Appeals Board

The county Board of Appeals has re-elected Evelyn Tanner as chairwoman and new member George Layman as vice-chairman for its 1993 term.Ms. Tanner, a Democrat from Oakland Mills village in Columbia, was appointed to the zoning appeals board by the County Council in 1988 and was first elected chairwoman by fellow members last January.Mr. Layman, a Democrat from Ellicott City, was appointed by the County Council in July.The five volunteer appeals board members meet Tuesdays and Thursdays to hear testimony and make decisions on special exceptions, variances and appeals of Planning Board and Department of Planning and Zoning decisions.

I have followed national news reports of 13 correctional officer involved in partnership activities with inmates as well as four female correctional officers getting pregnant by inmates ("Alleged gang leader in poor jail conditions, his lawyer says," May 15). No one can deny that this is alarming and disgraceful! Unions will say it is the result of under-staffing and more money is the answer. Money and more staff is not the answer. It is leadership! Gov. Martin O'Malley demonstrated his lack leadership skills and lack of common sense when he endorsed the union's bill of rights which gives correctional officers an automatic appeal before three correctional officers.

The County Council agreed Monday night that there should be some way to remove members from the Board of Appeals, a seven-member group with a broad range of powers on land use disputes.But they've yet to decide just how to do it.The council heard testimony on a bill requested by the appeals board that would set a code of conduct and a process by which a member could be removed.Council members decided to consider it over the next two weeks and discuss it again at their Aug. 17 session.Appeals Board Chairwoman Barbara Hale said that the removal language was included in rule changes approved by her board last December.

Manuel M. Nicolaides, an attorney who served for many years on the Baltimore County property tax appeals board, died of congestive heart failure Monday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Timonium resident was 92. "Manny served with distinction for many years on the Baltimore County Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board, including as its chairman," said attorney Peter G. Angelos. "I had the greatest affection for Manny, who was my friend for over half a century. "He was always upbeat, smiling and optimistic.

Those who believe that government operates in the dark had a case study Friday night at an appeals board hearing.Like the Eveready Bunny, this was one hearing that kept going, and going and going -- allthe way to 6:10 Saturday morning.The way things were going, the county might have changed administrations by the time everyone got to speak his or her piece.Luckily, most everyone had toddled off to bed by 2 a.m.The issue beforethe appeals panel was whether a Florida developer could continue building roads in an area in Shady Side that residents say consists of wetlands.

Carroll Commissioners have nominated George J. Maurer of Manchester for a five-year term on the county Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board.Gov. William Donald Schaefer must approve the nomination, Commissioner Elmer C. Lippy said yesterday.Mr. Maurer is an owner of Maurer & Miller Meats in Manchester. His wife, Janet, was Mr. Lippy's campaign treasurer in 1990."It's a political choice," Mr. Lippy said. "Every other commissioner does the same as I do. We do give political consideration."The three-member board hears property assessment appeals.

George L. Layman, the newest member of the Board of Appeals, will take his seat as chairman tonight.Mr. Layman was appointed in July 1992 to complete the five-year term of former County Council member James H. Clark and reappointed to his own five-year term Jan. 3. He works during the day as executive director of the Montgomery County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.He replaces Evelyn Tanner, who served two of her five years on the board as chairwoman. She said it is the board's custom to rotate the chairmanship, and Mr. Layman was the only member who sought the position.

Thirty-seven people, including a former state senator, a former County Council candidate and a well-known West County activist, will be interviewed by the council tonight for seven seats on the Board of Appeals.All seven appeals board members have applied for reappointment, and it seems likely that at least some will rejoin the board."I would think there'd certainly be acceptance for those people who have done a good job," Councilwoman Maureen Lamb, D-Annapolis, said. "They have proven what they can do, and they've really done a goodjob -- all of them.

The 22-year-old son of Councilman Edward Middlebrooks' closest political ally is one of four new members of the Board of Appeals.David Schafer of Severn was Middlebrooks' nominee to the seven-member board, appointed by the County Council on Monday night. A full-time student at Anne Arundel Community College, he is the son of H. Erle Schafer, a former state senator and clerk of the Circuit Court.The elder Schafer is a longtime friend of Middlebrooks and was his biggest political backer in the 1990 campaign.

The County Council tonight will consider a request from the county Board of Appeals to set up a process to discipline or possibly remove appointees from the board.Councilman Carl Holland, a Pasadena Republican, said he introduced the measure because four appeals board members requested it, and that it is not aimed at any specific individual on the seven-member group.Appeals board members said the issue was discussed several times over the past year as part of a board review of its practices and policies.

