Class Warfare in Normandy

It appears that some folks in the Normandy neighborhood of Ellicott City hold a pretty low opinion of apartment dwellers. The owners of the Normandy Shopping Center are attempting to rezone their property for mixed use that would include about 200 apartments. The property owner’s attorney, William Erskine, was asked by the HoCo Planning Board if he had received any negative feedback from the surrounding community. According to this story by Kellie Woodhouse in The Columbia Flier, Erskine testified that “the biggest fear is concerns about the type of people that … live in apartments. ... I don’t know if that’s a proper concern, to me that’s a little bit of class warfare.”

“Normandy Heights resident Thomas Kasuba told the board he was “highly insulted” by Erskine’s comment. He said residents were concerned about increased traffic, about the high-rise being an eyesore and about property values.”

“Kasuba also said he did not want to live by apartment-dwellers — “you know, college kids and stuff like that.”

While Mr. Kasuba may have been “highly insulted” other residents were pretty blunt about their feelings towards “apartment people.”

Ellicott City resident Kellie Mason said she was worried about “the transient nature of typical apartment people and what that is going to do to our schools.” 

Nice people!