This morning’s Council legislative session was a great one. I am beyond thrilled that the moratorium on development for one year, in two watersheds in Ellicott City passed unanimously, without grandfathering. 😊 I am also pleased the Bill to move the new courthouse project passed. There has been a lot of concern expressed about the new courthouse project. Some deal with fiscal budgeting priorities because of this expensive long-term project. Some express fear that removing the courthouse from its current location will hurt OId Ellicott City commerce. Some even deny we need a new courthouse at all. I share none of those concerns. I have spent much time over the years in the circuit courthouse

I put up a blog post in May about the upcoming legislation that annually updates the number of allowed new residential units in development, by region, across the County. At the public hearing on this issue, I testified that the Council should be using this chart and annual legislation as a development tool for planning because in APFO, allocations is TEST NUMBER ONE, and the wait to obtain allocations is unlimited. I suggested that the Council get information from the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) going back 3 years, and see each region's allocations usage. Then, in constrained areas the allowed numbers of units should be decreased from those that were used. I also suggested that