A proposal for a new outlet mall in White Marsh has been dealt a blow by Baltimore County's Board of Appeals, which sided with opponents and rejected an earlier approval for the project.
In deliberations Wednesday, board members voted to send the plan back to an administrative judge to review Baltimore-based Paragon Outlet Partners' plan for a mixed-use development centered around a high-end, outdoor outlet mall.
Officials said the ruling will be official when it is put into writing within two weeks, and will specify what the board wants the judge to reconsider.
"We view it as a victory," said G. Macy Nelson, an attorney who represents local residents opposed to the outlet mall.
Nelson said board members had a lot of questions about "stormwater, the traffic, the forest buffer, the forest conservation issue and the neighborhood issue."
The project's developer, R. Kelvin Antill declined to comment, saying he wanted to review the written decision. Paragon attorney G. Scott Barhight could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Baltimore-based Paragon wants to build more than 100 outlet stores totaling 568,000 square feet, plus 250,000 square feet of office space, 250 apartments and a 130-room hotel near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Route 43. The 83-acre tract is not far from White Marsh Mall and the Avenue at White Marsh shopping plaza.
Last fall, a county administrative judge approved Paragon's proposal as a revision of an earlier plan that included mainly offices and homes.
The group of neighbors appealed, as did Chicago-based General Growth Properties, which owns the nearby White Marsh Mall. General Growth argued the outlets would put a dent in White Marsh Mall's business, violating a provision of certain development types in Baltimore County requiring that they not adversely affect existing businesses.
Neighbors said the outlet mall would aggravate traffic problem and insisted the mall should follow newer standards for controlling stormwater runoff.
Heather Patti, one of the neighbors involved in the appeal, said she's elated with the board's decision.
"I look forward to the upcoming months for the legal process to run its course, and am hopeful that the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries — which include Bird River and White Marsh Run — will be the real winners," said Patti, who is president of the White Marsh-Cowenton Community Association.
General Growth's attorney, Edward J. Gilliss, said his client would continue to fight against the outlet mall but declined to comment on the Board of Appeals decision until the written ruling is issued.
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