Kamenetz To Authority: Keep Lavender Lot Money In Parkville

The latest in the continuing saga of the Lavender Avenue parking lot: Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz wrote to the Baltimore County Revenue Authority Thursday afternoon asking them to deliver on a promise to the Parkville community.

As part of a deal to sell the lot the authority promised a $100,000 grant to Parkville community, but at a meeting this month expressed concerns about delivering on that promise.

In a letter to authority chair Donald Hutchison, dated Nov. 1, Kamenetz writes that his staff has reviewed the history of the parking lot and expresses his support of the grant concept.

"We reviewed the history of the Lavender Lot issue, including discussions by the Authority that $100,000 generated by the sale of the Lavender Lot might be dedicated to economic development projects in greater Parkville," he wrote. 

"I was very pleased that you agreed with that position and were confident that the majority of board members would vote in the near future to formally adopt this proposal. The Harford Road corridor is a very important commercial district in Baltimore County, and we must work together to do all that we can to attract new and vibrant businesses to the Greater Parkville area."

Kamenetz's letter comes just a day after Baltimore County Councilmembers Cathy Bevins and David Marks wrote to the authority to express their opinion that the promised money should stay in Parkville.

Last year the Baltimore County Revenue Authority voted to sell the parking lot, located along Harford Road between Lavender and Taylor Avenues, to Towson-based DMS Development for a sum of $500,000. The developer would turn the parking lot into a Walgreens store.

The development deal is contingent upon the authority's acquisition of a .2 acre lot, formerly part of a bus loop, owned by the state. The State Board of Public Works, which was scheduled to take up the issue of selling that land this week, has since pulled that item from their agenda after State Comptroller Peter Franchot heard concerns from area legislators.

As part of the deal to sell the lot, the authority proposed that $100,000 of the proceeds would be invested in the Parkville community. suggested that the grant, if it were to be made, should be up for grabs for any community in the county.

After hearing that the quasi-public agency might renege on the deal state Del. John Cluster, a Parkville Republican, threatened the group with legislative retribution.