SIGN THE PETITIONS TO TAKE THE DISTRICT 2 & 6 MAPS TO REFERENDUM
Join voters across Baltimore County to restore integrity and accountability to our zoning process.
The Rezoning Process in Baltimore County is Broken and Needs to Be Fixed
The Baltimore County Council voted in August to approve new comprehensive zoning maps for the County after what many consider to be the most contentious rezoning process ever in the history of Baltimore County. Many worry that the final maps ignore the Master Plan and were completed without the appropriate amount of study to determine the true economic, environmental and traffic impact of rezoning decisions.
Public Interests Should Set the Vision for Zoning Decisions, Not Developers.
In a June 12 Baltimore Sun editorial about this rezoning process, 1000 Friends of Maryland, a statewide Smart Growth policy organization said that “too many of the changes that are moving forward are back by private interests seeking their own vision for the area.” They went on to ask: “Does planning matter? It depends on whether public or private interests should set the vision for Baltimore County.”
By signing these petitions to put the two worst zoning maps (Districts 2 & 6) on the 2014 ballot, voters will have an opportunity to get educated and to have a say in what happens in our back yards. And the zoning process in Baltimore County will never be the same. The outcome will not only be better zoning decisions, but a public mandate for more meaningful public input and less prioritization for the concerns of special interests and developers, many of whom are regular contributors to Council campaign accounts.