Fifth District County Council member David Marks said this week that he believes plans for additional parking at the proposed Towson Circle III project will signal momentum for that long-awaited project — and start a series of economic boosts for Towson in 2012.

The 4-acre Towson Circle III project, bounded by Joppa Road and Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware avenues, is being developed by Cordish Companies, and is slated to house restaurants and a movie theater.

Late in December, the Baltimore County Revenue Authority voted to approve additional funding for 150 more parking spaces beneath the development. The authority also voted to approve a new master lease with the county for the garage, and an amendment that would allow the Revenue Authority to issue the bonds necessary for the garage project.

The changes require County Council approval, and Marks said would likely happen in January — around the same time the councilman has been told buildings could begin to be demolished on the property.

Lynnie Cook, chief executive of the Revenue Authority, said the group voted for the parking revision based on a report filed by the Philadelphia consulting group, Chance Management.

Simply put, he said, the report indicated a new design — calling for an 862-space parking garage beneath the proposed cinema instead of a 712-space garage — was more profitable than the former design.

Without the additional space, overflow parking during peak times would have been required at the Towson Library

"They felt that (adding parking spaces) was important because they wanted to make sure parking was on-site," Marks said. "They didn't think people would want to park at the library and walk all the way over to the area they were creating there."

"If we add another 150 spaces, we don't have to rely on people going to overflow parking," Cook said. "It makes a lot more sense."

Cook said the county will be asked to commit around $2.6 million toward the garage, with the Revenue Authority putting up the balance of roughly $13.5 million.

The Revenue Authority is the quasi-governmental agency that operates and maintains parking and golf courses in Baltimore County. After the Towson Circle III garage is built, the authority will operate it as well.

Cook also said that, in addition to the parking change, the revenue authority is also more comfortable with Cordish's new design for the Towson Circle III project.

Initially, the design called for a three-story office complex, one or two restaurants and a handful of retail shops to accompany a 2,500- to 2,700-seat theater.

But the new plan, which Marks said takes elements from The Avenue at White Marsh, will feature a center driveway with five or six restaurants and a larger, 3,100-seat theater.

Cordish officials could not be reached for comment, but at a hearing before the county's Development Review Committee in September, developers said the one-way entrance would lead to a European-style fountain and roundabout, with an exit that leads to Virginia Avenue.

Cook said the new design would bring a "much nicer flow to the facility."

"It's going to bring a lot of life back to Towson," Cook said. "You want to see a resurgence of life there, and that's what this project is going to do, in combination with the Towson City Center."

Cook said officials hope the impact of the projects near the roundabout trickle down through the Towson core, and perhaps even to Towson Commons.

"We're of the belief that once the City Center opens, and once our project opens, hopefully someone will see that the former Towson Commons site is the next piece of the puzzle for completing the resurgence of Towson," Cook said.

Marks agreed, and said completion of the two projects "would give us a lot of momentum" in revitalizing Towson Commons and developing the Towson Triangle — the land between West Burke Ave, York Road and West Towsontown Boulevard.

Other than the lease, Marks indicated there were a few other issues to tackle regarding the development.

Namely, he said the Dec. 19 homicide at the Towson Town Center Mall has made the security aspect of the new development important to review, and the proposed restaurants will need to acquire liquor licenses — an issue that County Executive Keven Kamenetz has been discussing with legislators.

Marks said he will host a meeting on Feb. 8 at the East Towson Carver Community Center, 300 Lennox Ave., for residents to meet with the Towson Circle III developer and county representatives, to learn about the proposed development. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.