Developers seek approval to add apartments, 39 moderate‑income units and higher density in Maple Lawn PDP amendment

The Howard County hearing examiner heard testimony July 20 on a petitioners’ request to amend the Maple Lawn preliminary development plan (PDP) to add an apartment building in the business district, include adjacent Book/Bookway parcels in the PDP boundary and increase allowable density in the West (Old Farm) parcel. Petitioners said the plan would introduce purpose‑built rental housing to Maple Lawn and include 39 moderately priced housing units (MIHUs), which petitioners’ witnesses said they plan to provide voluntarily.

Developer Michael Greenenbaum, who described Maple Lawn as a multi‑generational mixed‑use effort, told the examiner his family’s company revised the plan after community feedback and moved apartment units into the business district to activate underutilized parking areas. "We need residential, the county needs residential," he testified, arguing the changes would increase pedestrian traffic and support the business district. Petitioners offered photographic evidence and expert studies on traffic, parking and fiscal effects to support the amendment.

Opponents criticized the scale of the change, questioned whether infrastructure and school capacity were accounted for, and urged stricter setbacks and updated traffic counts. Stu Kohn, representing a local civic association, told the examiner the proposal "should be unequivocally denied" and urged that any MIHU commitment be memorialized in writing if approved. The hearing examiner closed evidentiary testimony and left the record open for memoranda of law through Aug. 21 at 4 p.m., after which the examiner will issue a recommendation for the zoning board.