The debate over the project, which dates back seven years, pits an historically African American neighborhood that says it has been taken advantage of for decades against a developer that counters it’s planning to build a quality apartment complex that would provide much needed affordable housing. Photo Courtesy Of Homes For America.
The debate over the project, which dates back seven years, pits an historically African American neighborhood that says it has been taken advantage of for decades against a developer that counters it’s planning to build a quality apartment complex that would provide much needed affordable housing. Photo Courtesy Of Homes For America.

The fight over the Red Maple Place affordable housing project in East Towson is not over, with opponents now zeroing in on its environmental impact.

The debate over the project, which dates back seven years, pits an historically African American neighborhood that says it has been taken advantage of for decades against a developer that counters it’s planning to build a quality apartment complex that would provide much needed affordable housing.

Red Maple Place cleared what appeared to be the final hurdle for the project on July 1, when the Baltimore County Council agreed not to subject it to new design standards.

But opponents of the project are hoping they can still stop the 56-unit building through a resolution the County Council unanimously passed last November. The resolution, which was introduced by Councilman Mike Ertel who represents Towson, asks Maryland’s Department of the Environment to study any adverse environmental impact of developing the 2.5 acre wooded site on Joppa Road.

Read more (and listen) at WYPR.