To: The Neighbors of Baltimore City, MD

Baltimore City is attempting to make a citywide zoning change that will quietly rewrite the rules across all neighborhoods. Baltimore City Council Bill 25-0066, “Zoning – Housing Options and Opportunity,” is not just a zoning bill. It is a decision about who gets a voice in Baltimore, and who gets silenced.

These changes will be felt first at the block level, long before citywide benefits are ever proven. Baltimore neighbors are about to lose their right to be heard about what happens next door, while City elected officials rush through permanent changes without notice, hearings, or consent.

We are a city of neighborhoods. We are also a city where people have fought hard to protect stability, safety, and the right to participate in decisions that change our blocks. Bill 25-0066 threatens that basic civic protection.

Sign this petition now. Then take 60 seconds to call the elected officials listed below.

What is Bill 25-0066, and what is inside it?

Bill 25-0066 would allow homes to be converted into 2 to 4 unit dwellings “by right.” In plain terms, “by right” removes the notice and hearing protections neighbors rely on. No public notice. No hearing. No automatic opportunity for neighbors to object or raise concerns before approval.

Bill 25-0066 targets the conversion of single-family dwellings into multi-family dwellings and also makes related zoning changes to uses and bulk and yard standards. “The bill would permit these multi-family dwellings by right in the current detached and semi-detached single-family residential districts (R-1 through R-4) and remove the prohibition on converting single-family dwellings into multi-family dwellings in those districts.... permit these multi-family dwellings by right in certain rowhouse and multi-family residential districts (R-5 through R-8), as well as in the office residential district (OR).” See Baltimore City’s Department of Law Letter to the President and Members of the City Council, dated November 12, 2025.  

This is not a minor tweak. It is a structural change to how Baltimore neighborhoods can be altered, and how quickly those changes can happen. At the November 20, 2025, Baltimore City Council's Land Use and Transportation Committee hearing, testimony stated that approximately 80% of conversion applications are submitted by property owners who do not live in those properties, raising concerns about investor-driven churn and accountability.

Bill 25-0066 would entirely strip away these conversion process protections. It removes neighbors from the zoning decision altogether, allowing investors and non-resident owners to move forward without notice, without hearings, and without any ability for local residents to participate before permanent changes are approved.

Baltimore’s own Law Department warns that this bill, in effect, “upzones” multiple residential districts through a text amendment that substantially increases what is allowed, even though no comprehensive rezoning has occurred. (Dept. of Law letter, Nov. 12, 2025).

Why this bill matters to Baltimore City (homeowners and renters)?

If Bill 25-0066 passes, neighborhoods can be reshaped faster than neighbors can respond, because the guardrails that require notice, public process, and accountability are removed.

Why renters should care:

• Increased investor churn can destabilize housing and increase turnover.
• Parking, trash, noise, and quality-of-life impacts hit renters first and hardest.
• You should not lose your practical ability to raise concerns about disruptive changes next door.
• The bill is promoted as addressing affordability, but it does not require affordability protections, rent stabilization, or guarantees that converted units will be affordable to existing neighbors.

Why homeowners should care:

• Your home is your biggest asset, and what happens next door can affect it immediately. This bill would weaken the notice and hearing protections that allow neighbors to raise concerns before disruptive changes become permanent.
• When conversions and reconfigurations accelerate without meaningful safeguards, neighbors lose the real ability to respond before impacts become permanent.
• The bill is promoted as addressing affordability, but it does not include safeguards that protect existing homeowners and long-term residents from the neighborhood impacts of rapid conversions.

What steps have the bill sponsors skipped, and why is the process part of the harm?

Most Baltimore neighbors still do not know what Bill 25-0066 contains. That is part of the problem. Neighbors throughout Baltimore City raised significant concerns at the November 20 and  December 1, 2025, Land Use and Transportation Committee hearings about inadequate notice, limited opportunity to be heard, lack of data, and a process moving too fast for a citywide change.

