The vacant houses are in the form of rental homes. Years ago there were very few homes for rent in this area, now they are all over. Stems from homeowners unable to sell in the current downturn and renting as a way to move anyway.

If Marks can get the zoning changed, great! Most of the construction in question is/was on land that wasn't in use and on the NE side of Perry Hall. The traffic casued by that specific construction is all in White Marsh and the roads were... built to handle that traffic. The constant speeding on roads like Seven Courts has very little to do with Honeygo construction. That being said, more construction does mean more kids being sent to the local schools. I seem to remember reading or hearing that Perry Hall High School is one of the largest in the US. And before anyone complains about new construction, I would want to hear how long they've lived in Perry Hall. Most of Seven Courts was built in the late 80's and early 90's. How is that fair to those (like my family) that bought in the mid 70's? How would my family complaining be fair to people who bought in the 60's, 50's, 1800's, etc?

BUILD MORE SCHOOLS 1st !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where do they expect to educate the children ..On the streets ! PH Schools are over crowded now ! And in need of major improvements.

I continue to be amazed by the reference to the evil, greedy home builder. In case is it not clear, home builders exists to build homes. In order to build homes, a builder must receive clearance to do so. Consideration for and approval of that clearance is provided by government and bureaucratic bodies. If that clearance is not granted, a home builder moves on. If it is granted, a builder builds homes. It is not the fault of the home builder if a government body believes that the schools can support additional students and you believe that the schools can't. Many home builders are publicly traded companies and they have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to make money. They do this by building houses. This is called a free market economy.

Perry Hall passed the threshold for its community feel from everything I read and witness. You can build to certain extent over years, but there comes a tipping point.

It don't hurt the builders and real estate moguls to have family members on the boards that claim to have the community's best interest at heart, either.

My family moved here in the 50's. I went to, and graduated from PHHS in 1974. They have been talking about expanding ever since. I guess the little green trailers are their idea of expansion.

Yes, we live in a free market society, and the building is good for economic growth, but ENOUGH is ENOUGH already! There has got to be a better way.

I would also like to know where the extra students are all coming from regarding the overcrowding complaints. The new construction added a good amount, I'm sure, but if the overcrowding is that bad, there would be more coming from all over. Like I said in my previous comment, the houses around Seven Courts were built in the late 80’s and early 90’s and there are several other developments in the Perry Hall area that are from the early 90’s. Kids born from 1994-1998 would be in high school right now and would coincide with houses built in the early 90’s with new couples/families having kids after buying new houses. So for all of those complaining about the overcrowding, I’m sure it’s an issue, but where exactly are the extra students coming from?

Go build houses somewhere else !!! enough already !!

As a Builder/developer who wrote the original blog, I have researched the overcrowded school issue in some detail. Most people just assume it is more children. Simply not true. When the school system went from 1/2 day Kindergarten to all day they doubled the classroom requirement. What used to be 4 1/2 day classes using just two rooms, overnight became the need for four rooms. Whose fault, not the Builder/Developer? How many of you have children attending GT classes that have 10 kids in the class instead of 25 kids when I went to school. How about 1/2 filled AP classes. Class sizes have fallen in the name of better education. Perry Hall schools are "overcrowded" but adjoining schools are not. Anyone ever heard of redistricting? School overcrowding has lots of causes, most are not overbuilding related and those are the simple facts. Look up how any kids are in public schools now compared to the 1970's, the answer will shock you.

Mr. Redmer,
I'm glad others know of the corruption in the community that was disguised as a benefit for the community.
What a travesty!!

Mr. Amirault,
Not to question your research, but in an article dated November 14, 2011, right here on Patch, the Baltimore Co. Board of Ed. was quoted giving statistics that the elementary schools in Perry Hall are as much as 115 percent occupied. Far above expected. And where do you think these children will attend higher grade level schools?
And all those houses you built? I find it hard to believe that the huge increase in houses in the past 10 years were only built for non child bearing adults.
Home schooled??? I think not!!

School overcrowding is not entirely driven by development. Throughout Baltimore County, older residents are selling their homes to younger families; this is the reason why there are overcrowded schools in neighborhoods with almost no residential growth. Stoneleigh Elementary School in Towson, which I also represent, exceeds its capacity by 30 percent; Hampton Elementary is nearly 80 percent overcapacity. The county has prioritized its funding in this area because the overcrowding is most acute there. The introduction of all-day kindergarten has also had an impact throughout the county.

Development does contribute to the problem, however, and I am downzoning up to 480 acres of land in the Fifth District to try to shape the scale and look of future growth. It is the most significant zoning action initiated by a County Councilmember from this district in 20 years. But at the same time, keep in mind that development does grow our tax base. In an aging county, we simply will not be able to pay for all those schools and infrastructure people want without the tax revenue generated by some level of development.

