Opponents of a proposal to build 25 large houses for affluent retirees near Cattail Creek Country Club in Glenwood failed last night to have county consideration of the project postponed.
By a 4-0 vote, the Howard County Board of Appeals rejected a request by lawyer Susan B. Gray to postpone a hearing on the proposed retirement community until the Maryland Court of Special Appeals rules on an earlier proposal for the same property.
Late last night, the board was still hearing developer Donald R. Reuwer's presentation of the project, which calls for 25 homes, each 2,400 square feet, that are projected to sell for $400,000 to $500,000.
The proposal is a scaled-down version of a plan introduced three years ago that landed in the courts after it provoked widespread opposition in the western county. The initial plan called for 116 townhouse-style condominium units for senior citizens on 58 acres adjacent to the country club.
Critics argued that the initial proposal would overburden public utilities in the western county, which lacks public water and sewer service. The common septic system planned for the project could fail, polluting Triadelphia Reservoir, opponents warned.
The Board of Appeals approved a special zoning exception for the condominium plan in 1998. But in January 1999, a Circuit Court judge ruled against the proposal, saying the project lacked the common dining area required by county zoning regulations. Reuwer appealed the ruling before returning to county officials in September with the revised proposal for a smaller number of detached homes, spread over 19 acres.
The new plan won approval from the county Planning and Zoning Department, but it has failed to win over opponents of the earlier plan, who suspect that the 25 proposed homes, once built, will quickly be followed by proposals for more.
Gray, who is representing a Glenwood resident opposed to the project, noted in her request for postponement that state law forbids the board from considering applications that involve "substantially the same issue" as a case pending in court.
Among the issues being considered by the appeals court in its review of the initial proposal is whether Reuwer's initial subdivision of the property was legal - an issue that also applies to the proposal for the 25 homes, Gray said.
