Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and thank you for your time this evening. My name is Carrie Kisicki, and I am the Maryland Housing Advocacy Manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth. We advocate across Maryland for state and local policies that support walkable, transit-connected communities.

We are here today to encourage your support for the TOD designation of Lutherville Station.

TOD designation is a tool to unlock state investment for sites next to transit. But it’s about more than just access to state incentives—it needs to be the right fit for the community in question, and we believe it is the right fit for Lutherville.

When we look at statewide examples of prior TOD designations, transit-oriented redevelopments have often been an opportunity to refresh long-underused or aging sites to better serve the neighboring community. These developments can be a chance to open a dialogue with communities to identify local needs—like a local park or playground, better sidewalk connections to transit stations, or public space for music and cultural events—and bring in investments that achieve these goals and deliver for new and existing residents alike.

It can also be a chance to advance economic development and realize greater public benefits from existing investments.

Transit-connected, walkable communities are highly desirable to many people—and that makes transit, and the land around it, a valuable asset that Baltimore County already has, doesn’t have to spend more money to build, and can better leverage for public benefit. This is especially true now as MTA is investing over a billion dollars to make major improvements to light rail stations and infrastructure.

More homes near transit can help employers attract and retain employees—especially young people like me—who want to live in walkable and transit-connected places. Residents of a future development would generate more tax revenue than the existing parking lot and largely vacant commercial spaces—as well as provide a customer base to support local businesses.

TOD designation is a step towards realizing each of these benefits, and will help move this project forward once local stakeholders are ready to move forward together.

For these reasons, we ask for your support for this resolution. Thank you.