Protesters decry lack of transparency on anniversary of “Treegate”

About 75 people rallied Monday in honor of “Treegate,” an incident last year in which Baltimore County cut down 30 trees at York Road and Bosley Avenue. The property was in limbo at the time because Caves Valley Partners was pursuing a gas station at the site, but it had not yet been approved.

The trees were to be protected under a County Council resolution, and the property was to be sold “as is” — without expenditures by the county, such as tree removal. But Fred Homan, an official with County Executive Kevin Kamenetz’ office, said they removed the trees to accelerate the sale of the land.

The protest was attended by several politicians and political candidates, including Sen. Jim Brochin and John Olszewski Jr., who are both running for county executive; Robbie Leonard, who is running to replace Brochin in the Senate; and Sheila Ruth, who is challenging Tom Quirk in the County Council.

Because zoning does not allow gas pumps at that location, Caves Valley pusued the project — known as the Towson Gateway — through a Planned Unit Development (PUD) resolution. A PUD is a request submitted by a district’s councilperson that asks for permission to build a project that otherwise would not be allowed.

Councilman David Marks, who represents Towson, submitted the PUD to the County Council but later moved to rescind it, but that motion failed. Later, the community and Caves Valley reached an agreement to move forward without a gas station. The council will vote April 16 on the revised plan and a lower purchase price.

Councilman Wade Kach said in a statement Monday: “I was outraged last year by the brazen cutting of mature specimen trees on the grounds of the old fire station. Simply put, the actions of Baltimore County Government violated the PUD resolution which which Councilman Marks and I tried to rescind. Had a private entity done this without proper permitting (as the County did) there would be significant legal consequences.

Because the funds used to pay the contractor to cut the trees came from the operating budget of property management to, in effect, help the well connected developer, legitimate questions remain as to whether the funds were misspent.

That is why last year I called for an audit of these actions and continue to support one.

Unfortunately, in order for a formal audit to take place, it requires the support of a majority of the council. To date, such a majority does not exist.  However this is something I am continuing to push for.

It is my hope that the rally will change some minds on the Council.”