Part 2: Road to Unity Hinges on Stalled Development

Read more about the neighborhood dispute in .

Road improvements and the completion of a planned housing development could bring an end to an between Perry Hall neighbors over the Jersey barricades marking a border between the two sides.

But the housing project has stalled and Baltimore County officials say they have no control over when it could get moving.

Residents of , a development of spacious homes on Good Spring Drive, have of Jersey barricades separating them from an adjoining neighborhood on New Gerst Lane.

New Gerst Lane residents, however, allowing the two streets to connect is a safety hazard until their narrow, rural street is improved.

Which side are you on? Are the barriers justified, or are they an eyesore that should be removed? Tell us in the comments.

Improvements are pending the construction of the stalled housing development, called Meadows at Honeygo. It is frequently referred to by county officials and area residents as the “Bierman property” because the land is owned by New Gerst Lane residents, Warren and Stennis Bierman.

In 2006, Baltimore County officials approved a plan by Highland Development Corporation to convert a 28-acre property adjacent to New Gerst Lane into 63 single-family homes, said Dennis Kennedy, chief of the county Development Plans Review Bureau.

The developer agreed to widen and add sidewalks to New Gerst Lane, at no cost to the county or residents, when the Meadows at Honeygo was built. After this project is completed, the concrete barriers will be removed, said Stephen Weber, chief of the county Division of Traffic Engineering

He said the is to blame for the of the Meadows at Honeygo.

“No one anticipated the economy would fall apart,” Weber said. “At the time that development was approved, no one knew what the economy would do.”

Plans to develop the Meadows at Honeygo, created by Highland Development Corporation, were approved by the county in 2006 and finalized in 2007, Kennedy said. His most current records also show a minor amendment to the plans made in 2010.

On the plans for the property, Stennis Bierman is listed as one of two owners of the . Her home, near the intersection of New Gerst Lane and Gerst Road was constructed in 1933.

Bierman, however, said she couldn’t remember the last time she had contact with anyone from the development firm.

“It’s still under contract,” Bierman said. “That means he still plans to do what he said he was going to do.”

Bierman said she did not have the names or contact information of anyone at Highland Development Corporation.

Records at the county Development Plans Review Bureau list Highland Development Corporation’s address as 7625 Brown Bridge Road in Clarksville, Kennedy said.

A number listed with that address on multiple online directories has been disconnected. The company’s attorney did not respond for comment.

According to Kennedy, the county does not have the power to dictate when construction on an will begin. The Meadows at Honeygo project could stall indefinitely, he said.  

But while the development remained at a standstill, public works officials were forced to confront the ongoing conflict created by the barriers at Good Spring Lane and New Gerst Road. 

In an email to ’s office, dated May 18, 2011, Weber said he encouraged New Gerst Lane residents to sign a petition to gain support for road widening and improvements, pending the construction of the Meadows at Honeygo.

He decided to propose the petition after the concrete barriers were briefly removed in 2009 and New Gerst Lane residents asked them to be returned. “At that point I had a bunch of hot residents on New Gerst [Lane] wanting the barricades back,” Weber wrote in the email.

“Because I sensed that we might have a future problem with some of these people, I ended up getting them to sign the attached petition … and it is that petition which is the final agreement between the residents and the County. Therefore, we now have in writing that they are in agreement with reopening the roadway at the time the Bierman property is developed,” Weber said.

The petition, which Weber provided to Patch, received the support of all seven impacted homeowners.

It included the following statement:

We, the undersigned, request the Department of Public Works to keep New Gerst Lane temporarily closed (immediately west of its intersection with Good Spring Dr with the use of Jersey barricades) until such time as the Bierman property is developed and the roadways within that subdivision out to Gerst Rd have base-course paving. At that time we will not be opposed to the removal of the barricades and the opening of New Gerst Lane out to Good Spring Drive.

The petition allows for two possible scenarios.

If, during the construction of the Meadows at Honeygo, residents agree to surrender part of their property, free of charge, to the developer to allow space for road widening and sidewalks, then New Gerst Lane will become a connected two-lane road.

If residents do not agree to surrender part of their land, it will become a single-lane, one-way road that also connects to Good Spring Drive.

Joe Tuzzolo, who has lived along New Gerst Lane since 1988, said he and other neighbors favor the road widening and sidewalks, even if they are not compensated for the small loss of land. 

He said a meeting preceded the petition. Several mailed documents and detailed development plans of the Meadows at Honeygo were also issued to all impacted residents.

Tuzzolo, however, said the pending improvements and connection will cause New Gerst Lane to lose its rural atmosphere.

“Nobody used to lock their doors,” he said. “But anytime you get two ways in and two ways out, you get crime.”

In the meantime, Tuzzolo said, “The barriers give us protection. [Their appearance] doesn’t bother me.”

Regardless of Tuzzolo’s concerns, the petition ensures that the concrete barriers will almost surely eventually be removed. Then only asphalt will stand between groups of residents who have been at odds for the past five years.

For better or for worse, the two communities will eventually become one.

Which side are you on? Are the barriers justified, or are they an eyesore that should be removed? Tell us in the comments.