Ball Fields

Amid neighborhood fights over new strip malls and subdivisions, building grass athletic fields where children can frolic and athletes can compete would seem like a welcome addition to any community. Playing fields, however, are not as benign as they seem - even to supporters of open space and recreation. Several park projects have sparked heated debate in Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties in recent months. In places where growing suburban populations are replacing once-rural landscapes, local officials say participation in recreational sports is increasing and fields are in high demand.

Howard County officials have put on hold their plans to turn the former Smith farm into a regional park because of a lawsuit that could void their costly purchase of the coveted 300-acre property in the middle of Columbia.The committee charged with developing a master plan for the property, which is slated to become a mixed-use park with soccer fields and nature trails, has not met since October.After canceling a meeting in January, Recreation and Parks Department Director Gary J. Arthur said no planning sessions would be held until the litigation is resolved -- which is expected to take months.

Mount Airy had planned a lighted baseball field at Twin Ridge Elementary School since the late 1980s, town officials said yesterday in the fourth day of testimony in a civil lawsuit brought by neighbors who say they can't live with the field's powerful lights."

Three years of controversy surrounding a 12-acre horse farm on the Broadneck Peninsula ended yesterday when Anne Arundel County officials and the former owner of the farm reached a settlement under which the county will build one, instead of two, ball fields at the property. Former owner Elizabeth Smith Gleaves sued the county to prevent construction of ball fields at the farm. She said county leaders had promised her the property would be used only for equestrian activities when she sold it to the county in 1998.

Plans for new ball fields in Crofton edged closer to reality last week as a county budget committee recommended spending $452,000 to buy the land.The Planning Advisory Board wants to use state money from Project Open Space instead of relying on county funds. But a county budget analyst said that money is in jeopardy.Either way, Crofton's new park most likely will become a reality. The analyst, Gregory V. Nourse, said if Crofton officials can find a suitable site, the county will spend the money and hope for a reimbursement from the state.

Residents of western Howard County met last night to step up their campaign to defend the darkness of their rural landscape from lighted ball fields planned for Western Regional Park. Neighbors of the Glenwood site hope to persuade the County Council to cut funding for the lights from the county budget, scheduled for a vote May 21. Recently, the group hired lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano to help it increase membership and plan a strategy. About 70 group members gathered at Circle D Farm in Glenwood to discuss the issue.

Four days later, orange snow fencing blocked a ball field in Druid Hill Park and public officials couldn't agree on which agency was responsible for the electrocution of a 14-year-old Randallstown girl Friday. While city officials announced yesterday that inspections of lighted ball fields across Baltimore did not reveal any additional problems, they remained unable to explain what electrified the fence touched by Deanna Green, so they kept that baseball diamond closed pending further investigation.

The future of Shady Side's 477-acre Franklin Point Park is unclear after Anne Arundel County officials pulled out of a longstanding deal to build ball fields on the land. The county pulled out of the deal after the state Critical Area Commission ruled this month that ball fields, parking lots and trails could not be built over wetlands. The park fronts the Chesapeake Bay and features about 271 acres protected by Critical Area laws, which restrict building on environmentally sensitive coastal land.

Construction is beginning on ball fields at the former Smith farm on the Broadneck Peninsula despite continuing objections from neighbors and activists who say the land was intended solely for an equestrian center. Work started this week on the $2 million project, which was delayed last month when the state Board of Public Works voted not to give Anne Arundel County $250,000 in bond money for the ball fields. County parks officials said that the loss of that money means the fields will not have lights or underground irrigation, but that they never considered abandoning the project.