Annexation

The Columbia Council has decided to explore further the possible "annexation" of a proposed Rouse Co. development in North Laurel.Rafia Siddiqui, Columbia Association's vice president for administrative services, made a preliminary presentation to the 10-member council Thursday on the legal, financial and community implications of absorbing the so-called Key property into Kings Contrivance village.Under a Rouse proposal, the 516-acre parcel -- slated to have 1,145 dwellings, 1.2 million feet of employment space and 100,000 square feet of retail space -- would be subject to the association lien and would benefit from its programs and services.

Reveling in voters' overwhelming approval of annexation of the Warfield Complex, Sykesville officials said yesterday the real work of developing the $20 million project can now begin.Mayor Jonathan Herman said more in-depth planning is needed before restoration can begin on the 15 aging buildings, once part of Springfield Hospital Center on Route 32. Officials are seeking state money to begin what many expect to be a 20-year project.Until Wednesday's referendum -- which resulted from a petition by residents concerned with the project's cost -- the town had to put its plans and its prospects on hold.

Sykesville and Eldersburg have been friendly neighbors in southern Carroll County for years. And now two Eldersburg residents disgusted with congested roads, crowded schools and overburdened services want Sykesville to take their community from the county.The longtime Eldersburg residents have asked the Sykesville Town Council to consider annexing the 28-square-mile area and its nearly 30,000 residents -- more than 10 times the size and population of the town.Their union would create one of Maryland's largest municipalities, in area and population.

While many Sykesville residents are concerned with the costs of annexing and renovating Warfield Complex at Springfield Hospital Center, more worry about what will happen if the property is not incorporated.Annexing the 138-acre property with 15 historic buildings would give the town control over development and a source of income from the businesses that locate on the property, said Mayor Jonathan S. Herman."No one will look out for the town more so than we who live here," he said.Residents will decide whether they want control at a Feb. 17 referendum on the annexation.

The county and town of Sykesville have not resolved differences on developing the Warfield Complex, a prized industrial parcel along Route 32.Officials refused to discuss specifics, but called the outlook positive."

If Sykesville turns vacant old hospital buildings into an employment campus, it will be shielded from the costs by a development authority.The town-appointed panel would insulate Sykesville taxpayers from financial liability and act as developer for the 138-acre Warfield Complex, once part of Springfield Hospital Center."

TODAY, Sykesville votes on its future in a referendum about whether to annex 138 acres of surplus state land that would be developed as an important economic and employment base of the town. It's a vote over locally controlling growth -- or leaving the decisions to others.Elected town officers and community leaders solidly favor the expansion to fulfill their 20-year site development plan. Voters should affirm that sound judgment in today's referendum.The town expects little or no public expense from the annexation, known as the Warfield complex of Springfield Hospital Center.

Sykesville's plans to annex the Warfield Complex and turn its 15 aging buildings into a business center drew more than 150 residents to a public hearing last night.Officials in the town that straddles the Carroll-Howard border would like to incorporate the 131-acre property, once part of Springfield Hospital Center, to spur economic development. They envision a business and employment campus. Two colleges and several businesses are interested in the space."The two main reasons to annex this property are income and control," said Mayor Jonathan S. Herman.

Sykesville residents voted in unprecedented numbers yesterday, approving nearly 5 to 1 the annexation of the Warfield Complex, 15 buildings on 138 acres along Route 32.With annexation, Sykesville would have the authority to plan and zone development on the state-owned property, once part of Springfield Hospital Center.The turnout is believed to be the largest in town history.In 1997, when Sykesville chose a mayor and two council members, 85 voters decided the outcome. Last night, 627 of the 1,815 registered voters went to the polls.

Annapolis aldermen heatedly debated a resolution to annex 50 acres of waterfront property on the city's southeastern edge last night, with some pushing to cash in $1.2 million in an escrow account established when annexation talks first began in 1984.Residents of the Villages of Chesapeake Harbour, a gated community of 450 homes, a marina and a restaurant off Edgewood Road, have engaged in sporadic annexation talks with the city since the community was built 15 years ago.Under the agreement established then, the city provided Chesapeake Harbour with water service so the developers would not have to build a separate treatment plant.