And I will always say that Perry Hall is fantastic place to live, with great schools, many more parks than other communities, a great recreation program, low crime rates, and a sense of charm and history. It's the reason why so many people want to live here.

Mr. Amirault needs to take a look at Gunpowder ES, and my daughter's 1st grade class that has 27 kids. I don't care how many kids we "thought" was ok to pack into a classroom in the '70's! Times have changed. There is no way those kids are each getting the attention they need on a daily basis. There are no GT classes at Gunpowder with 10 kids in it. Give me a break. When all of the new houses were filled in our neighborhood, they had to add a new bus line just for the kids in our neighborhood.
That being said, I have no problem with the new homes being built, but the schools need to be able to accommodate all of the kids. It seems like there is a total disconnect. These new homes generate new tax dollars, and that money should go to school building/renovating/adding additions.

I haven't done my homework on this, but I believe the new homes set to be built next to the library, as well as the new Forge Crossing homes are all districted for Gunpowder. That is where all of the kids from the older surrounding homes go.
I hear you on the "redistricting" complaints, as I recall the Vincent Farm/Chapel Hill fiasco. But the bottom line is, something needs to be done.
Yes, Gunpowder has all day Kindergarten, as does every school in the state now.
That would account for losing 2 classrooms. But adding two classrooms now would not solve the class size and overcrowding problems. Kudos to David Marks to try and slow down development, but like he said, families with young kids move into the older homes as well. Complicated issue, but something needs to be done.

This is a fairly simple problem with a fairly simple answer. What makes/made Perry Hall great and desirable is that it is not the city. It doesnt cover every square inch of open earth with concrete and steel. What the greedy developers seek is to put a mcmansion anywhere they can squeeze one, because it makes them money. The government doesnt argue, because it makes them money too. If the government was more focused on the needs and wants of the citizens, then the overdevelopment would be curbed. What the short-sighted developers dont see, is that they're ruining our town, one subdivision at a time. They have to end game, they only see dollars. Where does it end? At what point do you stop cutting down trees and leveling fields? Probably once its all gone, then they're on to the next patch of nature to destroy.

The responsibility to control growth is in the hands of the county council. Luck for us David Marks is doing a great job.
It's a tough situation for the landowners. If you have an old farm or large parcel at some point you or your heirs are going to want to sell to a developer to make a bundle and/or pay off their inheritance taxes. Others have made their fortunes selling land, why not us?? They will feel it's unfair when the county stops them from cashing out. You can see the balancing act is a tough one and there will always be winners and losers. In reality the developers are not to blame. They are only employed once the county zoning allows for the landowners to make their deals.

There is a simple solution to this. All of the people who are against more housing in Perry Hall (and hence more people) can simply join together to pay more for land than the evil developers are offering. I know that if I had valuable land in Perry Hall that a developer was willing to pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars for, I'm selling. I'm selling because it is about the kids - my kids and grandkids who would benefit from getting a nice little nest egg to make their future a bit brighter.

If you want land turned into a park or kept as is, buy it!

I don't think anyone in Perry Hall is against building all together. But when we have discussions about what to put on a piece of property here and there, it begs to me, why leaving it undeveloped can't be an option. It seems that the thinking is that we must develope every square inch of land.
My main problem with development is the destruction of the old and historic buildings. Of course there all gone now, so I guess the argument is mute.
Those of us that have lived here all our lives were recently bombarded with a HUGE amount of changes and we just think it's time to stop or at least slow down and consider what the future will look like.

As the only "greedy" developer who appears willing to post on the Patch, I am compelled to respond to some of the comments which are indirectly headed my way.

I am in the business of developing real estate in accordance with the underlying zoning that was put in place by politicians many years ago. We were invited to build and develop and now we are lepers? I have never requested the rezoning of a parcel of property so I could build homes on the property. The homes I built and the property I developed in Perry Hall are amongst the most desirable homes people wanted to buy. That list includes properties in Perry Hall Farms, Glenside Farms, Shadowcreek, Parkside, Perry Hall Crossing I & II, Forge Reserve, and several more. The people in those communities pay a substantial amount of the tax burden, both property and income taxes, levied by Baltimore County and the state of Maryland. These people, many of which send their children to private schools, pay a large portion of the taxes that support the public schools our children attend (yes, my children attended public schools in Perry Hall and Kingsville).

Being called "greedy" is very offensive when what I and other developer/builders do is comply with the laws in existence when doing real estate development.

Folks, the population is continuing to grow, people continue to have children, if you don't have a place where young people wish to live, our community will slowly disintegrate.

I understand development to an extent, but if you want to see a good example of what not to do - drive on Rossville Blvd. towards Franklin Square - look at the 4 houses thrown up along the right side of road with a little open area out front. It is totally out of place. The houses ar beautiful, but obviously not built with the future owner in mind.

The future population can move into all the vacant housing that is available. Unless it gets torn down before they get here.