Baltimore committee advances ordinance to regulate new "small box" discount stores

Baltimore City—ouncil committee members voted unanimously to recommend council bill 25-0040, which would add a new "small box establishment" use to the zoning code and require conditional-use review before new discount-merchant stores can open in C zoning districts. The Land Use & Transportation Committee approved the bill with a package of technical amendments Friday.

The measure was presented by Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton (Sixth District) and co-sponsor Councilwoman Odette Ramos (Fourteenth District). Middleton told the committee the bill responds to a rise of closely clustered discount stores and said sponsors and agencies worked through several drafts with the law department and legislative drafters. Ramos said the bill "is making it a conditional use in all C zoning districts, C1 through C5," so new small-box stores must appear before the zoning board and the community.

Supporters and sponsors said the ordinance is intended to prevent saturation of discount retailers that they and community members say can limit shopping choice, displace independent grocers and specialty shops, and worsen food access in some neighborhoods. Ramos and Middleton emphasized that grocery stores, pharmacies, fuel stations and thrift stores are not the target of the law, and that the law department revised the bill to avoid singling out specific chains. "The law…