The Aberdeen planning commission has recommended single-family dwellings for a development that had originally sought to build more than 1,600 homes and condominiums. Several members of the city's Planning and Zoning commission said the petition to build the dwellings on 497 acres, which would be annexed by Aberdeen, was too dense. Christopher Michaels, management director of the project called Glengarry, said last week it was unclear what the property owners would pursue next. "I don't mean to sound ambiguous," he said.

As anyone who has tried to navigate the junction of Interstates 70 and 270 in the late afternoon knows, the city of Frederick has no shortage of drivers on its roads. That congestion is just one reason why proposals to annex land for commercial development and thousands of new homes have some people in the area nervous. Nevertheless, Frederick, which grew like gangbusters during the 1990s, is on track for more growth and development now that the city has secured access to millions of gallons a day of Potomac River water.

FREDERICK - The clustered church spires immortalized in a famous Civil War poem still anchor the downtown skyline of this historic city. But the "green-walled hills" cradling the town are likely to sprout walls of brick, concrete and vinyl siding if a bevy of developers gets its way. Municipal officials are weighing no fewer than 14 requests to annex nearly 2,300 acres - much of it farm fields and horse pasture - so that developers can build millions of...

Headlights beaming through front windows. Gunfire in the neighborhood. Some who live in the Locksley Manor subdivision just outside Aberdeen's city limits say it's happening again. The owner of a neighboring golf course at the center of a dispute over annexation was charged in November after shots were fired in the neighborhood. The annexation issue came up again last week at a city meeting -- along with, several residents said, commotion in their subdivision. Paul Burkheimer said he called police after a truck that was parked across from his house beamed its headlights through his front window about 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

A Harford County golf course owner faces charges after being accused of firing shots near homes, state police said. Samuel C. Smedley, 50, was charged with one count of having a handgun in a vehicle, one count of disorderly conduct and two counts of reckless endangerment in connection with the incident Saturday, according to police. Smedley was a key figure in an Aberdeen annexation proposal. Last year, the Aberdeen City Council attempted to annex 524 acres to make way for a development of more than 1,000 homes.

Distributing campaign fliers and pamphlets, a group of community activists has been canvassing Aberdeen neighborhoods every weekend in a door-to-door effort to persuade the electorate to sweep Mayor S. Fred Simmons out of office. But most of the group's members are devoting time and money in hopes of influencing an election they can't take part in - they're not Aberdeen residents. Nonresidents have taken keen interest in this Tuesday's election, which features competitive mayoral and council races.

NEW MARKET -- Voters in this historic town east of Frederick voted yesterday to reject annexation of 262 acres of former farmland that would have increased the tiny community's population nearly fivefold. Capping a six-month debate about the future of Maryland's self-styled antiques capital, residents voted 148-105 against the annexation, which would have allowed 925 new homes to be built. About three-quarters of the town's 340 registered voters marked paper ballots in yesterday's referendum.

Ariz. won't try sniper in slaying TUCSON, Ariz. --John Allen Muhammad, one of two men charged in the 2002 Washington-area sniper shootings, will not be tried for a Tucson killing, a Pima County official said. There is little point in trying to convict Muhammad in Arizona because he is on death row in Virginia for his role in the shootings, Chief Criminal Deputy Attorney David Berkman said Wednesday. Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested after 10 people were killed and three were wounded during a three-week period in October 2002.

Speaker Busch fills subcommittee seats House Speaker Michael E. Busch picked 10 lawmakers yesterday to lead the subcommittees that help shape the state budget. Slots as chairmen or vice chairmen of subcommittees are generally the lowest rungs on the Annapolis leadership ladder, but the House Appropriations Committee, which annually works through the state's $29 billion budget to decide what programs to cut and which to keep, relies heavily on its subcommittees to make decisions. That means the chairmen and vice chairmen of those groups have an unusual amount of influence over transportation projects, public buildings, education funding and other issues.

On a breezy September afternoon, Jerry Queen invited some friends over for a cookout on his front lawn, which overlooks a golf course that the city of Aberdeen wants to annex to help make way for more than 1,000 homes. After throwing some hot dogs on the grill, he pulled his pickup truck onto the grass and opened the hood - to maximize the sound of his horn when he blared it into a golfer's backswing. He decided against actually laying on the horn, on the advice of his attorney, but the golf course owner who is pushing the development likely got the message anyway: All the attendees at his party were wearing red shirts, the uniform of those opposed to the proposed annexation that has riven this Harford County community.