Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Planning Board defers vote on residential CMDP update after debate over proposed 30% overflow parking
Summary
After staff presented updates to the Comprehensive Manual of Development Policies (residential section), including a proposed increase in recommended overflow/visitor parking from 15% to 30%, developers and attorneys urged delay; the board voted to defer the residential section vote for 60 days to allow stakeholder review.
The Baltimore County Planning Board on Nov. 20 voted to defer a final decision for 60 days on the residential section of the Comprehensive Manual of Development Policies (CMDP) after a contested public hearing and board discussion focused on a proposed increase in the manual’s recommended overflow/visitor parking requirement.
Jennifer Nugent of the Department of Planning presented the residential update and described the effort as a modernization of format, graphic material and cross-references to the Baltimore County Zoning Regulations (BCZR). Nugent said staff had checked the manual’s residential standards against the BCZR and that most technical dimensional standards were unchanged. The presentation noted one substantive staff recommendation: increasing the CMDP-referenced percentage for residential overflow and visitor parking from 15% to 30% to respond to patterns staff and residents observed in recent developments. Nugent said the 30% figure was based on professional experience and feedback and that staff were "not married to it."
Two speakers representing the development community urged the board to postpone the vote. Patsy Malone, an attorney at Venable, said engineers and developers were not given adequate time or access to a marked-up draft and called the proposed parking increase "the most serious" substantive change that could significantly affect pending and future projects. She told the board she had spent hours reviewing the draft with an engineer and asked that the vote not occur that night to allow more professional review.
Chris Mudd, also of Venable, echoed Malone and suggested staff distribute the draft to industry groups such as the Baltimore County Engineering Association (BCEA) and the Maryland Building Industry Association (MBIA) and set a deadline for comments; he warned a blanket increase from 15% to 30% could remove units from projects and reduce housing supply in a tight market.
Board members discussed options including retaining 15%, adopting 30%, or deferring to allow broader stakeholder input. Several board members said the CMDP modernization was intended not to change regulation, though staff acknowledged the parking percentage constituted a policy recommendation in the draft. After a motion to defer the final vote for 60 days, the board conducted a roll-call and the motion carried.
The deferral applies only to the residential section presented that evening; staff said the glossary and other non-regulatory material remain a separate task. The board instructed staff to use the deferral period to solicit additional feedback and return with any recommended changes. The next board meeting is scheduled for January 2026, and the deferral gives stakeholders time to submit comments before that review period.
"At a minimum, I would ask that the vote not occur tonight," Patsy Malone told the board. "The development community needs more time with the manual to assess the manual."
