Special Edition: Wins for the Ward
Last night’s city council meeting was as long as any I’ve ever participated in, lasting five and a half hours. We had some important and contentious issues, but in the end, there was a clear winner: Ward One residents.
Plenty of you have told me this morning that you went to bed before the council wrapped up, so—in keeping with my compact from Sunday that you’ll hear news from me first—I want to be sure everyone knows the outcomes of last night’s meeting.
We passed the strictest crackdown on short-term rentals since the city started regulating them. We prevented changes to the historic district’s height limits, which would have allowed a hotel on Dock Street. And we ensured that legislation implementing the comprehensive plan has strict standards to make developers invest in our infrastructure and prevent traffic.
The legislation that took the most time was O-14-25. I said all along that my problem with this was the parts that would have compromised the integrity of the historic district, and I’m proud of my legislative maneuvering to ensure that failed while still passing the unrelated parts that made sense.
Most of the debate centered on Alderman Savidge’s amendment to require transit investments by developers of planned developments (“planned development” is a technical term about the path one takes to get approval for building). It strikes me as very, very unlikely that we would see any of these in Ward One, but of course what happens in one ward affects others. While I was initially skeptical of the amendment, I (and Alderman Gay) was able to remove the provisions that I felt were most unworkable and ultimately support the requirements that new planned developments must have community benefit agreements that require them to invest in public transit, green space, and other infrastructure.
The limitation on short-term rentals passed with a few amendments. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that this would have somehow allowed more STRs than not passing it. We did exempt owner-occupied STRs from these new requirements; if you’re just renting out a room, there are still neighbors there being part of the community. Another amendment clarified the definition of a blockface.
The final amendment to this ensures that after two years of the cap being effective for preventing any new STRs on oversaturated blocks, there will be a lottery system that gets those blockfaces down to no more than 10%. I did not support this amendment for a few reasons: I worried it endangered passage of the underlying bill, I had said publicly that what I wrote was not about removing existing STRs, and I would have preferred it been standalone legislation. But, once the amendment passed, I was still supportive of the legislation as a whole. This will be a game-changer for the dozens of blocks in Ward One that are already overrun, creating a path to getting neighbors back.
I also heard loud and clear from commenters that—parallel to these new restrictions of legal STRs—we need to significantly strengthen enforcement against illegal STRs, and I’m committed to making sure that happens.
The bills that were expected to be withdrawn did in fact get withdrawn: ADUs, re-allowing duplexes, harbor lines, the fee waiver for Maryland Hall (that was resolved through a supplemental appropriation), and the waiver of interest at Market Space (technically, this was tabled).
Other important legislation that was considered:
We passed requirements for walking tour operators to be licensed, while exempting the little guys from that paperwork but still requiring them to have insurance.
We defeated the resolution to retroactively allow a private trash structure that was erected on public property on Prince George Street.
Tweaks to zoning on Tyler Avenue and Clay Street, which have been getting reviewed for months and were supported by those communities, passed as expected.
We added an additional reporting deadline for campaign funds to increase transparency in elections.
We increased the fine for the most egregious speeders on city streets, keeping our kids safe while funding traffic safety improvements.
That’s all for now.
Sincerely,
Harry