FALLSTON, Md. — A Harford County councilman is responding to new concerns about development in Fallston.
The proposed project would put two apartment buildings near the busy Route 1/Mountain Road intersection. The county has an Aug. 11 meeting scheduled on the proposal.
The site plan shows a proposal for two mid-rise apartment buildings, with 100 total units, on 3.8 acres at 317 Mountain Road. The four-story buildings would include parking garages.
The group Keep Fallston Rural is among those raising concern about the project.
County Councilman Aaron Penman said his office has gotten calls and emails in the past week about the development, raising concerns about overdevelopment and traffic.
He says those concerns are "valid" and he plans to push for road improvements, but doesn't believe it's right to stop the project.
"I believe it is wrong for the government to now come in, after the guidelines have been established (Master Plan and Zoning Code) and tell a property owner what to do with their property. If this were to occur, we would no longer have a free country, but rather an authoritarian government. Furthermore, if this overreach were to occur on a case-by-case basis, it could be considered the illegal practice of spot zoning," Penman wrote in a statement.
Last month, the County Council rejected a bill that would have controlled apartments in areas zoned for higher-density business(B3), such as this Mountain Road site.
County Executive Bob Cassilly, who had proposed the bill, specifically mentioned "low-density areas like Fallston" as ones that don't have the infrastructure to support such housing developments.
