There has been intense public interest in Mayor Brandon Scott’s package of zoning bills, including Bill 25-0066, which is now before the Baltimore City Council. The bill removes single-family zoning in Baltimore residential districts citywide, with the aim of promoting density and population growth. It also would permit up to four dwelling units on a single residential lot.

This commentary is by Omar Hamza, president of the Madison Park Improvement Association. Others are welcome to submit commentary on the legislation to editors@baltimorebrew.com.

In recent months, few proposals at City Hall have sparked as much discussion as these bills, which bring about modest densification in Baltimore’s residential neighborhoods.

I understand why some of my neighbors feel uneasy. They worry about negligent landlords, changes to the character of their blocks and the potential for lower housing quality. These concerns come from a genuine desire to protect the places we call home.

But it is also important that we create the conditions for Baltimore to grow and thrive in the future.

In my neighborhood of Madison Park, we are no strangers to challenges. We have homes that are poorly managed, buildings that are deteriorating and entire blocks that would benefit from new investment.

We also have many large homes occupied by a single individual or a small family who may not be able, or willing, to maintain such large structures on their own.

We have many large homes occupied by a single individual or a small family who may not be able, or willing, to maintain them on their own.

My own corner rowhouse had been subdivided into three units long before I arrived, and I live in one of them.

For me and my neighbors, this is all the space we need to feel more than comfortable.

This home made it possible for me to invest in a neighborhood I care about and to remain rooted here.

It has also given me the ability to support real neighbors with real needs.

Not a Radical Shift

Recently, a member of our community who grew up here and wanted to stay near family but could not afford the cost of purchasing and rehabbing an entire rowhouse rented a unit. It provides the space they need for themselves and their child without forcing them out of the neighborhood.

My neighbor, an older resident who lost their partner, is now exploring a subdivision of their own home. Their goal is not profit but the ability to cover living costs and put unused space to good use.

These are just some examples of what gentle density looks like in my neighborhood: residents solving practical problems in ways that allow them to age in place and remain part of the community.

Another close friend and neighbor is pursuing a cooperative model in their rowhouse, creating space for students and working professionals who want to live in Baltimore and contribute to its growth. Their home sits on a transit-rich corridor, making it an ideal place for exactly the kind of equitable, inclusive housing options our city needs.

This reform is far more modest than the fears surrounding it. It simply aligns zoning with the structural reality of the homes Baltimoreans already occupy.

Our rowhouses were built with the strength, depth and flexibility to hold multiple units with only interior changes. For generations, many of them did. Restrictive zoning – not physical limits – forced those uses out.

Allowing up to four units again is not a radical shift. It is a restoration of how these homes were historically used, and how they were designed to function.

Path Forward

Much of the opposition comes from broader anxieties about vacant homes, disinvestment and absentee ownership. Those concerns are valid.

But freezing our housing policy in place because of fear will not solve these issues.

If anything, preventing homeowners from creating additional, legal, safe units will make those problems harder to fix.

Baltimore now faces a choice: Do we want a city that adapts, welcomes new residents and gives longtime neighbors more options to stay? Or do we cling to a past shaped by exclusion and scarcity?

The path forward is clear. Gentle, well-regulated density is not a threat to our neighborhoods. It is a chance to strengthen them.