This is part seven of nine in the Paving Paradise series. To read the full article click here.

Both residents and experts argue that warehouse development in Perryman is not only because of its location and availability of land. Compared to the greater Harford County area, Perryman and its adjacent neighborhoods have higher percentages of People of Color and people earning lower incomes. Perryman locals are not alone. Comparatively disadvantaged communities from Los Angeles to New York experience disproportionate industrial development compared to more affluent and White communities.

A recent investigation by Consumer Reports and the Guardian found that Amazon opened distribution centers “in neighborhoods with a disproportionately high number of People of Color and low-income residents.” Dr. Sacoby Wilson from the University of Maryland’s Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) identifies this as environmental racism. He said that “communities that host delivery facilities end up being the losers.” As additional evidence for discrimination, advocates point to an unequal distribution of community services like well-maintained parks and roads found in other areas of Harford County. At the behest of residents ready to address discriminatory planning, Harford County Council representative Curtis Beulah proposed a 150-day building moratorium, Bill 22-003. The bill would allow time for a study group to investigate the effects of development in Perryman ranging from traffic to pollution.

Harford County Percent Black by Census Tract, 2020

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On March 15, 2022, the Harford County Council listened to public comments concerning the Bill. During the meeting, more than 200 community members testified in support of the Bill. One resident called the injustice of continued approval of mega warehouse development projects “contamination without representation.” The project developers, Chesapeake Real Estate Group, the Mitchell family, and pro-development members of the community pushed back, calling the Bill “an attack on business” and “a violation of constitutional property rights.” This isn’t the first time the County Council has entertained a development moratorium. In 2021, the Council approved a 120-day moratorium on development in response to a planned AleCraft farm brewery outside Bel Air, the Harford County capital. Residents complained of misusing land zoned for agriculture and the potential traffic increase stemming from the operation. The surrounding zip code of the proposed property, 21015, has a median household income of $118,483, a White population of 88.1%, and a 8.9% Black population, compared to Harford County's Black population of 15.9%. Perryman demographics look much different. The median household income is only $59,992, almost half of 21015’s income. Furthermore, Perryman is only 63.7% White and 40.7% of the residents are Black, more than quadruple 21015’s Black population share (note: numbers exceed 100% due to margin of error). The effort to stop AleCraft was successful. Harford County formed a study group and subsequently passed significant restrictions on the farm brewery industry, causing AleCraft to open a brewery in Pennsylvania, only four miles from Harford County border. Residents of Perryman were quick to point out the inequity, asking, “If a moratorium can pass in the north, why can’t it pass in the south?” alluding to the demographic and cultural divide between northern and southern Harford County. The answer, as Dr. Sacoby Wilson notes, is environmental racism.

On April 19, 2022, Harford County Council voted in favor of the moratorium 7-0 to delay development and allow time for an independent study assessing the impacts from distribution centers. Anti-development residents were undoubtedly pleased with the vote, but predicted a veto by County Executive Barry Glassman, an official who some Perryman residents accuse of being heavily influenced by the development community. At a protest preceding the March 15 meeting, members of 3P held signs that read, “Missing, Barry Glassman: Last seen with developers.” Their claims are not unfounded: Maryland campaign finance records show that the Mitchell family, the property developers, and architects have donated over $10,000 to Glassman and County Council members since 2015, when the Mitchell family began liquidating their property. Research done by resident Ron Stuchinski indicates this number could be much higher. During the March 15 council meeting, a representative for Glassman and the County Executive's office testified that a moratorium is “irreparably flawed” and “not permissible under these circumstances,” and as such, they said they will not support the bill, despite a moratorium passing one year prior by the same legislative body. On May 2, Executive Glassman vetoed the Bill as predicted. At the next County Council meeting on May 3, the Council had an opportunity to deny the veto, but unexpectedly not a single representative proposed a vote. Effectively killing the Bill and upholding Glassman’s veto, despite voting 7-0 in support less than two months earlier. Blindsided, resident Kate McDonald stood up and said “I don’t have anything to say to these people.” Her and other moratorium supporter subsequently walked out of the meeting in protest.

To see the next section in the Paving Paradise series, If You Build It click here.