There has been intense discussion about Mayor Brandon Scott’s package of zoning bills that includes Bill 25-0066, which is now before the Baltimore City Council. That bill is the subject of this commentary by a veteran zoning attorney and city resident. Supporters and opponents of the legislation are welcome to express their views at editors@baltimorebrew.com.

The year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of zoning laws in Baltimore.

From the beginning, the laws were aimed at establishing stable, single-family neighborhoods throughout the city.

Bill 25-0066, now before the City Council, would upend that tradition and permit existing houses to be carved into four multi-family units with no administrative review and almost no exceptions.

We all know the story of how, over the last 60 years or so, Baltimore lost half of its population. It began as white flight, but more recently it is our Black neighbors who have been leaving the city for Baltimore County and other jurisdictions.

The result: During that period, Baltimore County essentially doubled in population and is home to many Black families, roughly 30% of the population.

About 50% of the the city’s population are homeowners, or roughly 250,000. In Baltimore County, the percentage is much greater – 69%. And it is even higher in Anne Arundel, Harford and Howard counties.

Zoning is grassroots. Baltimore’s present zoning rules – overhauled in 2017 through the six-year Transform process that included citizen input – reflect what people want. 

Groups like Live Baltimore, Healthy Neighborhoods and the communities themselves have enthusiastically promoted home ownership for years.

“I’ve wanted to own a home since I was a little kid, and I always wanted to own that home in Baltimore,” says Mayor Brandon Scott (who ironically is sponsoring Bill 25-0066) in a video posted on the Live Baltimore website.

“Owning a home means something that will be part of a legacy and something that helps you accumulate wealth. Something that I can own for myself and my family will have,” Scott says outside the home he purchased in northeast Baltimore two years ago.

Hasty Process

Of course, renters deserve a place in Baltimore. And there’s a case to be made for making our housing stock more diverse and affordable to help grow the city.

But not by means of splitting up existing rowhouses everywhere in the city into two, three and even four units – and certainly not through the hasty process now underway that doesn’t engage communities and fails to listen to the concerns of existing residents.

In fact, it’s hard not to see a touch of arrogance in the October 30 vote by the Planning Commission to recommend approval of Bill 25-0066 despite pleas from homeowners and multiple neighborhoods to hold off – a version of “my way or the highway.”

There’s a case to be made for making our housing stock more diverse and affordable. This legislation isn’t it.

In Baltimore today, zoning is the only means a resident has to insure that his or her neighborhood will remain one primarily characterized by home ownership. Unless, of course, the resident is wealthy enough to live in a community protected by single-family covenants – Roland Park, Homeland or Guilford – where the homes sell for far above the reach of the average citizen.

Apart from unfairness, there is a question about the future of Baltimore itself.

For decades, families have bought into the American Dream of saving up for a down payment, paying off the mortgage instead of monthly rent, living in a safe and thriving community, and ending up with equity.

Anyone should be able to benefit from this opportunity but a case can be made that this is doubly true for Black residents who were prevented from doing so through discriminatory practices like redlining.

But now city leaders are considering Bill 25-0066, which undermines that pathway by opening up residential communities to outside speculators and to shabby reconstruction that erodes long-term value and stability.

If they enact it, “my way or the highway” may turn out to be true. There are numerous highways in the city . . . that lead to Baltimore County.