Howard County officials are moving to transform a string of blighted motels along Route 1 into a vibrant community with new restaurants, housing and shopping.

County Executive Calvin Ball is supporting a zoning regulation amendment that would allow for 16 motels and hotels along the corridor to be demolished or redeveloped into new housing, retail, restaurants and office spaces.

At least 15% of any new housing under the amendment would be affordable, county officials said.

“As you drive along Route 1 today, you will see a challenge that has been building for decades,” Ball said at a news conference Tuesday. “You see motels built for a different era … Some of these properties have sat mostly vacant for years [and] others have become sources of concern, for crime, for blight.”

The Route 1 corridor, also known as Washington Boulevard, runs nearly 12 miles through Howard County. Along this strip are more than a dozen motels and hotels between North Laurel, Savage, Jessup and Elkridge.

In Elkridge, five motels are clustered together. This section of Route 1 has few to no sidewalks as vehicles race down the boulevard, despite the 40 mph speed limit.

On a recent spring afternoon, four Howard County Police SUVs rolled up to the Terrace Motel in Elkridge. Surrounding the motel are chain restaurants like Subway and McDonalds, a convenience store and gas stations. On the hill behind the motel is Elkridge Crossings, a luxury townhome community.

Himanshu Amin, owner of the Terrace, Turf and Boulevard motels, proposed the amendment to support the county’s “transformation vision for Route 1” to become a more walkable, vibrant and economically sustainable environment. The legislation would allow for reinvestment to convert these motel sites into “beautiful new homes” that would include “much-needed” moderate-income units for county residents, Amin said.

The county’s planning board unanimously approved the amendment earlier this month. It now goes before the County Council. A public hearing will occur in April and the council is set to vote on it in early May.

County Councilwoman Liz Walsh, whose district includes Elkridge, supports the proposed amendment.

Walsh recognizes that there are families and individuals who utilized the motels as transitional or long-term housing. But these residents are crammed on top of each other without easy access to amenities, such as grocery stores.

The council member is “cautiously optimistic” that the amendment would represent a positive change. She added that any new housing is not expected to increase population density to the area, with the new units not exceeding the number of motel rooms they’re replacing.

The proposed amendment builds on recent efforts to redevelop even more of the Route 1 corridor.

In March, Ball announced that the county is selling a nearly 2-acre property along Washington Boulevard to the county’s housing commission. The commission plans to turn the property, plus two other vacant parcels, into roughly 60 housing units, with at least 30% designated as affordable.

Angela Shiplet, an Elkridge resident and member of the Elkridge Community Alliance, applauded the county’s efforts to promote reinvestment in the Elkridge community.

“Elkridge is a vibrant, unique, and historic community and we look forward with appreciation to continued investment and initiatives to make this stretch of the Route One corridor better reflect the pride we have in our community,” Shiplet said in a statement.

Lynda Eisenberg, the county’s director of planning and zoning, said the amended zoning would give the outdated motels a second life that attracts investment and restores vitality.

The legislation is more than a zoning change, Eisenberg said, “it is a catalyst for renewal along Route 1, turning yesterday’s hotels into tomorrow’s neighborhoods and business hubs.”