Legislative File #10-0493/REZONING provided for the rezoning of key blocks of Annapolis Rd from residential to mixed-use "b" zoning, (business and residential). Current residents and property owners are not be required to do anything, but new businesses will be able to open on Westport's "Main Street" again.

Legislative File #10-0494/URBAN RENEWAL PLAN provided for a limited urban renewal plan (URP) to ensure that certain undesirable uses are prohibited, (e.g, liquor stores, taverns, adult book stores, pawn shops), and that any new stores conform to basic design standards, (re: signage, store fronts, wall and fencing standards, screening of parking facilities, etc.). The URP was drafted by Planning in response to neighborhood feedback during the many community presentations.  

One of the most effective things that can be done to revitalize Westport and benefit the existing neighborhood is to bring back small businesses to Westport’s "Main Street," Annapolis Road.
It will support the community and bring vitality to the streets.  

Promoting mixed-use, sustainable communities in Baltimore's Middle Branch Harbor is not a new idea.  The Middle Branch Master Plan and the Mt. Winans-Westport-Lakeland Master Plan promote walkable communities that provide basic needs, including neighborhood retail.  In Westport, Annapolis Road used to be the neighborhood's "Main Street," with banks, restaurants, a library, a little movie house and a pharmacy with an ice cream counter.  By rezoning Annapolis Road for mixed-used, businesses will be able to open again where vacant buildings now sit.  Existing homeowners will not be required to do anything, but they will be able to open businesses in their homes if they so choose.

A neighborhood "Main Street" will provide needed products and services as well as new job opportunities for neighbors.  A thriving business district puts more eyes on the street making the neighborhood a safer place.  And as a business district, Annapolis Road may become eligible for more streetscape improvements, possibly Main Street designation, additional city services, (such as daily trash pick-up and additional police coverage), and more. 

By rezoning Annapolis Road now instead of later, the neighbors living in Westport who want to open their own businesses will have a chance to "get in on the ground floor" of the coming development with a ready-built customer base.  A new deli or bakery, for example, will not only serve a neighborhood that needs it, it will be able to serve the construction workers and others soon to descend on the waterfront as well, providing a unique opportunity for local businesses to get in early on a quickly expanding market.

Investors who own multiple vacant properties on Annapolis Road will be more likely to rehab their properties now instead of later if rezoning expands their market to include office and commercial use buyers and tenants in addition to the residential market.  And neighborhood improvements stimulate more neighborhood improvements.  Revitalization is contagious.

With the rezoning of Annapolis Road, Westport will have taken the first step toward getting its Main Street back and could start firmly on the road toward the sustainable community envisioned in the Master Plan.