Baltimore zoning appeals: daycare approved for 20 children; church fence variance granted; several conversions deferred or denied

Baltimore City Board of Municipal Zoning Appeals members met to hear a long docket of zoning appeals and administrative items, approving a conditional-use day care for up to 20 children with conditions, granting a front/corner fence variance at the former St. Rose site to address public-safety concerns, denying a front-yard RV parking pad request, and refusing a second-story rear addition that would expand an existing nonconforming structure.

Why it matters: The board’s votes affect whether small property changes can proceed without additional legislation, and they reflect how the board weighs neighborhood safety and the city’s zoning code (including rules on nonconforming structures) against property owners’ plans to renovate or enlarge buildings.

The meeting opened with routine administrative staff items. The board agreed to a 12-month extension for a timely-filed first extension request for a multifamily project; the board also agreed to ask for more information and re‑notice one extension request for a restaurant conditional-use that was filed after the one‑year deadline.

Among the cases decided: - 2025-0012215 Penrose Avenue (Fruits of the Spirit / Monica McMickens): The board granted conditional‑use approval for a child day care but limited enrollment to 20 children (applicant sought up to 30). The approval requires the applicant to work with the Baltimore City Parking Authority to establish an identified pickup/drop‑off location and to provide proof of that arrangement before full operation. The board also granted the requested off‑street parking variance given the lot’s constraints.

- 2024-316/3803 Fourth Street (Saint Rose property): The Archdiocese representative and neighborhood groups urged the board to allow a 6‑foot perimeter fence on the front and corner side yards of the former St. Rose property, citing drug activity, prostitution and repeated trespass on the site. The board found the property’s form and documented neighborhood safety issues met the variance standard and approved the 6‑foot fence for the specified yard lines.

- 2024-317/2524 Oakley Avenue (front-yard RV storage): The board denied a request to keep an RV parked on a gravel pad in the front yard. Members cited two absolute code prohibitions: new paved or gravel parking pads are not allowed in required front or corner side yards (Baltimore City Code §16.404(c)(1)), and recreational vehicles must be stored either inside an enclosed structure or on a paved surface in the rear yard at least 3 feet from lot lines (§16.8.2(1)). The board advised the owner to pursue a compliant rear-yard, paved solution or an enclosed structure and to work with the housing inspector on a timeline to resolve the current citation.

- 130 South Durham Street (second‑story rear addition): The board denied the appeal for a second‑story/rear addition because the property already has nonconforming lot‑coverage and rear‑yard dimensions and the requested work would increase that nonconformity. Members cited Baltimore City Code §18‑403 (prohibiting expansions that increase nonconformity) and found the application could not be approved under current code. The board noted that routine interior repairs to the existing, legally nonconforming footprint remain allowable, but new work that expands nonconformity does not meet the code standard.

Other matters: Several other applications were postponed for additional evidence. In particular, the appeals for 1448 North Mount Street (request to add third‑floor dwelling units and a laundromat) and 1420 East Oliver Street (new construction proposed with a neighborhood commercial use) were continued so applicants could submit interior photos, clearer plans, or pursue the city‑council route for residential conversions when required by the zoning code.

Quotes from the record: "If you have it, great. If you don't, we can grant you a postponement in order to get the things that we say we need to make a determination," the board’s chair told the owner of 1448 North Mount Street after the applicant said interior photos were on his phone but not in the record.

"We need a 6‑foot fence because the 3‑foot fence can be traversed and hop over and continue on with what they were doing," said Jan Leland of Action Baybrook while urging the board to approve the Saint Rose fence for safety reasons.

What’s next: The board’s written resolutions will clarify conditions (for instance, the daycare’s requirement to present a parking‑authority pickup/drop‑off plan). Several applicants were directed to supply photographs, structural details, or to pursue legislative relief from the City Council when the code requires a residential conversion that the board cannot authorize.

Votes at a glance (selected outcomes below): see the Actions array for the full structured list of motions and outcomes.