Carroll adopts new height and setback rules for commercial properties near residential neighborhoods
Carroll County commissioners adopted new height and setback requirements for properties zoned commercial and located adjacent to residential neighborhoods. The requirements only apply to properties that have yet to be reviewed by the county.
The Board of Carroll County Commissioners unanimously approved the new requirements at their meeting Feb. 15, after directing the Planning and Zoning Commission last May to review and make recommendations regarding commercial districts near housing developments.
The changes include a reduction of a building height on commercially zoned property, from 50 feet to 35 feet. The side yard setback has increased from 10 feet to 15 feet.
Commissioners have also adopted what they call a “sliding scale,” for building height.
A building may be taller by 1 foot for every foot of increased side yard setback, to a maximum of 50 feet. The county will only approve the increase in height, from the new 35 feet back to 50 feet if the setback away from a residential property is increased from 15 feet to 30 feet.
The changes do not impact existing commercial buildings; those would be grandfathered in.
Commissioners went a step further and voted to also grandfather in commercial projects that are in the process of development review. This includes projects that have received conditional approval from the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals, or have submitted plans to the county’s Bureau of Development Review.
Of the 1,106 commercially zoned properties in the county, 225 are adjacent to residential districts. County staff said they did not have numbers on how many of the 225 properties are in the process of development review.
Though the changes were adopted unanimously, there was debate on how best to protect the rights of commercial property owners to build, while addressing the concerns of adjacent neighborhoods.
“It’s significant for both property rights as well as concerns of the neighbors,” District 3 Commissioner Tom Gordon III said. “It’s a balancing act, and I’ve said that so many times sitting up here the past year. To me, I don’t think there’s perfection for everybody.
“I think the challenge though, we have to try to minimize the impact as much as we can,” he said. “I understand the concerns of the residents. I also don’t want to minimize or challenge potential businesses that may want to be in the community. To me that’s very significant. Both are important without question.”
The decision to have the Planning and Zoning Commission review the zoning code and make the recommended changes came after residents of the Carroll Highlands neighborhood in Eldersburg were angered by specifications of the proposed Highlands Storage Facility. They packed a town hall meeting last year, hosted by District 5 Commissioner Ed Rothstein. A petition opposing the project garnered about 2,000 signatures.
Since then, the application for the five-story, 750-unit self-storage facility has been withdrawn, though several of these same residents attended a public hearing last month lobbying for the county zoning changes.
District 4 Commissioner Michael Guerin expressed opposition to a 50-foot commercial building in his backyard.
“I think how things look matter,” he said. “That’s what started me on this particular journey. The idea of having a 50-foot building in my backyard, whether it’s 10 feet or 15 feet or 30 feet to me, it just seems unfair.”
District 2 Commissioner Ken Kiler initially was against any changes to the zoning requirements because he worried they were a result of only objections to the Eldersburg storage facility.
“My position would be not to do this,” he said. “When we’re looking at one piece of property, that a relatively small number of people have objected to, and we want to change a rule that affects 225 [properties], at least of the 1,106, I always struggle.”
Kiler ultimately voted for the changes. “I do think it’s a relatively good compromise,” he said.