By Courtney Ferguson and Dedrick Harris
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore County Council passed a bill Monday that will provide help to those who need substance abuse treatment.
The council also approved measures to restrict parking in areas around the county and expand the role of a special review panel to evaluate certain development in the newly established historic district in downtown Towson.
The council approved a supplemental appropriation totaling $79,498 to the Maryland Recovery Net Client Support Services Gifts and Grants Fund, which helps county residents with substance use to access health services.
The fund will provide basic needs such as food, clothing, and transportation to an estimated 225 county residents enrolled in state-funded substance use treatment, according to County documents. The bill will take effect on Nov. 1.
The second measure adds restrictions to parking for commercial vehicles.
The bill, which was proposed by Baltimore County Council Chairwomen Cathy Bevins, D-6th District, prohibits a person from parking or standing a commercial vehicle on any public road, street, or alley north of Tangier Drive and west of Earls Road in the MD 43 Overlay District, a special commercial designation near state Route 43 in Middle River.
The new law goes into effect on Nov. 2 and also prohibits large trucks and tractor-trailer vehicles from parking for more than one hour on any public road, street or alley within 1,000 feet of a residential zone between 1 and 7 a.m.
Violators will face a $250 fine for each their vehicles are parked illegally.
Bevins said the bill was needed because large trucks have become a problem for residents trying to get out of their driveways.
“Many residents in the communities have complained about large vehicles blocking them in and making it impossible to move,” Bevins said. “We have to make a change quickly for our taxpayers.”
Service vehicles owned and operated by the county and public utility and emergency vehicles are not covered by the new parking restrictions.
With the vote of the members of the council, this bill will take effect on Nov. 2.
In other action, the council passed a bill that would give the Baltimore County Design Review Panel jurisdiction to review residential and nonresidential development in the new “Historic East Towson” in downtown Towson. The bill will take effect Nov. 2.
According to County documents, the bill gives the county’s Design Review Panel the power to review developments in the historic district.
The council also appointed Leonard Howie, a former director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs in the Obama administration, as the new director of Economic and Workforce Development.