Update: Debate Intensifies Over Foundry Row Development

Owings Mills developers are in waiting mode. It will be fall before the Baltimore County Council makes a decision on one of three grand visions for what had become a development dead zone where past building plans failed to materialize.

But community groups are marshaling to make their preferences known, particularly since the Baltimore County Planning Board recommended rezoning the Solo Cup site on Reisterstown Road for retail.

The Combined Communities Advocacy Council of Greater Randallstown (CCACGR) sent a letter to Councilwoman Vicki Almond last week in support of the proposed Wegmans-anchored retail project on Reisterstown Road.

The group joins the Owings Mills Corporate Roundtable, the Greater Greenspring Association, Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon Chamber of Commerce and Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon Coordinating Council in support of all three proposed Owings Mills projects.

“The Northwest Baltimore County area has been underserved by quality retailers and restaurants for years,” CCACGR chair Aaron Plymouth wrote. “We believe all three proposed retail projects will complement one another and will bring a desired town center concept for the Owings Mills area as well.”

has also expressed her support for all three projects.

Among the other two developments are the transit-oriented , which features , offices, shops and apartments. It is now under construction.

The other is Kimco’s proposed , which would abandon the indoor mall concept and feature an outdoor, pedestrian-friendly town center with approximately 1 million square feet of retail and restaurants, with a fashion district centered around the existing JCPenney and Macy’s.

But not all community groups are in favor of all development.

A group of residents calling itself the Say No to Solo Coalition recently joined officials from Kimco and David S. Brown, the developer building Metro Centre, in opposition to Foundry Row. Like the developers, Say No to Solo says Foundry Row will increase local traffic, hurt the market by creating an oversupply of retail and will prevent successful redevelopment at the Owings Mills Mall.

“We are a coalition of Baltimore County residents who think 400,000 square feet of new retail at the Solo Cup site on Reisterstown Road is bad for traffic, bad for business and bad for our communities,” the group’s website says.

The Baltimore County Council will hold a public hearing on rezoning issues at Pikesville High School on Thursday, June 7, at 6 p.m. Citizens can sign up to speak for two minutes.