UPDATE: Marks, Bevins, Huff Sponsor Anti-Panhandle Lot Legislation

UPDATE (1:33 p.m.) — Councilman David marks told Patch that the anti-panhandle lot legislation proposed at last night's County Council meeting will be considered in a May 1 County Council and be voted on at a May 7 council meeting.

At last night's County Council meeting the three legislators representing the Parkville, Carney and Cub Hill neighborhoods proposed legislation to ban panhandle building lots in the area, according to a release from Fifth District Councilman David Marks.

The new bill was sponsored by Marks, Sixth District Councilwoman Cathy Bevins and Third District Councilman Todd Huff.

The trio of lawmakers decided to introduce the new regulation in accordance with the Carney-Cub Hill-Parkville Communtiy Plan adopted by the Council in 2010.

Panhandle lots, like the ones illustrated in red on the county document attached to this article, allow a developer to put an additional lot onto an existing property without building a new road.

A memo from the County Auditors office to Councilman David Marks, obtained by Patch, explains that 274 (or 1.4 percent) of the 20,140 lots within the Carney-Cub Hill-Parkville Communtiy Plan area are currently panhandle lots.

"This legislation codifies a key recommendation of the Carney-Cub Hill-Parkville Community Plan," Marks said in a press release. "It will prevent units from being sandwiched into small properties throughout this part of northeastern Baltimore County."

The Carney-Cub Hill-Parkville Community Plan says that "the creation of new panhandle lots should not be permitted. Panhandle lots in suburban residential neighborhoods contribute to an undesirable living environment and compromise the stability and overall quality of the neighborhoods."

Panhandle lots are not permitted in the South Perry Hall growth area, and they are allowed in Perry Hall’s Honeygo district and Middle River only under certain circumstances, according to Marks.

"For me, this is about controlling density and smart development," Bevins said in a statement. "I have seen examples of panhandle neighborhoods in the Sixth District, but this region is loaded with hills and environmental features not found in many other parts of the county."

Do you think that the development of "panhandle lots" should be banned in Carney, Cub Hill and Parkville? Tell us in the comments.