At the December 1, 2025, hearing, Committee Chair and Councilperson Ryan Dorsey stated that no additional public testimony would be heard and that the Committee would transition to a workgroup for this bill. That means Baltimore neighbors must make their voices heard in other forums now and demand that the City Council provide a citywide or by-district public forum for additional discourse with Baltimore neighbors before the Committee votes. 

Additionally, Baltimore City's Department of Law has issued a warning about how this bill could be considered comprehensive rezoning, without the label. In their November 12, 2025, letter to the President and Members of the City Council, the department notes, "If challenged, it is possible a court could view this kind of text amendment as effecting a change to underlying zoning districts that is more appropriate for comprehensive rezoning, including its more substantial notice requirements."

Yet the bill remains on track to resume consideration by the Land Use and Transportation Committee at its upcoming February 12, 2026, committee hearing, without the kind of public engagement and transparency Baltimore neighbors deserve or were promised. Since the December 1, 2025, hearing, there have been no citywide or district listening sessions or town halls. There have been no additional efforts by the bill sponsors to conduct citywide  outreach to neighbors. 

Instead, testifying City officials have proposed conducting a multi-year study AFTER the bill’s passage. Studying the impacts of permanent zoning changes that are already in effect does nothing to protect neighbors from future harm. Worse, it greenlights consequences that cannot be undone.

If we do not act before the next committee decision, this will move forward without us.

Where's the data (affordability, capacity, enforcement, equity studies)?

Bill supporters reference potential gains in affordability, equity, and increased density. Baltimore neighbors are being asked to accept permanent change first and receive proof later.

If this bill is truly an affordability and equity strategy, the City should show, before passage:

• What affordability outcomes are expected and for whom?
• What enforcement capacity exists to prevent abuse and unsafe conversions?
• What infrastructure capacity exists to absorb added density?
• What equity impact assessment was conducted, and what did it conclude?

Baltimore neighbors should not be asked to live with irreversible change based on promises and after-the-fact studies.

Our Demand:

We call on the Baltimore City Council Land Use and Transportation Committee and the Baltimore City Council to KILL Bill 25-0066. We also call on the City Council President, the Council, the Mayor, and the City Administration to stop pushing permanent neighborhood change without the needed studies and meaningful public process that Baltimore neighbors need and deserve.

Alternatively, if the bill is not withdrawn, we demand a citywide moratorium until the City:

• Provides proper citywide notice of this comprehensive rezoning proposal;
• Restores meaningful opportunities and a citywide or by district forum for Baltimore neighbors to discuss the bill with the involved elected officials; and
• Completes the fiscal, infrastructure, equity, and enforcement studies necessary to protect neighbors from irreversible harm.

We Need Your Help! Do this now:
(1) 🔔 Sign the Petition

(2) Then take 60 seconds to make your voice louder by calling or emailing:

• Your Baltimore City Council member: Use your address to locate your Baltimore City elected officials: 
  👉 https://gis311.baltimorecity.gov/councildistricts      
• Baltimore City Council President: (410)396-4804|zeke.cohen@baltimorecity.gov           
• Mayor’s Office: (410) 396-3835 | mayor@baltimorecity.gov                                                   

What To Say:

Hello, my name is [NAME]. I live in [NEIGHBORHOOD], in [DISTRICT]. I am calling as a Baltimore neighbor and voter. I oppose Bill 25-0066, “Zoning – Housing Options and Opportunity.” I am asking you to kill Bill 25-0066. If you will not withdraw it, I am demanding a citywide moratorium until the City completes the required fiscal, infrastructure, and equity analysis and restores meaningful public notice and hearing protections. Please confirm your position. Thank you.

Baltimore deserves housing solutions. Baltimore does not deserve a process that strips neighbors of voice and calls it progress.

#KillBill25-0066

#NoOnZoningBill250066
#Withdraw250066
#BaltimoreDeservesBetter
#NeighborsForABetterBaltimore
#StopTheChopAndStack