With the inauguration of the new Baltimore County Council in December, the redistricting map will finally take effect that was passed more than three years ago.
The new Fifth District still stretches from Charles Street in the west to Harford County, but there are noticeable differences. The Fifth District adds the part of Carney south of Joppa Road; the Oak Crest Village retirement community; Belmont and Dunfield; South Perry Hall near the Fullerton Reservoir; and all of Kingsville. The Fifth District loses neighborhoods where we have spent a lot of time over the past four years.
I am enormously proud of our work in Loch Raven, Harford Park, and Villa Cresta. We successfully restored full-service status to the Loch Raven public library for the first time in two decades, and we supported improvements at the Parkville branch. Our office helped reactivate the Loch Raven Community Council. Working with Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, we supported air conditioning at three elementary schools. Lastly, the Loch Hill and Glendale-Glenmont neighborhoods benefitted from downzoning decisions that blocked hundreds of homes from being built near the Baltimore City line.
In Carney, the Fifth District loses the area near Jomat Avenue. Our office pushed to lighten the development of the “Carneyland” parcel, and we supported the restoration of the Jennifer Run, a key waterway in northeastern Baltimore County.
The Fifth District will also lose areas along Pulaski Highway. Communities here will benefit from four new parks and a future elementary school that should relieve overcrowding. In this region, we passed a property tax credit for the Bowerman- Loreley Beach Community Association, and we created a revitalization district to help businesses near Cowenton Avenue.
It has been an honor representing all these communities, from Towson to Harford County.