An 18-month-old law that opened up single-family properties along the Harford Road corridor to apartment conversions and teardowns for new construction has been nullified by a judge.

Circuit Court Judge Paul J. Cucuzzella ruled today in favor of seven Northeast Baltimore residents who sued the city, arguing that it failed to give them and over 1,700 other property owners proper legal notice of the zoning change, as required by the City Code.

The ruling cancels the Harford Road Overlay District, which rezoned three miles of Harford Road and surrounding streets from single-family zoning to include multi-family zoning.

The overlay district contained parts of Lauraville, Arcadia, Moravia-Walther, Hamilton and Westfield. Because of the pending lawsuit, few changes have taken place in the last 18 months.

The plaintiff’s attorney, John C. Murphy, called today’s ruling “a big victory” for homeowners.

“For many decades, the predominant zoning in the city, the counties, the state and the country is for single families,” he told The Brew. “People want to live in homeowner neighborhoods, not in places packed with rentals.”

The lawsuit and today’s decision represent a setback for the bill’s sponsor, 3rd District Councilman Ryan Dorsey, who represents the northeast neighborhoods affected by the overlay.

Dorsey said this afternoon that he has no interest in appealing the decision since it “was entirely about a procedural error and not the merits of the ordinance.”

“I have already introduced Council Bill 25-0093 and intend to proceed with all required notice to hear the bill in the near future,” he said in a texted response to The Brew.

“My hope is to pass an essentially identical ordinance without procedural defect,” he explained.

RECENT BREW COVERAGE OF ZONING DISPUTES:

• Councilman’s plan to rezone Harford Road for apartments delayed after community pushback (11/19/24)

• On last day of term, Baltimore City Council is ready to pass some major legislation (12/2/24)

• Councilman Ryan Dorsey’s handling of contentious zoning legislation is sparking protests (12/11/25)

• Offered at a Council work session: amendments and arguments to allay concerns about Baltimore zoning bill (2/13/26)

The initial measure grew out of Dorsey’s longtime commitment to zoning and housing legislation aimed at promoting density and affordable housing.

He and supporters have backed legislation to allow apartment conversions and add-ons to housing in single-family-zoned communities, arguing that the one-family model no longer fits the needs of younger and elderly residents and potential new residents.

But those bills ran into strong opposition among some on the Council and in communities.

Test Case

Dorsey’s test case was the Harford Road corridor between Argonne Drive and the county line, which has long suffered from commercial vacancies – the result, he said, of a shortage of residents who could walk to and patronize businesses if their housing needs were met.

The overlay law was a forerunner to Mayor Brandon Scott’s controversial package of housing legislation unveiled last year, which was championed by Dorsey and supported by City Council President Zeke Cohen.

Most of the bills were approved by the Council. But Bill 25-0066, which would permit “low-density, multi-family housing” across the city, was never scheduled for a committee vote after it was blasted by some lawmakers and hooted at by a crowd of about two dozen opponents.

Critics, including many Black community leaders, warned that the bill would lower property values in established neighborhoods and hurt legacy residents who worked hard to gain the security of homeownership.

There were also complaints of lack of transparency.

The zoning changes were configured as “text amendments” rather than as comprehensive rezoning, which by law requires extensive public notice and community review. The Law Department noted that this made Bill 25-0066 potentially vulnerable to a legal challenge.

Pushed onto Council Floor

The Harford Road overlay legislation sparked much of the same criticism of encouraging speculation and favoring slumlords on top of the procedural violation that Judge Cucuzzella affirmed today.

According to overlay opponents, which included the Lauraville Community Review Panel and the Moravia-Walther Improvement Association, Dorsey ignored their questions and concerns, holding just one district-wide meeting on the bill prior to the public hearing.

The zoning notice was then not mailed out to impacted residents prior to the September 10, 2024 hearing, the result of a computer glitch, according to the city.

The City Council committee that heard the bill did not take action, and Dorsey took the unusual step of petitioning the bill onto the Council floor for a vote.

Despite the tradition of “councilmanic courtesy,” Bill 24-0544 passed by a split 10-5 vote and went into effect on January 2, 2025.

Aware that the overlay legislation could be overturned, Dorsey introduced an identically written replacement bill (25-0093) in August 2025.

If the City Council passes the bill and it is enacted into law, Murphy indicated that area residents would likely file another lawsuit against the city.

• Fern Shen contributed to this story.