ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today announced his support for Zoning Amendment Regulation 221 (ZRA-221), which allows for the adaptive reuse and redevelopment of existing motel and hotel sites along the Route 1 Corridor in Howard County. Photos from the event can be found on Howard County Government’s Flickr webpage.
For generations, our Route One Corridor has been a vital economic hub for our county and state. Route One has the incredible potential to be transformed into an active, vibrant, mixed-use hub that supports residents, creates jobs, and fosters community. However, we know that more can and must be done to address blight, revitalize the corridor, and move our shared vision for a Route One forward. Through ZRA-221, we are listening to the many residents who have urged action by creating a real pathway to transform aging motel properties along Route One. This legislation offers us long-term, strategic answer to transform these properties and fulfill our shared vision for this corridor.
In 2023, Ball proposed the Route 1 Corridor Plan for Washington Boulevard, which was adopted alongside the County’s General Plan, HoCo By Design. The Route 1 Corridor Plan highlighted some of the key challenges facing Route 1, including pockets of commercial and industrial legacy land uses, some of which have become blighted due to decades of disinvestment. Over the last several decades, Route 1 has seen an increasing number of deteriorating, unsightly, and underutilized commercial and industrial properties that do not conform to the current Zoning Regulations or enhance the corridor. To address these challenges, the Route 1 Corridor Plan recommended targeted strategies to redevelop and revitalize many of the underutilized and blighted properties located throughout the corridor.
The zoning regulation amendment has been proposed by Himanshu Amin, who owns Terrace Motel, Turf Motel, and Boulevard Motel along Route 1. The amendment promotes strategic reinvestment, adaptive reuse of underutilized and blighted hotel and motel sites, compact mixed-use activity centers, and improved corridor design to support a vibrant, walkable, and economically sustainable environment. Redevelopment could include a mix of residential, retail, restaurant, office, and employment-supporting flex space.
As the owner of the Terrace, Boulevard, and Turf Motels along the Route 1 corridor, we recognize the enormous, untapped potential of lodging that was constructed more than 50 years ago. We commend the County Executive and partners on the County Council for their transformative vision for the Route 1 corridor as represented in County’s general plan. Your support of this important and timely legislation will unlock our ability to reinvest in these sites to create beautiful new homes for families and individuals while also delivering much-need moderate income units for Howard County residents. This legislation has the potential to kick-start a renewal of this historic and economically-significant corridor, benefitting generations to come.
ZRA-221 seeks to add an amendment to Section 128.0 of the Howard County Zoning Regulations, titled Supplementary Zoning District Regulations, to add a new provision titled “Adaptive Reuse and Redevelopment of Existing Hotel/Motel Sites in the Route 1 Corridor.” This new provision would permit a limited set of additional land uses when a county approved redevelopment or adaptive reuse project of a Route 1 Corridor hotel/motel site (a) demolishes or reuses the hotel/motel structure and (b) brings the site into conformation with the Route 1 Manual and current site development requirements. The ZRA will affect an estimated 16 legacy motels and hotel sites along the US1 corridor.
The Howard County Planning Board unanimously voted to recommend the ZRA for adoption to the County Council in a 5-0 vote during their March 5, 2026, meeting.
“The purpose of ZRA 221 is simple but powerful: to encourage adaptive reuse and redevelopment of aging hotel and motel properties along the Route 1 Corridor. For too long, these outdated sites have created an unsightly and underutilized stretch — well past their useful life. This regulation amendment gives them a second life, restoring vitality, attracting investment, and continuing the momentum of redevelopment already underway along Route 1,” said Lynda Eisenberg, Director of the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning. “ZRA 221 is more than a zoning change — it’s a catalyst for renewal along Route 1, turning yesterday’s hotels into tomorrow’s neighborhoods and business hubs.”
In addition, ZRA-221 includes requirements to deliver long-term Moderate Income Housing Units as part of qualifying redevelopment projects with residential units. Under the amendment, residential developments must include at least 15% Moderate Income Housing Units (MIHU). This provision advances the housing goals of HoCo By Design and the Route 1 Corridor Plan by expanding access to attainable housing opportunities for a range of income levels. By integrating MIHUs into mixed use redevelopment, the amendment supports inclusive, equitable growth while maintaining the financial feasibility needed to attract reinvestment.
“According to data in the County’s 5-year Consolidated Plan, only 2% of the County’s low income households are living in housing they can afford,” said Kelly Cimino, Director of the Howard County Department of Housing and Community Development. “This ZRA supports objectives in the Housing Opportunities Master Plan by addressing housing affordability challenges for existing and future residents and reduces blight on the Rt.1 Corridor while creating opportunities for new, affordable and accessible housing units.”
The amendment is the latest effort to revitalize the Route 1 corridor. In 2025, Ball sponsored and passed legislation to renew the US1 tax credit program. This program allows the County to offer a tax credit against the County tax imposed on certain commercial or industrial real property located adjacent to Route 1 that is renovated, upgraded, or rehabilitated, under certain conditions. Since Fiscal Year 2022, the County has approved more than $315,000 in tax credits to enhance building conditions along the US1 corridor, including three motel/hotel properties. Under Ball’s recent legislation, the Route One Tax Credit Program has been authorized through FY2031.
Additionally, last year, Ball signed CB10-2025 and CB19-2025. CB10 expands the County’s Right of First Purchase authority to allow the County or the Housing Commission or their assignees to purchase Mobile Home Parks or Motels offered for sale in the County. CB19 prohibits lodging establishments, such as hotels and motels, from providing or offering to provide certain rooms in a lodging establishment for an hourly period of time. Since the passage of this legislation, the County has increased enforcement against hourly rentals to promote safety and reduce the probability of illicit and illegal activities in motels, such as human trafficking.
“We applaud the efforts of our county leadership to promote reinvestment in our community that will enhance safety, reduce crime, and provide stable housing opportunities,” said Angela Shiplet, Elkridge resident and member of the Elkridge Community Alliance. “Elkridge is a vibrant, unique, and historic community and we look forward with appreciation to continued investment and initiatives to make this stretch of the route one corridor better reflect the pride we have in our community.”
“For people of faith this season brings the gift of new life from God and more,” said Reverend Mary Sulerud of Grace Episcopal Church in Elkridge. “We are called as people of faith to engage in God's promise of transformation of ourselves and our community. I am grateful to County Executive Ball and the motel owners who have agreed to support this legislation that will literally transform not only Route 1, but the lives of many in this County who are in critical need of affordable housing. As a person of faith, I support this effort that not only brings revitalization but another measure of justice for those in need.”
ZRA-221 builds on other recent efforts by Ball to facilitate redevelopment of blighted parcels along the US1 corridor. Earlier this month, Ball announced that the County is selling its 1.92-acre Hurst property, located at 9770 and 9790 Washington Boulevard in Laurel, to the Howard County Housing Commission. Under this plan, the Housing Commission will redevelop the Hurst property and two other vacant, blighted parcels into a mixed-income homeownership community. Altogether, these three parcels of land equate to roughly 10 acres of redevelopment opportunity in Howard County, which will feature approximately 60 homeownership units, with at least 30 percent dedicated as affordable.
ZRA-221 will be pre-filed with the County Council this Thursday March 26, 2026. The ZRA could receive a vote as early as the County Council’s legislative session on Monday, May 4, 2026.