Ignoring pleas from union leaders and the county's Annapolis delegation, the Baltimore County Council approved a bill Tuesday changing how county employees can appeal decisions about retirement benefits. The council voted 6-1 in favor of the bill, proposed by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. Councilwoman Vicki Almond, a Reisterstown Democrat, was the only member of the council to oppose it, saying it will put county employees "through unnecessary hardship, both economically and procedurally.

Baltimore County labor leaders plan to fight legislation by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz that would change the way public workers appeal county decisions on their retirement benefits, saying the bill would stack the deck against employees. The bill, pending before the County Council, would give cases involving benefit disputes to administrative law judges appointed by the county executive and make other changes to the appeal process. Those cases now are heard by the Board of Appeals, whose members are appointed by the County Council.

Confronted with a botched contract award by one of his departments, Gov. Martin O'Malley suggested Wednesday that Maryland's procurement process is desperately in need of an overhaul. Among other things, O'Malley hinted that a large measure of the responsibility for overseeing the contract-award process could be taken out of the hands of the Department of Budget and Taxation. Such a move would be a significant shift in a process Maryland has long used to award billions of dollars in contracts each year to private companies and nonprofits.

The Baltimore County Board of Appeals has approved a plan for a 36-unit waterfront condominium on the southeast side in Bowleys Quarters, reversing a hearing officer's ruling issued last year. The board voted 2-1 to approve the Galloway Creek planned unit development (PUD), first proposed by marina owner Milton A. Rehbein in 2006, officially filed in 2007 and tied up in appeals between the courts and county agencies ever since. It appears the dispute will continue, as the chief opponents intend to appeal this most recent decision to the Circuit Court.

Going into Friday night's final regular-season game, Westminster's football team figured to hold only a slim hope of making the regional playoffs. Now, the Owls may have no chance at all. Westminster may have to forfeit last week's 57-7 win over Manchester Valley for using an ineligible player - a junior varsity player Owls coach Brad Wilson said was approved to play by the Carroll County supervisor of athletics. Wilson said he used a quarterback who had also played in that week's JV game for three snaps in the second half of the Manchester Valley game, which is a violation of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletics Association rule prohibiting football players from participating in more than one game in a single week.

Neighbors fighting against new apartment buildings at the Turf Valley development in Ellicott City are hoping for another shot at stopping the project, which is scheduled to go before a county appeals board Tuesday. A group of opponents led by nearby resident Marc Norman is challenging a planning board decision to approve two apartment buildings near two existing housing developments. Norman said the new properties will be placed too close to existing homes and will increase traffic on residential streets.

A proposal for four 30,000-gallon and three 15,000-gallon petroleum storage tanks will go to the Mount Airy zoning appeals board with a favorable recommendation from the town planning commission.Southern States Cooperative Inc. plans to put the tanks on a 6.2-acre industrial site in the Pleasants property on East Ridge- ville Boulevard near Century Drive."We're interested in a terminal facility at Mount Airy," said Jerry Gass, Southern States director of communications.But plans are preliminary, and the corporation has not bought the proposed site from owners William Pleasants Sr. and Jr., he said.

A non-profit church agency has won approval from the county Board ofZoning Appeals to build a $5 million foster-care complex for abused children near Fallston.In its approval, the board restricted to 30 the number of children over age 12 who could stay at the facility, and it required the agency to post bond to pay for replacing one neighbor's shallow well if it fails as a result of the complex's use of ground water.Claude Libis, executive director of the United Methodist Board ofChild Care, called the decision to allow the complex to be built at the intersection of Harford and Reckord roads "a victory for children."

The Cordish Cos. broke ground on a planned $1 billion slots casino at Arundel Mills mall Thursday, and though the company plans to begin preparing the site for building within a week, a new challenge by neighbors to the project threatens to complicate construction. David Cordish, the Baltimore-based developer, was flanked by some of the state's most prominent politicians for the ceremony. He smiled and declared, "It doesn't get any better. " The slots parlor, slated to open as a temporary structure this year and be fully built by late 2012, could become the state's largest single source of tax revenue.

Opponents of a northern Baltimore County farmer's plan to build what could be the county's largest roadside stand say they are likely to continue their more than two-year fight against the project, which has won preliminary zoning approval. Michael McCann, lawyer for neighbors of Springfield Farm on Yeoho Road in Sparks, said Tuesday that "my sense is that we're going to appeal," but he said he and his clients would have to see the Board of Appeals' written opinion before making that decision.