ELDERSBURG -- The Board of County Commissioners last week approved a rezoning for the proposed Main Street Eldersburg shopping center, changing the 12.5-acre property's zoning from an industrial designation to Business General, a category the owners say will help them secure retail tenants.

In a 2-0 vote in favor by commissioners Mike Zimmer and Dean Minnich -- with Commissioner Julia Gouge absent -- the board agreed with Black Oak Associates, developers of the property, that the area had changed so much in recent years that industrial zoning is no longer valid.

Main Street Eldersburg is planned to be a 80,000-square-foot, "high-end" retail center off Londontown Boulevard, about a block north of Liberty Road.

County planners noted that the area for the center has been zoned for industrial uses for decades because it was envisioned as an employment area for the county.

Retail centers are allowed under that zone -- with conditions -- but William Dulany, an attorney for Black Oak, told the commissioners that being a "conditional use" scares away some potential suitors.

"A lender wants to be absolutely certain you have a Business General use," he said. "Having conditions (on it), or a nonconforming use, throws a curve in your loan application."

He also noted that neighbors of the Main Street property are predominantly retail now, so the change would fit the way the area has developed. "It's all Business General use anyway," he said.

-- Jim Joyner

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