St. Thomas Lane /Painters Mill Service Road

The Valleys Planning Council and the Greater Greenspring Association (GGA), along with numerous members of the community, were concerned about a proposed service road that would allow travelers from Painters Mill Road to use St. Thomas Lane, a narrow, rural-residential road, as a bypass to reach points to the east.

A developer who is planning to build a new business on Reisterstown Road was being required by the County to put in a continuation of an existing service road that currently extends south from Rosewood Lane. This would have required the builder to receive a parking variance much larger than what would be needed without the road – 14 spaces with the road, just 1 space without it. An area that would otherwise provide parking for the new business as well as a second one would instead be the service road.

Councilman Patoka weighed in and agreed there was no need for the road. In fact, during the development of Foundry Row, located across the street from where the service road is proposed, the State Highway Administration installed a concrete median along Reisterstown Road to prevent traffic coming from Painters Mill Road from using St. Thomas Lane as a cut-through.

The community did not want the service road. The developer did want the service road. A hearing was held April 26 to decide if the parking variance should be granted. VPC and Greater Greenspring Association met with the County, which agreed that it did not need to require the service road. The plan was amended to show a parking lot instead of the service road. We have also asked the County to sign an agreement that will be recorded in the land records so that the service road will never be extended to St. Thomas Lane.

More than 150 people signed thevirtual petition opposing the service road. VPC is grateful to all the people who helped stop the service road, especially to Councilman Patoka and to Greater Greenspring Association, which worked very hard to publicize this issue.

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