Neighborhood leaders, a retired planner, a Community Law Center attorney, the city’s former historic preservation panel director and other Baltimore residents rallied outside City Hall yesterday to oppose Mayor Brandon Scott’s sweeping up-zoning bills and object to what they said were twisted arguments to support the legislation and discredit them as critics.

“We have heard every justification possible, every fallacy used to advance this bill,” said Hanlon Park resident Linda Batts, addressing a crowd of about 25 people.

Speakers said they regard zoning rules not as racial oppression to be eliminated, but as neighborhood protection to be fine-tuned.

“We are not against progress, but we are against being told what progress looks like and how it shows up in our communities,” she said. “We are not against promises to repair redlining, but we are against policies that will further institutionalize inequities and exacerbate disparate outcomes.”

Speakers said neighborhoods that have worked for years to increase levels of homeownership will be destabilized by Bill 25-0066, which removes the single-family zoning requirement in residential districts and permits up to four dwelling units on a residential lot.

“This bill virtually eliminates single-family zoning from the Baltimore city zoning code by permitting any property that could now have a single-family residence to be not only converted, but to be purchased and demolished and in its place a four unit apartment building built,” said former city councilman Jody Landers, of Lauraville.

“We’ve learned over the years, you can’t destroy neighborhoods in the interest of growth and think that you are improving Baltimore,” he said, pointing to examples like The Highway to Nowhere and the failed Poppleton redevelopment.

Under the bill, conversions would be allowed “by right,” meaning, no public hearings, no notice to neighbors and no opportunity for community input,” said Janet Allen, president of the Heritage Crossing Residents Association.

“We want more of our neighbors to have more options than just being renters,” said Keondra Prior, president of the Reservoir Hill Association. “Not because there’s anything wrong with being renters. Most of us have been renters.

“It’s because we know when you’re a renter, you’re more susceptible to change, to things you can’t control. Every time, every year that you get a new lease means that your expenses can rise overnight, and it makes it unstable for you to stay and make Baltimore City your home for a lifetime,” Prier continued, as the crowd applauded.

“A developer’s dream”

The rally is a last-ditch effort by bill opponents to make their case, up against social media–conversant bill supporters who have the weight of City Hall and the Cockeysville-based advocacy group BaltPOP on their side.

Part of a package of six bills, unveiled in May with the backing of Scott, Council President Zeke Cohen and several council members, Bill 25-0066 comes before the Land Use and Transportation Committee for a second hearing on Monday, December 1, at 9 a.m.

(The other bills in the package have already been approved.)

Several speakers addressed a possible legal flaw in the way the bills were presented as “text amendments,” rather than through the comprehensive rezoning process, which has specific public engagement requirements, including notices mailed to impacted residents.

No such notice was given as Scott’s bills moved through the process, as was noted by the city Law Department in its review of Bill 25-0066, retired planner James Prost, of Bolton Hill, said.

“This is a terrible bill in terms of the potential impact and has not been evaluated and examined,” Prost said. “When you combine this with the two previous bills – eliminating parking requirements and increasing lot coverage size – it’s a developer’s dream.”

“Nothing in this bill ensures that it creates affordable housing,” added Christina Schoppert Devereaux, staff attorney at the Community Law Center.

Outlining the group’s demands, Janet Allen, of Heritage Crossing, called on the Council to vote down the bill and have “an independent equity analysis” performed before moving ahead with major zoning changes.

Fostering house-flipping

Speaking to The Brew at the rally, Garwyn Oaks resident Renee Mitchell said she was appalled by how little effort has been made to explain the measure to people in the community.

“When we come together on phone calls, there’s like, 30, 40, 50 of us neighbors saying, ‘I don’t know anything about this. I didn’t hear anything about it from my neighborhood association,’” Mitchell said.

“My dad is in the Cold Spring Homestead and knew nothing about it,” she continued. “My sister is in Chinquapin. Knows nothing about it. And her community association head lives two doors down from her.”

Mitchell said conversions by out-of-town property owners, already occurring in her Northwest Baltimore neighborhood, are putting a strain on parking and the community’s character.

“Flipping single-unit houses into multi-unit homes has nothing to do with affordable housing,” she said, noting that the property next to hers has been converted to three units.

“Our neighborhood is already inundated with assisted living units, halfway houses, a foster home.”

“Our neighborhood is already inundated with assisted living units, halfway houses, a foster home.”  – Renee Mitchell, Garwyn Oaks neighborhood.

In Mitchell’s view, the lack of affordable housing is not the reason why Baltimore fails to increase its population.

“When you talk to people who are not living in the city, they don’t give lack of affordable housing as a reason for not living here,” she said.

“The reasons are crime, mass transportation is horrible, food deserts and the schools are bad,” Mitchell observed. “The politicians just don’t want to face up to the real problems, and instead they pass something like this that helps none of us.”