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Credit: Randallstown NAACP/ Task Force on Revitalization of Liberty Road
BALTIMORE COUNTY - After years of research and conversation, the Liberty Road Task Force released twenty-three pages of recommendations on improving the Liberty Road corridor.
The Task Force, comprised of elected officials, faith leaders, and neighbors, has been meeting monthly to develop a plan for the area and solve ongoing infrastructure and food access issues.
The Liberty Road area is classified as a food desert, defined by the USDA as “A tract in which at least 100 households are located more than one-half mile from the nearest supermarket and have no vehicle access.”
The plan focuses on beautification projects and infrastructure upgrades in order to rebrand the corridor as the “Gateway to Baltimore County.”
“This is an attempt to build a community brand, encourage economic growth in a location by improving the visual impact of the landscape, and create a welcoming point for people entering Baltimore County.”
The report summarizes the proposed changes in two parts:
- Hire a consulting firm to create a development plan for Liberty road. This development plan will cover the planning, design, financing, construction, and resident engagement to revitalize the Liberty Road Corridor through the holistic development of a diverse, healthy, and vibrant community.
- The Creation of a Liberty Road zoning overlay district designed to control uses and establish standards for maintenance, design, signage, landscaping and lighting. The Liberty Road Overlay Zone would also lead to land use, building height, density, affordable housing, public benefit points, design, and public open space.
Once recommendations and budgets get approved, officials will release a timeline for project completion.
You can read the full report here.
Replies
Pat Hill
Neighbor
2-03-2023 9:04am
I hope that the plan include walk paths, open spaces with seating to view nature and consequences for people littering, loitering and killing the wildlife.
I disagree with this
This is unverified
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Kay Len
Neighbor
2-04-2023 8:14am
Agreed, but does everything have to be blamed on someone else,or does a president of a organization step in and provide assistance when necessary.
Your Name
Neighbor
2-04-2023 9:34am
I hope this planning succeeds in a beautiful and needed return to glory. The Liberty Road corridor has changed quite a bit in the last 3-4 decades. When I worked there in late 80’s into the mid 90’s, there were PLENTY of grocery stores and restaurants. Many were forced to move away so they could sustain profitability. Other businesses then moved away too, and those empty commercial spaces became less expensive. Right now you can’t throw a baseball without hitting a liquor store or a “Tavern”, all drawing the wrong element. What can the community who lives there and County Govt change to invite families and businesses back to start earning a different reputation as a “safe and profitable” commercial corridor? Elected officials can outlay tax revenue to beautify an area, but how long will the “new beauty” last if structural changes don’t come from within? I used to live there and remember a considerable and desitable change in atmosphere when driving W/B on Liberty Hgts Av out of Baltimore and crossing Northern Pkwy into the County. Nowadays, the lower end of Liberty Rd is a place to avoid.
I will personally support any organic reformation of the wonderful old neighborhoods along Liberty Rd. with my commerce. However, if that change is to last, the desire for improvement must continue to develop from within. 💪🏽🙏
Your Name
Neighbor
2-04-2023 11:25am
Thanks for the article,Van. Please keep us posted with new developments. Would love to hear if there are plans for getting additional churches, synagogues and other houses of worship growing in our community. If police can get ahold of the crazy traffic and crime, families will grow and remain, and not look to move on.
The health of Randallstown directly impacts the health of OWINGS Mills, which impacts Reisterstown, which impacts Pikesville, which impacts…etc
