Baltimore County DRP disapproves 7801 Ruxwood Road design; asks for stronger landscaping and smaller footprint

The Baltimore County Design Review Panel on March 12, 2025 voted to disapprove a design submission for a new single-family house at 7801 Ruxwood Road and asked the applicant to resubmit with a detailed landscape plan addressing screening and foundation plantings and with changes that respond to concerns about the home’s size and proximity to the road.

The panel’s decision followed public comment from immediate neighbors and a written submission from the neighborhood association raising concerns about stormwater runoff, the scale of the proposed house on a legally undersized lot, and removal of mature trees. The project covers two legal lots of record that the applicant has not yet combined; planning staff and the applicant acknowledged the proposal will require variances from Baltimore County for front, side and rear setbacks.

Why it matters: neighbors said the proposed structure would substantially increase impervious coverage and change the private lane’s streetscape. The DRP’s review is advisory to county agencies that will permit or require changes during the formal site-plan and zoning variance process.

Project and neighborhood concerns

Kathy Purple Cherry of Purple Cherry Architects presented the proposal on behalf of the property owner, describing a rotated…