't satisfied with the result of the 2016 issue that allowed commercial. Almond did up-zone much of it, but to less than what Garrison Properties requested. She did not grant the requested higher BM zoning which the Planning Board had recommended which would have allowed, by Special Exception, "living quarters in a commercial building". Details (which shows the proposed WaWa in the front and a large residential building in the back.

It's unknown what "2 over 2" means as this Bill allows 8 units on ground floor and a maximum building height of 57 ft! The drawing used in the 2016 CZMP appeared to picture a 300'x75' building as the plan.

The final "kicker" was and is the extra exemptions to further "grease the skids" by:

  • exempting it from set-back and building-to-building requirements
  • stating that any development would be done as a b(2) limited exemption (normally decided by the DRC
  • exempting it from open space requirements (BCC 32-6-108)
  • exempting it from impact fees (BCC 32-6-111)
In the final, the open space fee was restored.

Introduced July 6, 2021; passed Aug 2; effective Aug 16



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Updated 3 Nov 2021 by MAP