Grant Money Awarded to RIA for Main Street Improvements

New banners, trash cans, flower planters and benches will brighten up Main Street in the coming weeks.

Baltimore County awarded the Reisterstown Improvement Association a $15,713 grant for aesthetic improvements to Main Street. Peirce MacGill, revitalization specialist at the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development, presented a check for 75 percent of the money, approximately $10,000, at Tuesday night’s RIA meeting. The group expects to receive the rest of the funds after trash cans, planters and benches are installed on Main Street.

A variety of other topics and developments were covered at the meeting:

• It will take seven to nine weeks to manufacture the new benches, planters and trashcans, Glenn Barnes, RIA president said. He hopes they will be installed in time for Bloomin’ ArtFest on May 21 and 22.
• Developers of the Reisterstown Shopping Center have applied to place a new 201 square-foot sign at its entrance, according to documents Mary Molinaro obtained from the county Office of Planning. A blueprint of the sign showed Big Lots at the top with Mars, an indicator that the store may be opening in the shopping center.
• 14 new “Welcome to Main Street” banners will be hung up soon, possibly by the end of the week, and at least 17 more will be put up in the next round. The designs include the Main Street clock tower, a place setting for restaurants, shopping for retailers and a flower design. Each banner will display the name of the business that paid for it.
• The Franklin Garden Club has agreed to plant flowers in the new planters.
• Councilwoman Vicki Almond and Barnes are trying to set up a tour of potential public parking areas with county officials.
• The zoning overlay for Main Street is on hold. Tony Baysmore, special assistant to County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, said the zoning overlay and similar initiatives are on hold until the Office of Planning gets a new director, who will review the initiatives.
• Rebecca Coyle, one of the soon-to-be former owners of Java Mammas said she expects to settle with the shop’s new owner by the end of the week. The new owner plans to open on Monday, March 21. She said the shop’s hours will increase and it will be open on Sundays. The entire Java Mammas staff and herself will work under the new management.

The next RIA meeting is Tuesday, April 19, at 7 p.m. at Long & Foster, 321 Main Street.