Baltimore County’s plan to redevelop a $6.4 million golf club is in doubt

Last week, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr stood elbow to elbow with other dignitaries, stuck a silver-plated shovel in the ground and announced nearly $6.5 million in renovations to the clubhouse at Rocky Point Golf Course.

The groundbreaking marked the East Side politician’s first major capital project at one of the county’s five golf courses, which will transform the stifling, decades-old clubhouse into a modern space equipped with a “grill room,” kitchen, outdoor patio, a new professional shop and a banquet hall. County officials described it as a “pin-down” renovation.

The county’s public golf courses are generally self-supporting, funded by a local agency, the Baltimore County Board of Revenue, which “receives no direct appropriations from general government agencies,” according to its website. But Olszewski’s pledge exceeded the Department of Revenue’s $2 million contribution.

Olszewski, who is running for an open congressional seat this fall against Republican Kim Klaczyk, says the spending is necessary because the county prioritizes recreation with a total investment of $220 million. Rocky Point, a golf course overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, cannot generate enough money from its operations to fund the project, he said.

“The county had to put in enough money to make the numbers work,” he said.

Some county residents, however, see the spending as an overrun that benefits only a small number of the county’s more than 800,000 residents. They question why the IRS, which normally funds its own projects with golf course revenue or through bond sales, would take away county funds that could be used for fire, roads or playgrounds.

They also lament that the county skirted environmental protections on the course for years, and worry that the new restaurant could draw business away from Essex’s already troubled properties.

Doug Selmer, leader of the Back River Neck Peninsula Community Association, said a more pressing local need is an East Side fire-rescue training facility. The companies were instrumental in efforts to save the Key Bridge on March 26 and had hoped to receive community funding that Tradepoint Atlantic had planned for the dredging project, but the company canceled.

“The administration made a poor choice in resource allocation,” Selmer said.

Deviation from the norm

At the center of the financial dispute is the Internal Revenue Service, a financially “self-sustaining” local agency that oversees five golf courses, seven garages and a sports complex. It dates back to 1955, although its mission has changed since then. The Baltimore County Executive appoints a chairman who appoints the executive director.

Ken Mills, IRS executive director since 2012, said his agency has funded all capital projects at four other golf courses during his current tenure (he also ran IRS from 1985 to 1993). Rocky Point is the latest on that list to be renovated.

Former tax board members and county board members also do not recall using county money for golf courses prior to 2012. “I don’t know of any situation where that has happened,” said Les Pittler, an attorney who served on the board from 1997 to 2012 and said he never missed a meeting.

The county council approves Olszewski’s budget. Councilman David Marks noted that the $6.435 million earmarked for the Internal Revenue Service was unusual. But the Upper Falls Republican said that’s not the main issue in the 200-plus-page budget. “There was so much doubt,” Marks said. “I don’t think we focused on that.”

Carl Maynard, past president of the Back River Neck Peninsula Association, agrees that the money would be better spent on other needs. “You have to run the golf course as a business to make money, but who puts in the money? The county is there, and it’s taxpayer money,” he said.

Mills said using county funds is appropriate because the tax office manages public property. The county also put up $2.5 million for the Reisterstown Sportsplex, with the Department of Revenue chipping in another $2.5 million. Rocky Point earns money that goes back into the coffers of the Board of Revenue to maintain it and other courses. The course is considered good, but not fancy.

“Any improvements are good,” said energy consultant John Perrone of Severna Park. “They’ve already cleared a lot of brush and they’ve done it very nicely.”

The Authority of revenues and fees has about $18 million in total current assets, but much of that is earmarked for future projects, Mills said.

“What’s happening in the economy in terms of increased construction costs, inflation and the impact on construction — that’s why the number is what it is,” Mills said. “We’re really building a very utilitarian building.”

“Paying exit”

The impetus to improve Rocky Point came from Robert J. Romadka, an East Side philanthropist who brokered a deal to sell the farms that make up Rocky Point in the 1950s. Now 94, Romadka — who knew Olszewski’s father, former councilman John Olszewski Sr., for decades — went to the younger Olszewski after his 2018 election to discuss the clubhouse. Olszewski knew the course; he took classes there and held fundraisers there 2023 year and 2024 year.

