The Baltimore County Council is considering a pilot program to limit rental housing density near the Towson University campus.
The legislation, introduced by Council Chair Mike Ertel, a Democrat who represents Towson, would create a university housing district that includes any block or neighborhood located within one mile of Towson University’s campus. It aims to limit new rental housing licenses in that district and in neighborhoods where active rental housing licenses have been issued for at least 30% of the residential properties.
At a council work session on Tuesday, Ertel said more than half of the residential properties in several area neighborhoods are rental properties. While student rentals themselves are not bad to have, he said, they can have ramifications for county revenues.
“When we replace a homeowner who is a working person, or a starter home that gets sold to an investor for a rental, we often lose all the income tax component of that,” he said.
The bill, as currently drafted, would allow the director of the Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections to make exceptions and issue a rental license for a property owner who has demonstrated financial hardship. It would also require the permits director to create a way to evaluate applicants for a new rental housing license.
Pete Gutwald, who leads that department, said Tuesday the legislation has some “technical issues” that need to be worked out.
Rental properties, particularly those that aren’t maintained well, can also rack up code enforcement complaints about overgrown yards and uncollected trash, which could also be drivers of a rat infestation that escalated late this summer.
Rats have long been a problem in several Towson neighborhoods. In August, County Executive Kathy Klausmeier and numerous department heads walked down several streets with reported issues following resident complaints in the area. At the time, Ertel told The Baltimore Sun that he was considering the pilot program to see whether it would help curb the rodent issues.
For Ed Kilcullen, who grew up in Towson Manor Village and returned later in life, the place he returned to was “vastly different.”
Investors are increasingly purchasing owner-occupied homes in the area, he said, often outbidding potential residents who want to buy homes there and converting them to student rental housing. Student rentals also increase noise and instability in the area, he added.
“We are losing our neighborhoods,” Kilcullen said at Tuesday’s work session.
This isn’t the first tense moment between the university and nearby neighborhoods. In 2020, for instance, longtime residents were wary of an influx of students moving off-campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, fearing that the virus could spread more easily there from social college students.
But Kevin Young of the Towson Green homeowners association asked that the townhome development be excluded from the restrictions outlined in the legislation, saying that the community has its own mandatory fees that cover landscaping, snow removal, rodent maintenance and more.
“[As] far as the individual homeowners, they are regulated by our bylaws, and we hold them accountable,” he said. “We have a yearly inspection, and if they’re not up to par there, they’re subject to fines.”
Any proposed restrictions would not take effect immediately if the legislation is approved. The council will consider tweaks to the bill at its Jan. 13 work session before a scheduled vote on Jan. 20.
Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com or 443-679-7818.
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