This morning, I announced plans to downzone more than 1,268 acres in an effort to force action to address current overcrowding at Perry Hall Middle School and future issues at Perry Hall High School. The move is believed to be the largest downzoning in Perry Hall history.
I do not relish taking these steps, which I know will be opposed by some propertyowners, but we cannot allow development to occur at the rate allowed by the current zoning while these schools grow more and more crowded.
Perry Hall Middle School’s enrollment is expected to climb from 1,737 students in 2015 to 2,048 students by 2024, according to Baltimore County Public Schools projections. Put another way, the school was at 105.7 percent capacity last year, a figure that will soar to 124.7 percent in 2024.
Perry Hall High School’s enrollment will climb from 2,067 students in 2015—97.9 percent—to 2,498 students in 2024, or 118.4 percent.
The Impact of Rezoning
Zoning affects what can be built on any piece of property. Last November, our office initiated a review of thousands of acres of land in the Fifth District in an effort to preserve green space and reduce school overcrowding.
Our office initiated five of the zoning issues included in today’s announcement (5-041, 5-045, 5-088, 5-104, and 5-105). Three were initiated by the Perry Hall Improvement Association (5-027, 5-028, and 5-029).
The zoning recommendations will protect 678 acres as open space through Neighborhood Commons, and 589 acres as DR 1 or DR 1H, or one house per acre.
Moving Forward
I have continually urged the business community to become more engaged in getting a new middle and high school built in northeastern Baltimore County. That hasn’t happened.
In four years, if the school overcrowding problem is addressed, maybe the County Council should restore some of the levels of zoning. But for now, I want development to slow down substantially while we deal with this problem.
For the immediate future, I am joining with other community leaders in pushing the Board of Education to designate a site and include design money for a new middle school in next year’s budget.