The Background: Bowleys Quarters Community Association, Community Issues and PUDs

This is the introduction to my blog posts for the Essex/Middle River Patch.

As a Bowleys Quarters resident and a co-founder of the Bowleys Quarters Community Association (BQCA), I will be including information about that organization and our activities.

Since there are hundreds of members with their opinions, my comments will not necessarily be that of the BQCA. I will be including information about the Community Association Network (CAN), the Baltimore County Community Political Action Committee (BCC PAC), Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) and other information about issues that I hope will be of interest to the community.

At times I will include perspectives that are not reflective of my opinion to spark discussion and alternative ideas for your consideration.

The BQCA meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at St. Matthew Lutheran Church located on the corner of Red Rose Farm and Bowleys Quarters Roads until November and December when we meet earlier to avoid the conflict with holidays.

Our next meeting on June 28 begins at 6:30 p.m. with a Pot Luck Dinner followed by our general meeting at 7 p.m. Come and meet our members and hear about the construction at Baltimore Crossroads on Route 43 by our scheduled speaker, Mike Caruthers representing the Somerset Construction Company.

The Community Association Network consists of representatives of Community Associations and interested individuals who communicate through emails. Working groups form to address various issues and proposed legislation which impacts communities throughout Baltimore County.

The BCC PAC is one of the working groups that was formed from CAN volunteers to address issues such as open space throughout the County, the intersection rating process, and PUD legislation. Last year the group conducted approximately two dozen interviews of County Council candidates as well as co-sponsored and participated in the County Executive forum at Stevenson College.

A PUD is an alternate process utilized by developers to provide a stream-lined approach to get approval for projects that include mixed use. The mixed use was intended to consist of residential, commercial and retail areas co-mingled into a condensed area which would have required a complex series of applications if the General Development Process was utilized.

PUDs have become a problem for communities throughout Baltimore County because of the misuse of this process by developers to get approval of residential developments which have conflicted with zoning laws and the Baltimore County Master Plan. More will be written about these issues in future blogs.

 I hope you will respond to future articles with your thoughts which will provide insight that others may not have been aware of or considered.