Commercial and residential construction in Anne Arundel County may become easier following the County Council’s narrow approval Monday of a controversial plan to increase redevelopment of declining properties.

Bill 2-25, which was introduced Jan. 14 on behalf of County Executive Steuart Pittman, is the second effort to pass a similar bill that failed last year when members disagreed over land use policy.

Seventeen amendments later, Pittman called the bill a win for Anne Arundel County residents. The legislation passed along party lines, with the council’s four Democrats voting for it and its three Republicans opposing it.

“It’s a win for residents who have long called for revitalization of areas where crumbling infrastructure, vacant commercial eyesores and abandoned industrial sites exist,” Pittman wrote in a release. “It’s a win for families and our essential workers who are priced out of our housing market and need more options close to jobs, schools and transit. And it’s a win for the environment because this bill directs growth to already developed areas, helping us preserve forests, fields and waterways.”

The bill aims to encourage redevelopment by streamlining the approval process and relaxing some requirements and land use restrictions to increase commercial and housing density in some areas.

Those who supported the sweeping redevelopment bill say it will encourage reuse of older, vacant and underutilized commercial properties. It is also meant to create additional housing, enhance employment opportunities, provide access to goods and services, and promote the conservation of natural resources. It does not require any development but seeks to encourage it.

However, since the bill’s introduction, numerous amendments have caused confusion and fluctuating levels of support.

Two particular amendments were controversial, as some worried they would exempt certain affluent, predominantly white communities.

Amendments introduced by council members Amanda Fiedler, an Arnold Republican representing District 5, and Shannon Leadbetter, a Crofton Republican from District 7, exempted certain areas of their districts. Leadbetter and Fiedler amended the bill after their constituents voiced concerns about the traffic and school crowding they felt would result from the legislation.

The Anne Arundel branch of the NAACP and Anne Arundel Acting Together, an interfaith alliance, withdrew their support, saying the amendments were exclusionary and racist.

“While amendments removed certain areas from the bill’s reach, I remain hopeful that future conversations will allow us to bring the benefits of this tool to more parts of the county,” said Pittman, who preferred the bill be applied countywide.

While Fiedler and Leadbetter successfully excluded parts of their districts from the bill, a later amendment ultimately caused them to oppose it.

“I really wanted to get behind this bill, I really did,” Fiedler said before Monday’s vote. “But when I look at what I just went through … I feel like I would be doing a disservice to the Broadneck Peninsula by supporting the bill this evening in its current form. So, with that, I am a ‘nay.’”

The Broadneck Peninsula is in Fiedler’s district, which is north of the Severn River and west of the Chesapeake Bay. The area was included in an amendment passed last month that would increase development potential there, Fiedler said.

“Amendment 16 was the deal breaker for me,” Fiedler said. “There’s always an opportunity to go back and visit legislation, but the will of the council and the will of the [Pittman administration] need to be there. I don’t know that those exist.”

Council member Allison Pickard, a Millersville Democrat, said that the bill does more than incentivize affordable residential, mixed-use or commercial redevelopment. While she said she’d like to see increased residential opportunity in all Anne Arundel ZIP codes, at the very least, incentivizes more productive, modern and environmentally friendly use of space in the county in whatever form the market dictates.

“Making sure we have the diversity of housing in every community makes a more vibrant community that allows for every age and stage to thrive,” Pickard said. “We just come at the world from different vantage points, but the bill passed.”

The bill includes a provision to track redevelopment projects and applications to allow local lawmakers to know if the incentives are driving construction. If the incentives aren’t working, the council will consider other options, Pickard said.

“I would venture to guess, if we don’t see anything in the next two to three years with this bill, we need to go back in and tweak the policy,” Pickard said. “It wouldn’t be getting what we want; that’s why the reporting mechanism is so important.”

The bill will take effect July 1.

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