City Council oks, then stalls parking bill for Westside grocery store
Council gives preliminary (but not final) approval for expanded grocery store parking on West North Avenue sought by developer P. David Bramble
Above: MCB is already advertising online for retailers to join Streets Market at 600 West North Avenue. (reservoirsquare.com)
In a peculiar series of votes, the Baltimore City Council approved tonight a variance to double the allowable parking spaces for a grocery store on North Avenue proposed by developer P. David Bramble, then failed to muster enough votes for same-day final passage of the bill.
As a result, the legislation was left for the next Council meeting, which won’t take place until September 14.
To win same-day passage, a bill must secure 12 of 15 Council votes. Two members, President Zeke Cohen and 13th District Councilman Antonio Glover, were absent, leaving 13 members to vote.
Councilman Mark Conway abstained, Councilwoman Danielle McCray left the chambers, and Ryan Dorsey voted no, leaving the bill with only 10 affirmative votes.
As chair of the Land Use and Transportation Committee, Dorsey played a pivotal role in getting the bill to this point. He presided over a contentious public hearing where local residents said the number of parking spaces should be reduced, while supporting the need for a new supermarket in a notorious Baltimore “food desert.”
Asked after the meeting why he voted against third-reader passage while ratifying preliminary approval, Dorsey responded, “No comment.”
Site plan for MCB’s strip mall on the 600 block of West North Avenue, which currently will feature a Streets grocery store, a liquor store, a possible restaurant and retail shops. BELOW: Midday traffic backs up at North Avenue next to the site. (MCB, Mark Reutter)
Demand by Streets Market
Based on tonight’s vote, Bramble’s plans for a 20,000-square-foot strip mall on the 600 block of West North Avenue will be approved, with variances to sell liquor on the site and to increase from 36 to 65 the number of off-street parking spaces.
Bramble, managing partner of MCB Real Estate, which is building an adjacent townhouse development on North Avenue, has insisted that Streets Market would not open a grocery store at the site unless more parking was permitted, including parking on North Avenue in a lane now reserved for transit buses.
Before the votes, Dorsey said city zoning laws should be changed to allow for sufficient parking for important neighborhood improvements like grocery stores.
As it now stands, MCB’s request for the parking variance “is pretty much a textbook example of what cannot be used as criteria in granting a variance.” He said the Council would be “turning a blind eye” to the law by approving the variance.
• Parking-averse City Council is put to the test as prominent developer asks for more of it (5/4/26)
• Also opposing MCB’s North Avenue parking variance request: Former BMZA Director Rebecca Witt (5/6/26)
Dorsey voted against the findings of fact, then joined the majority to approve the bill on second reader.
Conway said there were several aspects of the bill that led to his abstentions, including removing the bus lane for on-street parking.
Bill sponsor James Torrence invited his colleagues to see for themselves that “there are very few locations where you can actually place a grocery store on West North Avenue because of the racial discrimination and the way that we zoned this city.”
“I want to be transparent,” he continued. “Black people deserve grocery stores. We deserve to eat in our neighborhoods. We deserve amenities. And it was by the zoning code and those who led this council prior to this who got us into this situation.”