A controversial proposal for a Baltimore County government center to be turned into a commercial center will go before an administrative law judge Thursday.
The county government is selling the North Point Government Center at the corner of Merritt Boulevard and Wise Avenue in Dundalk to Baltimore-based developer Vanguard for a retail project called Merritt Pavilion.
Plans on file for Merritt Pavilion show a 15,000-square-foot pharmacy, a gas station, four freestanding restaurants, a two-story office building and two buildings with retail shops. Vanguard has mentioned Chipotle, Panera and Five Guys as potential tenants.
A hearing on Merritt Pavilion before an administrative law judge is planned for 10 a.m. Thursday in the Jefferson Building, 105 W. Chesapeake Ave. in Towson.
Members of the civic group Dundalk United plan to oppose the project at the hearing, said member Karen Cruz, who also is president of the Eastfield-Stanbrook Civic Association, which represents a neighborhood adjacent to the community center. Cruz hopes the administrative judge will reject the project.
"This would be a precedent-setter," she said. "Never before has a park been sold for commercial redevelopment. There's no transparency, the community's been left out of the process."
In November, the Baltimore County Council approved a modification of the deal raising the price from $2.1 million to $7.6 million, and allowing Vanguard to pay the price with a combination of up-front cash, a payment plan and forgoing lucrative property tax breaks.
The council also approved absolving Vanguard of a requirement to build a community recreation center on the site; the county government will now build the recreation center.
The government center currently houses a police station, a County Council office, sports, music and theater programs. The police station is scheduled to move into what is now the Eastwood Magnet Elementary School on Eastern Boulevard.
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