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Baltimore County Planning Board sets Feb. 20 public hearing on Jacksonville Community Plan update
Summary
The Planning Board voted to set a public hearing for Feb. 20 on an updated Jacksonville Community Plan. Department of Planning staff and the Greater Jacksonville Association presented proposed boundary and policy updates and discussed constraints on medium-density housing in the village core.
The Baltimore County Planning Board on Feb. 6 voted to schedule a public hearing on an updated Jacksonville Community Plan for Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, at 5 p.m.
The plan update was presented by Abigail Rogers, Council 1 district community planner with the Baltimore County Department of Planning, who said the update was initiated by County Council Resolution 35-23 and led by the Greater Jacksonville Association. "This was their effort, and I'd like to give credit where it's due," Rogers said, noting the county provided coordination and technical support.
The Jacksonville update revises a plan whose last comprehensive information dated from the 1990s, Rogers said. The draft adds one property into the village's commercial (village core) boundary because the parcel was rezoned during the 2024 County Comprehensive Zoning Map Process (CZMP). Rogers said the GJA and county staff agreed the rezoned parcel should be included in the village core boundary, and the Board will take public testimony at the Feb. 20 hearing.
David Palmer, president of the Greater Jacksonville Association, told the Board residents had opposed apartment-scale development in the area and raised water-supply constraints and large-lot rural zoning (RC-5) as limiting factors. "There is no apartment buildings per se," Palmer said, describing the area as largely farmland with a small, confined commercial core. He also described a voluntary certification the association is proposing: when an owner or developer applies for a permit in Jacksonville, they would certify they have read the community plan and the county would provide a copy of that permit application to the association for local review. Palmer emphasized the certification would not have the force of law but said the association hoped it would improve local awareness of plan goals.
Board members asked about housing types and transitions between rural lots and the village core. A Board member suggested the plan could encourage medium-density residential or infill inside the commercial core rather than outward development; county staff and the association said existing zoning, water availability and long-standing local opposition limit where multi-family housing can be added. Rogers said one RC-5 property that changed to BLCR in the CZMP was added into the village core boundary as a result.
The Board chair, Scott Haloupka, then moved that the Planning Board set a public hearing for Feb. 20, 2025, at 5 p.m.; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.
The Board previously received the draft minutes from its Jan. 16 meeting and approved them without correction at the Feb. 6 session.
The public hearing on Feb. 20 will be the formal opportunity for residents, the association and developers to comment on the draft plan and any proposed village boundary or policy changes. County staff said the Department of Planning will present a more detailed staff report at that hearing.
No public speakers signed up to comment on the Jacksonville item during the Feb. 6 meeting; the Board directed staff and the Greater Jacksonville Association to be available for the upcoming Feb. 20 hearing.
