Developer seeks TOD designation for Lutherville Station to unlock denser mixed-use redevelopment

Jennifer Nugent, who leads the Department of Planning Development Review Division, convened an interagency preconcept meeting to review a TOD designation application from Lutherville Station LLC and to explain next steps in public outreach and county review.

The applicant proposes a mixed-use redevelopment adjacent to the Lutherville light rail stop that would include about 325 residential units and roughly 120,000 square feet of commercial space, with plazas and civic space. Nugent said the packet lists a baseline density cap equivalent to 265 density units; the applicant asserts that including a committed 15% affordable-housing component would trigger a 30% residential-density increase under the Maryland Annotated Code (land use) section 7-503 and House Bill 538 (2024).

“Baltimore County used to be and should be the most dominant county in the state of Maryland,” the applicant’s presenter said, adding that the site – underused for decades – needs reinvestment and that the TOD designation helps access financing. The presenter argued delays have cost county revenue, saying the project’s postponement represents a multi‑million‑dollar annual loss in projected revenues to public coffers.

David Karseski, the applicant’s attorney, clarified a proposal detail that prompted agency questions: “The road is not… it’s not going to be closed off to vehicular traffic,” he said, explaining that the application uses the word “repurpose” to describe pedestrian improvements on a private cut-through but that vehicular access would remain around the rear of the site.

County staff and agency representatives welcomed the project’s housing component but pressed for technical follow-up. Gary Hickey, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, said housing and repurposing existing developed sites are priorities and called the TOD concept appropriate for a site adjacent to transit. Environmental reviewers noted the property currently lacks stormwater management and described recent restoration work on Rolling Run immediately west of the site; they said on-site stormwater facilities must be designed during the development review stage and Forest Conservation requirements will need to be addressed.

Transportation staff confirmed the formal traffic study will be required prior to the development plan hearing and urged enhanced pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, drawing attention to the East Coast Greenway alignment near the site. Nugent said the county will help notify community groups and expects the applicant to schedule publicly noticed community input meetings and to document feedback before the county forwards a recommendation to the executive administration and the state for formal TOD designation.

The meeting underscored that TOD designation and the county development-plan review are separate processes: staff emphasized that obtaining state TOD designation would not substitute for the county’s development-plan hearings or permit requirements. The applicant was directed to carry out the public informational meetings and return with documented community input as the next step.

The preconcept session ended with county and applicant staff agreeing on technical follow-up items — traffic, stormwater, Forest Conservation and pedestrian/bicycle enhancements — and scheduling community outreach; no formal action or vote was taken at the meeting.