Councilman David Marks Releases June Newsletter

Each month County Councilman David Marks releases a monthly newsletter to constituents via email.

The June newsletter included the following message from Marks:

One of the most important recent milestones for the Towson community was the development of Tomorrow’s Towson. Starting in 2006, Towson leaders identified ways to make our county seat more accessible to pedestrians and improve the build-out of the Towson core.

Many of their recommendations have been enacted, such as improved signage directing visitors to landmarks and government buildings. One piece of unfinished business has been the enactment of the Urban Design Principles. Next month, I will be introducing legislation that codifies these principles into law.

The purpose of these standards is to help improve the look of new structures as they are approved in the commercial core. The proposed language, if adopted, would create an overlay zone with distinct design and setback elements for buildings. If a developer chooses not to follow the Urban Design Principles, he or she must proceed through the traditional review process. If the same developer, however, elects to follow the Urban Design Principles, the developer can participate in an accelerated approval process. The goal is to give developers an incentive to submit plans that follow the guidelines.

I would like to thank the members of Tomorrow’s Towson for their hard work with these important guidelines. They will hopefully enhance the look of our county seat as revitalization moves forward.

The full newsletter can be found in the media gallery above.