The Baltimore County Council is likely to revamp today a rarely used development process that was meant to encourage creative, high-quality development.
One of the most complicated pieces of legislation the council has attempted in years, the measure would also overhaul the way construction of assisted-living facilities is approved in the county.
Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, the Pikesville-Ruxton Democrat who wrote the bill, said he has seen a great need for more housing for the elderly in the county. He believes that greater use of the "planned unit development" process - an alternative development approval process that allows the builder greater flexibility - could encourage better development while allowing communities more opportunity to influence what gets built.
"The PUD process has been in existence for 20 years, and in 20 years we have only had essentially 20 applicants make use of it," Kamenetz said. "So that says to me that it's not working as effectively as it could."
All six other councilmen have signed on as co-sponsors or indicated their intention to support the measure.
Under the proposed process, a developer would bring a concept plan to the County Council to be considered as a PUD. If the council supports consideration, the proposal would move to the Planning Board for community input and refinement.
The Planning Board would have the authority to approve, deny or set conditions on the plan. Any approval would be subject to final review by the council. Opponents to an approval from the Planning Board would also be able to appeal to the county's zoning commissioner.
Kamenetz said one of the chief benefits of the bill would be moving most of the approval process away from zoning commissioner hearings, which are formal and litigious, to Planning Board meetings, where he said a more community-sensitive give-and-take could occur.
Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver, a Randallstown Democrat and former chairman of the 15-member Planning Board, said the board is ideally suited for such a role.
"This gives them the authority to do what I think they should have been doing all along," Oliver said. "You've got that open discussion and no hard yes or no. It's a good dialogue between the Planning Board, the developer and the citizens of the county."
