Redevelopment authority schedules April 30 planning briefing; county names priority areas for acquisition

Baltimore County planning staff will brief the Redevelopment Authority at its April 30 meeting on catchment-area planning, priority sites and related demographic data, county staff said.

Tucker, a county staff member coordinating briefings, told the authority that Director Lafferty of the Department of Planning will present an overview of the county master plan and how it applies to the authority’s catchment area. “I had spoken to director Lafferty about presenting to the authority at the next meeting on April 30, to share the Department of Planning’s perspective on, really, the catchment area at large,” Tucker said.

County staff identified two broad areas where acquisition work is concentrated: Security Square and Woodlawn Village. Sameer, a county official, said those are the two primary focus areas in the catchment area and cautioned that some negotiations are proprietary and cannot be discussed publicly while active. “From a strict acquisition perspective … the majority of our acquisition discussions as a county are focused in two areas. One is Security Square, and secondly is Woodlawn Village,” Sameer said.

Staff also noted that the county has completed at least one property acquisition in the corridor — the county acquired the former Macy’s building earlier this year — and that specific negotiations are often confidential until contracts are final. County staff offered to provide non-proprietary materials and suggested follow-up briefings with economic and workforce-development staff and with the planning department to avoid duplicating work already done by consultants who have prepared visioning or implementation work for the county.

Board members asked the planning department to bring data and the underlying evidence that led to the designation of development nodes so the authority can prioritize sites and avoid overlap with county projects. The chair asked committees to collate specific questions for the planning presentation and send them to county staff by email.

Ending: The authority did not vote on acquisitions at this meeting. County staff said they will provide available non-confidential planning materials before April 30 and will coordinate later briefings with housing and economic development staff as requested.