Harford County Council passes long-awaited warehousing legislation

Oct. 12—The Harford County Council passed a long-awaited bill updating the county code on warehousing at its legislative session Tuesday night.

Bill 23-026 establishes a limit that warehouses built in the county can be no larger than 250,000 square feet. It also adds definitions of "warehousing," "freight terminal" and "distribution and local delivery center" to the county code.

The bill passed by a vote of 5-2. Council president Patrick Vincenti and council members Dion Guthrie, Tony Giangiordano, Jim Reilly and Jacob Bennett voted in favor of the bill. Council members Aaron Penman and Jessica Boyle-Tsottles voted against the bill.

Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly expressed gratitude to the council members who voted in favor of the bill in a statement provided to The Aegis.

"I believe [this bill] more fairly balances the property rights of landowners seeking to develop their land as well as the property rights of the surrounding community," Cassilly said in the statement.

During the meeting, the council introduced 112 amendments to the bill before it was voted on. All but eight of the amendments were approved.

Many of the passed amendments were cleaning up the organization and language of the bill. Some of the more significant changes, however, were the additions of definitions of "freight" and "loading zone," as well as decreasing the maximum building height.

"Anything that we did get passed is a win," said Bennett, whose District F includes Perryman.

Warehousing legislation in the county has been an interest of the citizen-led 3P Protect Perryman Peninsula coalition for nearly two years. The group opposes a proposed development of 5.2 million square feet of warehouse space to be built in the waterfront community of Perryman, which falls in Bennett's district.

"This victory is only round two of a 10-round battle," Leigh Maddox, a leader of the 3P Protect Perryman Peninsula coalition, said in a statement after the vote. "We're armed with determination and resources, and we'll relentlessly fight to ensure the safety and prosperity of our residential communities."

Maddox expressed disappointment in certain amendments that were not approved by the council, such as one that would establish rules for the intensity of use of a warehouse.

Another failed amendment would have mandated warehouses to be built "solar ready" or "to include solar arrays and solar panel or green rooftop installations."

Following the vote, Vincenti said that the legislation was not done.

"We'll be revisiting this again," Vincenti said, "I'm confident fairly soon."

Bennett said the legislation did not include all of what his office had prepared for it over the summer.

"This legislation doesn't do nearly all that I would hope it would do in modernizing our code," Bennett said, "with what we now know about the changes to the warehousing industry.

"It's a compromise. It's imperfect. It's a step in the right direction."

Penman and Boyle-Tsottles both expressed concerns over the bill's economic impact on the county.

"It could be long-lasting," Boyle-Tsottles said of the potential economic impact, "and result in the cutting of services or tax increases or both."

Following the vote, a disagreement erupted between Bennett and Guthrie, the council's only two Democrats, over the failed 39th amendment to the warehousing bill, which would've established intensity of use standards. The amendment failed by a vote of 3-4, with only Bennett, Giangiordano and Reilly voted in favor of.

Bennett said he expected Vincenti, Penman and Boyle-Tsottles to vote against the amendment but that he thought he would have Guthrie's vote. Bennett said that earlier in the day, he had an in-person conversation with Guthrie where Guthrie said he would only support the amendment if Bennett agreed to vote for an upcoming bill of Guthrie's relating to hotel occupancy tax revenue.

"I told him I do not trade votes," Bennett said. He said Guthrie then raised his voice and cursed at him.

Guthrie refuted what Bennett said, saying that the District F council member couldn't get his facts straight.

"[Bennett]'s come to me three different times on his amendments," Guthrie said, "and I told him all three times that I could not support the amendments."

The warehousing bill now awaits a decision from the county executive, who can either sign the bill into law or veto the law.

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The Morning Sun

The bill would not take effect until 60 days after becoming law. The warehouse moratorium is scheduled to end this week. Maddox said the 3P coalition will be watching for any permit activity in Perryman during the window between the end of the moratorium and the bill becoming law, if it is signed.

"That will determine what our reactions will be," Maddox said.

Originally Published: Oct 10, 2023 at 4:38 pm