Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Howard County will be buying ten buildings on Main Street Ellicott City and knocking them down as part of its five-year flood mitigation plan.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said they explored other options, but knocking down the buildings on the south side of Main Street to create a wider and deeper channel for the river to flow downhill is the most effective one.
“I wish we weren’t here, but this is a change we need,” Kittleman said during a press conference Thursday announcing the $40 to $50 million plan.
Sally Tennant is in negotiations with the county for the building she owns at 8055 Main Street. She has lived and operated Discoveries Gallery there for 40 years.
“I have a mortgage-free home that I’m losing, a business where I don’t have to pay rent. I mean I set myself up the way I wanted to set my life up, and I love the community, so for me to walk away from all that, it’s asking a lot,” Tennant said.
Now the building’s boarded up, and Tennant is homeless and living without new income.
She thinks the county wants to work out a deal, but so far she hasn’t accepted the county’s offer.
“It’s way way short of what I need to do to not be in a worse financial position,” Tennant said.
There’s no place else like Ellicott City, according to Tennant, and she said it breaks her heart to leave. Still, the county’s plan does not allow her to re-build like she did after flooding in 2016 destroyed her craft gallery.
Council member Jon Weinstein said he understands this is an emotional situation for people like Tennant and said the county would work on helping displaced businesses relocate, hopefully to other locations in Ellicott City.
In addition to knocking down the buildings the county’s flood mitigation plan also includes a water retention project and improving the flow of water. Officials said the number one priority is to make sure nobody else dies. Three people were killed in flooding in 2016, and one man died in this year’s flood.
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