Legislation Aims to Stop Bail Bond Shop

Waverly residents are asking the Baltimore City Council to back a rule change that would prevent a bail bond company from opening on 32nd Street near Greenmount Avenue.

Residents appeared before the council’s Aging and Urban Affairs Committee Thursday asking it to approve an amendment to the neighborhood’s urban renewal plan.

Residents Joe Stewart and Miriam Avins both told the committee they feel a bail bond shop sends the wrong message about a commercial district trying to reestablish itself.  

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, D-District 14, is a member of the committee and supports the amendment.

“We’ve been through some hard times in Waverly on Greenmount—two homicides in 72 hours—but we overcame them,” Clarke said.

Del. Mary Washington, D-District 43, also testified before the committee in favor of amending the area's urban renewal plan to prevent a bail bond shop from opening in the neighborhood.

“It’s not simply this one business, but the URP was written to prevent the saturation of predatory businesses,” Washington said.