College Manor, Community Association Talks Breaks Down Over Zoning Request

Historic Lutherville community members have stepped up protests against a College Manor zoning request, after failing to reach a compromise with the assisted living center located in the heart of the neighborhood.

It’s hard to miss the dozens of yellow “No High Density Development” signs that now line the streets.

 management submitted a zoning request to the county that would allow them to build on their 11-acre property and accommodate more residents. After weeks of conversation between College Manor representatives and the Lutheville Community Association—the leading advocate against the up-zoning—negotiations have stalled ahead of a June 26 hearing with the County Council.

Part of the compromise included augmenting the request for only 4 of the 11 acres to build an adjacent wing, while renovations would be made to the existing structure.

“We made a lot of progress in trying to work out a deal where we would not oppose their getting 4 acres rezoned,” Laurie Hooper, the Lutherville Community Association president, said. “Our position is that there needs to be permanent protection for the historic district and the community association. We don’t want this to be the first piece of a broad scale redevelopment of the property.”

Hooper was referring to a restrictive covenant that would prevent College Manor or future owners from making further additions.

A permanent restriction on however, was not an option for Bunny Renaud, the assisted living manager and co-owner of College Manor.

“I don’t see how it could be,” Renaud, also a Lutherville resident, said.

Renaud offered a 20-year covenant on the land, which still wasn’t enough for certain community members.

“The thing about perpetuity is that it probably impacts us more as a family than it would impact somebody else,” Renaud said. “This is our legacy. This is our land. This is what we have created. This is what we’ve nurtured for 84 years. It has a special meaning to us as a family. We’re going to be guardians of it.

“We gave them 20 years. That’s a lot in a business to say we’re not going to do anything for 20 years,” she continued. 

In an interview with Patch, Renaud explained that the new wing would be built to resemble an apartment building that existed on the property in the 1950s. (See photo)

The new wing would have space for 80 beds where the 50 or so current residents would be moved while the existing structure would be modernized. The current building would be changed to accommodate only 12 luxury apartments for seniors.

“That high density title sounds so terrible when in actuality we’re not really changing the density of this place at all,” Renaud said. “When we make a promise to the community, we’ll keep a promise to the community.”

 Outspoken community leader Eric Rockel, who is involved in the LCA, wants more than just her word, however.

“As the negotiations progressed we found that they were reluctant to even pin down by way of getting some sort of engineers drawing of where the four acres would be precisely,” Rockel said. “We found that they only would have the restrictions run for 20 years. At least for me the biggest concern of this was, they don’t need four acres to build the number of density units that they’re representing. They only need two acres to do that.”

The fear is that the project, in Rockel’s opinion, could double in size with two extra acres that could be built on if the zoning request is approved. 

“I think the community would love to continue the discussion, but the major point being if they’re only willing to do the covenant for 20 years there’s probably not going to be a lot of further dialogue,” Rockel said.  

“We have no guarantee that they’ll even own the property in five years,” he continued.  

If College Manor fails to successfully get the property rezoned, Renaud said enhancements would still be made the existing structure. The money would likely come from the $15,000 saved from