Johnny Olszewski wants to build more affordable housing. Will Baltimore County let him?

Facing a glut of aging shopping centers and a shrinking supply of developable land, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. proposed a bill last month that would have eased roadblocks to redevelopment. Criticism was swift, prompting Olszewski to withdraw it in lieu of a council-backed alternative.

But unlike previous attempts to spur housing production , the county will receive a boost from the state amid a looming federal deadline to produce 1,000 affordable units , a lofty goal Olszewski believes can be partly met via redevelopment.

“We’re sort of at a crossroads in Baltimore County where we used to be a leader in land use and smart growth when we adopted the [Urban-Rural Demarcation Line] over 50 years ago,” Olszewski, a Democrat, said in an interview. “So [either] we just decline through atrophy over time, or we are intentional about going back into those places [and redeveloping them].”

His bill, had it passed, would have codified into zoning code mixed-use development and incentivized developers to set aside units for moderate-income tenants. That idea, however, was met with strong pushback from members of the county council, who decry the county’s “urbanization,” and residents worried about aging sewer systems and overcrowded schools in the absence of an adequate public facilities law.

“There was a concern that almost every school is at or over capacity,” said Councilman Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat, whose office received a torrent of critical emails. “That’s a lot of flushing toilets and extra schoolchildren to accommodate.”

Olszewski withdrew his bill last week after reaching an agreement with the council to put forth its own bill allowing members to create their own zoning districts. Its sponsor, Council Chair Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, is confident it will pass.

Olszewski testified last week in favor of two bills proposed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore : the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act, and the Housing and Community Development Financing Act. Moore has made housing a priority during the legislative session, citing a statewide shortage of 96,000 units. The former bill would allow development in dense areas and prevent local governments from using zoning laws to block construction; the latter would create new avenues to finance affordable housing via federal tax credits and other means.

Olszewski also supports the redevelopment of Lutherville Station, a Ridgley Road project where developer Mark Renbaum is seeking state and local approval to build 450 apartments with office space near a shopping center and light-rail station. It has become a flashpoint in the county’s struggle to build housing while preserving the council’s control over zoning.

Baltimore County Council members seek to keep control over development

Lutherville residents have opposed the project, arguing that it’s incorrectly zoned for the area and would further burden the neighborhood with traffic and people.

Renbaum declined to comment via a spokesperson. In an October letter to Republican Councilman Wade Kach, whose district includes Lutherville Station, Renbaum said he was willing to negotiate to address community concerns; Kach and residents say they’re also open to negotiation.

Kach removed Lutherville Station from the county’s recently passed Master Plan , which maps out where development should occur every 10 years.

At a Tuesday panel hosted by the Republican Women of Baltimore County, he denounced the “agenda to urbanize suburban Baltimore County,” and said if either of Moore’s bills passed, it would be a “foot in the door” to “further erode local jurisdictions over zoning.”

Republican Councilman Todd Crandell also opposes more housing, arguing that his southeastern county district has the second-highest number of subsidized tenants in Baltimore County, and that neither Olszewski nor Patoka have been transparent about how they reached their agreement.

Patoka said he would introduce his bill, which would allow council members to create their own districts on top of existing zoning districts to incentivize mixed-use zoning, on March 4. Olszewski will withdraw his bill at the same time after the council voted to extend it, which Crandell said he opposed because it allowed the bill to continue instead of tabling it.

The Randallstown NAACP and other groups filed a federal housing complaint in 2011, arguing that for decades Baltimore County had discriminated by refusing affordable housing expansion into prosperous areas and concentrating minority renters in poorer neighborhoods, leading to the federal consent decree set to expire in 2027.

Chapter President Ryan Coleman said he was not optimistic the county would meet that goal, citing opposition to affordable housing, which he says should be available to a “gamut” of people, not just wealthy homeowners and low-income subsidized tenants.

“When you own a house, your wealth skyrockets, your net worth goes sky high,” Coleman said. He also thought Moore’s bill wouldn’t move the needle either, calling it a “double-edged sword,” and that “everyone who was against Olszewski’s bill is against Moore’s bill.”

The county has to ensure that there is enough housing for middle-income Black families, otherwise “we will end up like the city,” he said, citing Baltimore City’s declining population .

“Whatever we’ve done in the past, the council has had full control and it hasn’t worked,” Coleman said. “They’ve had that control [over zoning] for the last 30 years.”

Legislation alone won’t fix a lack of available housing in Baltimore County, Olszewski said, citing “market-based solutions” like the MCB deal.

“It’s not just, ‘how can we maximize housing everywhere’ but ‘how can we thoughtfully meet this imperative and this challenge,'” he said. “We have a significant shortage of housing, not just in Baltimore County, but across the state. The solution can’t just be the cheapest housing anywhere.”