Background
Friends of Harford regrets the loss of any Agricultural (AG) land. We especially object to changes which are inconsistent with the intent of our Master Plan and Land Use Element Plan or detrimental to the quality of life of our citizens or to the environment.
Friends of Harford Perspective
Bottom line: Friends of Harford believes:
- The improved CZR process was acceptable; too many of the final CZ decisions were not.
- CZR has carelessly increased the surplus of both residentially- and commercially-zoned property in the county.
Details:
- Read the results for each issue by district in this table. The column "Bill as amended by CC (County Council)" is what is now law.
- Read the Friends of Harford's Report on the CZR to see what our recommendation was for each rezoning request.
The process:
For the first time, all the information the public needed on the Comprehensive Zoning Review (CZR) process was provided online by Planning and Zoning. Those with access to a computer could see exactly what zoning changes were requested, where the properties were located, what data Planning and Zoning used, and what was in the legislation (i.e. the zoning bill) that the County Executive sent to the County Council. The County Council amended the zoning bill before voting.
The decisions:
FOH believed some of the County Executive's proposed rezonings were not sufficiently protective of current property owners or the environment. We hoped the County Council would improve the bill (via amendments).
We were disturbed that the Council President did not take a "comprehensive approach" to county-wide rezoning. Instead, each Council member controlled his/her own district . The entire Council voted unanimously to accept all amendments. There was no consistency between districts, and no consideration given as to whether a rezoning would help or harm the County as a whole.
The results were decidedly mixed:
- The best results were in Districts B and C, where Council members gave significant weight to the concerns voiced by their constituents.
- There were some improvements and some losses in Districts D and F.
- Districts A and E suffered major losses. In District A, for example, 20 of the 24 zoning changes were approved despite Community Council recommendations to the contrary and over strong neighborhood opposition.
We especially objected to the government putting the desires of business above the property rights of nearby homeowners and farmers. The county offered affected residents no relief whatsoever from the increased traffic hazards, disturbing noise and high-intensity lighting that will now be inflicted upon them.
Residential zoning: There was no need to add an additional 1,300 new residential building units. Harford had 28,000 unbuilt residential lots before CZR began, not including the unbuilt residential properties in Bel Air, Havre de Grace or Aberdeen*. BRAC is already underway and isn't causing a big demand for housing. Harford usually builds about 1,300 homes a year, so even if BRAC doubles that number there would still be many empty residential lots after ten years of building. There was no need to give away more residential zoning now.
Commercial zoning: The current surplus of commercially zoned land is astonishing. By 2025, more than half of all that empty, unused commercial land will still be sitting there **. CZR added even more. This will discourage redevelopment of older properties and encourage businesses to abandon their current locations for newer areas.
Notes:
* Comments by Dir, P & Z in article "Zoning changes limited", Harford County Aegis, August 14 2009.
** "Harford Retail Growth Analysis, Projected Demand 2000-2025", Harford County Dept. of P & Z, Dec 2002.