Honeygo at 20

In March of 1992, the Times-Herald broke the news that then-County Executive Roger B. Hayden wanted to halt development for three years in Perry Hall.  Hayden was quoted as telling the Times-Herald that "growth has not taken into account needed services--including schools, police, fire, roads and sewers.  We've got to be cerain that those things are in place before we allow for future growth."

The Honeygo Village Center.

Developers and landowners balked at the idea, but eventually a two-year voluntary building moratorium was put into place.   During the moratorium, county planners worked with the Perry Hall Improvement Association to produce a new growth plan for the largest chuck of undeveloped land, the rural part of Perry Hall between Chapel and Forge Roads.   That process led to the Honeygo Plan, which set benchmarks for growth and performance standards for the kinds of housing and businesses that would be built.

Both Hayden, a Republican, and Democratic County Councilman Vince Gardina were elected in 1990, when voters turned out in force to protest property taxes and development.  Hayden and Gardina deserve much of the credit for the Honeygo Plan, which significantly altered development in Perry Hall.

Before the Honeygo Plan, zoning allowed the construction of 12,000 units in northeastern Perry Hall.  After the Honeygo Plan, that number had shrunk to 4,000 units, 80 percent of which were single-family homes.   Can you imagine what Chapel and Forge Roads would look like today, with thousands of apartments, townhouses, and condominiums?   How could local government pay for the infrastructure needed for such growth?

I was the President of the Perry Hall Improvement Association in the late 1990s.   I constantly heard planners of a liberal bent bemoaning the lack of "density" in Honeygo.  But Honeygo worked because it complimented what consumers wanted.  Families who would otherwise have moved to Harford or Carroll Counties stayed in Perry Hall to purchase the larger homes they wanted.  

Baltimore County followed through with many of the infrastructure improvements pledged in the Honeygo Plan.  The county extended Honeygo Boulevard to Belair Road and purchased land for seven new parks, although only three have been finished.  

The Honeygo Plan was not perfect.  School overcrowding was its biggest failure, although I hope my plan to limit development on 280 acres in Perry Hall will at least lighten this problem.  Plans for some of the local roads were too disruptive, which is why I worked to reduce the widening at Forge Road by 20 feet and block widening along Chapel Road.   And some of the design standards, such as requirements for side garage entrances, aren't marketable for today's consumers.  I have introduced legislation to modify the garage and setback requirements.

The Honeygo Plan has been successful in keeping homeowners from moving to other counties.  It has expanded our tax base.  And while there are some who have preferred for the government to block any development whatsoever, the level of growth has been far more limited than originally allowed.

A New Greenway in Perry Hall, at No Cost to Taxpayers

In the 1960s, Baltimore County had an ambitious plan for new roads that included the construction of Perry Hall Boulevard between White Marsh and Belair Road.   The road was never finished.   One section was built near Chapel Road at the Perry Hall Apartments, and another farther south at White Marsh Mall.   The two sections were never linked, mostly due to community opposition and environmental restrictions.

Today, some of the area between the sections has been built-out, but a lot of it remains undeveloped.   The original alignment for Perry Hall Boulevard is still owned by Baltimore County.  

The 2009 dedication of Indian Rock Park.

In 2009, the Perry Hall Improvement Association convinced Baltimore County to designate the 15 acres west of Perry Hall High School as Indian Rock Park.   The park is undeveloped, although there are plans to construct a hiking and biking trail.  Baltimore County has an opportunity to expand Indian Rock Park by adding the acreage north of Ebenezer Road that was once planned for Perry Hall Boulevard.  To the south, the county could add the publicly-owned land that stretches along Perry Hall Boulevard between Silver Spring Road and White Marsh Boulevard.

Imagine the possibility:  a slender, nearly unbroken chain of forests that stretches from East Joppa Road to White Marsh Boulevard, permanently protected from development.

Although there are no plans right now, I am concerned that at some point in the future, there may be an interest in selling the old Perry Hall Boulevard alignment to generate revenue for the county.   I will be downzoning this property to limit any future development, but the better opportunity is to add the land to Indian Rock Park.   And since Baltimore County already owns the land, it's an improvement that won't cost a penny for the taxpayers.