So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the bulldozer.
Some of those fighting plans to build a huge senior citizens complex on prized Roland Park open space are developers who live in the neighborhood and who, on occasion, have built or torn down buildings over fierce community opposition. One of them could fairly be accused of subverting democracy the old-fashioned way, by stuffing the ballot box, though it must be noted the "democracy" in question was Columbia, so big wup.
Among the developers who suddenly find themselves on the NIMBY team:
* Martin Millspaugh, who led the agency that organized the Charles Center and Inner Harbor renewal projects. Widely lauded for overseeing the city's downtown renaissance, he's also criticized for popularizing the use the ultimate my-way-or-the-highway redevelopment tool: eminent domain.
* Ian McFarlane, president of EA Engineering, Science and Technology. His engineering firm was involved in a controversial plan to build a high school on a Superfund site in Providence, R.I., the Providence Journal reported in 2005.
* Jerome Trout of developer Trout, Segall & Doyle. In 1999, his firm demolished 10 rowhouses on Charles Village's "book block" - home to several used bookstores - to build a CVS.
* David Tufaro, developer with Terra Nova Ventures and former executive with Summit Properties. Taking advantage of Columbia's oddball voting system, which in some parts of town allocates votes by property ownership, the owner of Ashton Meadows apartments cast 176 votes for Columbia Councilwoman Gail Bailey in 1993, The Washington Post reported at the time. Another apartment owner cast 100 votes for Bailey. Together, they cast more votes than people who actually lived in the community.
Of that group, I was only able to reach Millspaugh and Tufaro. Millspaugh confirmed that he'd been "a resource" to the anti-Keswick Multi-Care folks but declined to comment further. Tufaro, who said he was "sort of chairman" of the Roland Park Civic League's land use committee, was at least willing to chat.
Before Tufaro left Summit in 1999 to run as a Republican for Baltimore mayor, the company waged lengthy battles with residents in Georgia, Virginia and Florida over plans to build apartments and clear trees. But Tufaro said he was not involved.
"My job is to try to persuade the community of the merits of my proposal," he said. "I would try my art of persuasion. But if I couldn't, I would not try to impose my view on the community."
