The proposed Owings Mills Golf Community should start taking shape next spring, now that the developer has won a key endorsement from the Baltimore County Planning Board.
Principals in the development company, Triangle-Deer Park, plan to build a public golf course and 382 units of single-family and condominium housing on 278 acres of farm and woodland next to Lyons Manor, a subdivision between Randallstown and Owings Mills.
The property is zoned for single-family housing, but Thursday night the planning board approved a designation to allow the housing cluster. An exception for the golf course still is needed because it is in a rural zone. That matter will come before a hearing administrator this year.
Planning board approval was the major step for the project, however.
The developer and the Lyons Manor Community Association agreed on several conditions to the proposal, including a guarantee that watering operations on the golf course would not damage neighboring residential wells.
The developer plans to use public water for the clubhouse and the housing, but wants to use less expensive well water for the course.
"The permit process regarding wells is rigorous, and won't allow us to endanger other wells," said Chris Pippen, a partner with Henry LeBrun in Triangle-Deer Park.
Mr. Pippen said he had received many letters of support from community associations and businesses that like the recreational value of the golf course.
Diane Goldbloom, president of Renew, an umbrella group for seven community associations in the area, couldn't be reached for comment, but Renew is among the groups that have endorsed the development.
Triangle-Deer Park agreed to work with the Lyons Manor association on landscaping as a buffer between the community and the development, and with the county Planning Department on the architectural styles of the housing.
It also agreed to build the golf course and the houses at the same time. It had planned to build the housing first, to which many residents objected.
Mr. Pippen said the county has agreed to close off Tavern Keep Road, which would have drawn traffic through the Lyons Manor residential area. It will become a bicycle and pedestrian path.
The project would include a par-71, 18-hole, 6,300-yard golf course on 173 acres on the west part of the property, and a mix of housing clustered on about 100 acres to the east.
Eighty-four single-family houses, 64 townhouses with garages, 122 standard townhouses and 112 two-bedroom condos are planned. Prices would range from $100,000 for the condos to $200,000 for the detached homes. Two tennis courts, a pool and a small community clubhouse also are planned, Mr. Pippen said.