“It’s time to improve it,” Romadka said. “The reasons we haven’t done that is because we’ve made so much money from golfers and we’ve used our money to support other clubs and that’s fine. But now it’s our turn.”

The golf course is across the Back River from Miller’s Island, where the county executive lives, although it’s a half-hour drive.

One of the most significant investments will be connecting Rocky Point Golf Course to the public sewer system, which Mills said will cost about $700,000. Course on a faulty septic system. The state and county approved the sewer hookup.

A system that works is certainly better than one that doesn’t work, but residents of the Back River Peninsula complain that the county hasn’t followed the rules put in place on the rest of the peninsula more than a decade ago, when all residents in the area had to connect to public sewer.

Matthew Heckle, a cement company owner who is part of a coalition pushing for stronger state septic regulations and compliance, said no property should have a faulty system. But Rocky Point has kept them for years, he said, “because they’re the county and they don’t want the money.”

Two weeks before the groundbreaking, the county also agreed that the Revenue Department could pay a one-time fee of $28,000 in lieu of treating stormwater, one of the Chesapeake’s top pollutants. Maryland is so far behind the 2025 cut in urban and suburban stormwater runoff that EPA Region 3 Administrator Adam Ortiz said last month that he considering strengthening supervision to ensure better results.

Under existing rules, when a utility adds thousands of square feet of impervious surface, owners must develop a plan to clean up their drains. Options include a rain garden, biological waters, infiltration wetlands, or a stormwater pond.

Other countries have invested in their golf courses, but in different ways.

When Anne Arundel County bought The Preserve at Eisenhower Golf Course from the city of Annapolis in 2017, the county invested $6 million in clubhouse upgrades, including major stormwater improvements. They included more than 13 acres of wetland creation and enhancement, 6,255 linear feet of river restoration and 1,343 linear feet of boardwalk to protect natural resource areas and provide connectivity to the floodplain, according to Anne Arundel County Budget Officer Chris Trumbauer. The district received the highest award from the National Association of Districts for its innovative efforts at Eisenhower. Aside from capital investments from the general fund, both Eisenhower and the county’s other course, Compass Pointe, are largely self-sustaining businesses, Trumbauer said.

In Rocky Point, Baltimore County officials allowed the IRS to opt out because of “undue hardship or practical difficulty” and pay the $28,000 fee instead.

“They didn’t do proper stormwater management. Everyone else would do it,” Selmer said. “The county is just bailing itself out by paying its way out.”

Mills said the fee paid by the IRS is “standard” and that even adding 18,000 square feet, the project would create less runoff.

“For the most part, expansion is being built on land that is already impervious,” he said. “Essentially, we’re going to create a more permeable surface to capture runoff and naturally treat stormwater.”

The planned “grill room” leaves a bad taste

A few years ago, the Baltimore County Liquor Board held a heated hearing on Rocky Point’s liquor license. Some business owners worried that a county-funded restaurant would create unfair competition. Proponents of Rocky Point said it would not be a restaurant, but a grill room like many courses have. They got a license.

Bruce Laing, whose family has owned the Island View Inn since 1968, said he knew nothing about the Rocky Point redevelopment until he got a call from a Banner reporter. He was furious, especially because three restaurants in the golf course area closed this month. Many others have invested millions of dollars in amenities to keep them in business. Laing himself started doing weddings after the pandemic because the business became so difficult for him.

“Why are we competing in retail with Baltimore County? This is not the government’s mission. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Laing said.

Mills said other courses in the county have snack facilities, and he just wanted to provide the same service at Rocky Point. At a meeting in February, Mills said people were initially concerned about local competition but welcomed the changes as a “great asset”. The restaurant will serve food when the course is open and will cater primarily to golfers.

“We’re not going to operate as a commercial restaurant,” Mills said.

Selmer has no doubts that it will be beautiful here after the renovation. He is simply not convinced that all this is necessary.

“You’re taking taxpayer dollars to compete with troubled restaurants in the community,” Selmer said. “Somewhere there has to be accountability for the money they’re making to justify … (millions of) taxpayer dollars.”