Overview
In approximately 2023, the City of Baltimore determined that it would be consistent with both community desires and the needs of the City to relocate the Sisson Street Drop-Off Center and offer the land for sale and redevelopment.
• The City issued a request for expressions of interest in purchasing the Sisson Street site for redevelopment. There was just one respondent to the request.
• The City began to search for sites where the transfer station could be relocated.
• In 2025 it was determined that one site met all of the criteria for a new site. That site is the Falls Road property currently maintained by Potts & Callahan for storage of their heavy equipment.
• In late July/early August 2025, an ordinance to sell the Sisson Street property was submitted to the City Council. This began the legislative and community outreach process required as a part of the potential sale of city owned property.
• As anticipated, community meetings and residents/business owner comments regarding the land sale and relocation have been received. Much of the comment has focused on the impact and merits of the plan to relocate the transfer station to Falls Road. Alternative sites have been suggested. This in turn has revived concern that the transfer station is not relocated to historically disinvested communities.
• There is also a healthy debate as to whether the Sisson Street site should remain where it is or, simply close without reopening elsewhere.
• These conversations led to the decision to create a task force focused on addressing the various considerations related to the Sisson Street Transfer Station.
• On September 3, 2025, Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced the formation of the “Sisson Street Drop-Off Center Task Force.”
• The task force is comprised of those most impacted by the potential closing of the current site, those impacted by its relocation, and those impacted by its continuation as is. The task force includes three elected officials as well as representatives of their affected constituencies, and city agency representatives.
The task force is charged with the following goals:
o Assessing the role of the Sisson Street Transfer Station
o Assessing the value of the current location for the Sisson Street Transfer Station o Assessing whether the Sisson Street Transfer Station should be closed and not relocated
o Assessing whether the Sisson Street Transfer Station should be moved to a new location o If assessment is made that the current location should be changed, identify new locations
• The expectation is that the task force will deliver recommendations to Mayor Scott in December 2025. • The task force will deliver a written report that addresses whether the Sisson Street Transfer Station should remain at its current location, be moved to a new location or closed without reopening.