Anne Arundel County Council delays final vote on controversial zoning bill

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — After another long night inside the Anne Arundel County Council chambers, a controversial zoning bill still has not received a final vote.

Bill 61-26 is a sweeping update to Anne Arundel County's zoning regulations. It was introduced in July and has undergone multiple rounds of amendments as council members work through the legislation.

Although the bill covers much more than food trucks, proposed restrictions affecting food truck operators have become one of its most controversial provisions in recent weeks.

Food truck owners previously told WMAR-2 News that the original proposal had restrictions that could significantly hurt their businesses.

During Monday night's meeting, Councilmember Nathan Volke questioned how the legislation has been characterized.

“We can’t have it both ways. It’s either a housekeeping bill that’s got technical changes or it’s a substantive bill that also has a couple of technical changes with it.” Councilmember Lisa Brannigan Rodvien said the debate surrounding the bill has also required council members to spend significant time addressing misinformation. “The amount of misinformation, the amount of all of us, all of our time correcting misinformation both online and in email has been enormous.”

Concerns Monday extended beyond the food truck provisions and included the sheer number of changes being considered.

“There’s so many amendments that it is overwhelming to the regular person who wants to be able to go to food truck Wednesday, who wants to be able to do reasonable things on their own property in their own street,” Volke said.The council voted on roughly 84 of about 150 amendments Monday night.

Food truck operators also continued to voice concerns about how regulation could affect their livelihoods.

Brad Oswald told council members he had previously warned that the restrictions could put his family out of business, but said Monday he wanted to find a way forward.

“At the previous hearing, I spoke about what these restrictions could mean for my family. I said you were putting us out of business. Those words came from a father worried about his family’s livelihood. Tonight, I want us to help move forward.”

Amendment 105, which dealt with food trucks, passed unanimously in a 7-0 vote.

The council was unable to get through all of the amendments or the 10 other bills remaining on its agenda before the meeting ended.

Council members have one more opportunity to take a final vote on the amended bill on Oct. 19. Bill 61-26 expires Oct. 23. The county's legislation page lists the bill as amended as of Oct. 5.

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