Commission Presents Three Maps for Redistricting Howard County

After the census is released every 10 years, Howard County has a policy to reevaluate district boundaries--a process that is now ongoing.

District One, which includes Elkridge and Ellicott City, is currently the largest district, with a population of about 62,400 residents.

Both Ellicott City and Elkridge are represented by Councilwoman Courtney Watson-D, District 1, and Council Chair Calvin Ball-D, District 2, which has a population of about 54,300.

A few Elkridge and Ellicott City residents  during a public hearing at the  earlier in the summer. Some Elkridge residents said development was an issue that aligned Elkridge more with areas such Savage along the Route 1 corridor.

During that hearing, Diane Butler, president of Saint John’s Community Association in Ellicott City said “I have 1,000 homes [in District 1] and I have about 29 or 30 that are sitting in District 2.”

She said she wanted the whole neighborhood to be in the same district “so we can come to our association meeting and be discussing the same thing.

Not splitting communities was one of the commissions goals ine each of the three maps, but "none of them succeed 100 percent because you just can't," commission member David Marker told the Howard County Times.

The commission, he told the Times, was required to use permanent geographic boundaries when drawing up districts.

Commission members said Route 1 alignment was the rationale behind Map 100 (see photos), which bundles Elkridge, Hanover, Jessup, North Laurel and Savage together into District 3.

That same map would shrink District 1's population by more than 5,200 people, to about 57,170. It would increase the size of District 2 by about 1,220 people. 

And the new District 3, which would align the Route 1 communities, would grow by more than 8,000.

The Howard County Redistricting Commission will hold a public hearing, where residents can provide feedback, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. in the .

You can also email the Redistricting Commission at redistricting@howardcountymd.gov and find more information on the Redistricting Commission webpage.

This article has been edited to correct the date of the public hearing. It is Wednesday, Sept. 21.