Ball Fields

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.

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.

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 them in 1998.

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.

In his latest criticism of a controversial Anne Arundel park project, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer said yesterday that he remains disgusted with the county's decision to build ball fields at a horse farm on the Broadneck Peninsula. Schaefer, who has accused the county of reneging on an agreement with the former owner of the property, said in his opening remarks at a Board of Public Works meeting, "That's why people distrust government." Elizabeth Gleaves, the former owner, has said that when she sold the property - known as the Smith farm - to the county in 1998, she was promised the land would be used only for equestrian activities.

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.

Anne Arundel officials are set to unveil two possible plans for a park at the 488-acre Franklin Point site in the southern part of the county, but community activists say the plans do not represent the recommendations of an advisory panel appointed to discuss the future of the property. Both plans, scheduled to be presented at a community meeting in Shady Side on Wednesday night, include possible sites for ball fields. But several members of the advisory panel said they voted to present a plan that included no ball fields.

Official hits a foul on ball fields debate The article, "Top leaders reject plan to build ball fields" (Feb. 12) had some fascinating twists. In a candidates forum in Cape St. Claire, Speaker of the House Michael Busch was asked directly what role the state had in the ball fields project at the Smith Farm. He answered that the state had no component in the ball fields project. Yet your story indicated that "... House Speaker Michael E. Busch, [was] the Anne Arundel County Democrat who secured state money for the project in 2001.

William Donald Schaefer, A dispute over the fate of a 12-acre farm in Broadneck became tangled in the highest levels of state politics yesterday as the governor, the comptroller and the speaker of the House of Delegates all weighed in on Anne Arundel County's plans to build two athletic fields on the property. A long, emotional battle between Anne Arundel leaders and the former owner of the property boiled over at yesterday's Board of Public Works meeting, when Comptroller William Donald Schaefer questioned a county decision to build lighted ball fields at the farm.

An small Edgewood manufacturer just might make it in the big leagues. Or in the minor leagues, if the maker of structural core material has its way. Alcore Inc., a subsidiary of global manufacturer M.C. Gill Corp., is winkingly credited with boosting the Seattle Mariners' batting average. And it is looking to nudge Maryland's sluggish teams - starting, it hopes, with Aberdeen's IronBirds. Alcore makes honeycomb-shaped aluminum, a structural material typically found in airplane wings, high-speed trains and skyscrapers.