Building Permits

The water crisis affecting Westminster and much of Carroll County goes beyond the concerns of pumping water from well to tap and could drastically alter growth plans in the county for decades to come, according to local officials and water experts. To brainstorm solutions to water deficits and the new state requirement that a water system meet its demand during the worst droughts on record, officials from Carroll's eight municipalities will gather for a countywide water summit Feb. 3. If the Maryland Department of the Environment continues to enforce water restrictions in those municipalities, that could undermine overall county efforts to contain sprawl, said Jesse Richardson Jr., an expert in water-rights law at Virginia Tech.

A Florida developer intends to build the contested 23-story condominium tower in Columbia's Town Center, according to a top official of the firm. William Rowe, vice president of WCI Communities, would not predict when construction might begin, but after watching the Howard County Planning Board decisively turn back two zoning amendments Thursday night that might have blocked the project, he vowed that the building would go up. "We ultimately are going...

Commercial and industrial development has increased in Howard County, while residential growth may be slowing, according to a new report hailed as good news by County Executive James N. Robey.State figures show that nearly 7,000 jobs were created in the county in the 12 months since June 1997, more than twice the number predicted in the 1990 General Plan. And more nonresidential building permits were issued last year than in any year since 1992, the report says.The pressure of residential development may be easing, the report indicates.

AS THE mayoral campaign winds down, many of us have all but memorized the top candidates' responses concerning such major issues as schools, crime and neighborhood renewal.But there are a number of other issues important to the life of the city that I'd like to see each candidate adopt as part of his or her platform. Here's that list:Return the City Hall operators to full-time duty. The use of voice mail and repeated messages for callers to wait for assistance are not appropriate for City Hall, many people's first contact with city government.

Carpenters bang nails furiously, and brick masons slather mortar on concrete blocks, raising condominiums out of the mud at Mays Chapel North near Timonium.Contractor John Oertel Jr.'s face is splattered with concrete, but the gray goop doesn't conceal his smile."I have a good feeling about this year," he says. "There is a lot of building."From office buildings in Owings Mills to housing developments in Timonium and new shopping centers in White Marsh, Baltimore County is driving the region's economic growth, new studies show.

Anne Arundel County Executive John G. Gary is often accused of being a friend of developers. But his record shows that he both helped and hindered the industry.What's behind his seemingly two-minded approach to an issue that a recent Anne Arundel Community College poll found to be the second-most important to voters in the Nov. 3 election, behind education?The Republican says he has tried to boost economic growth but limit home construction as a way to bring in more tax revenue without the costly burden of building schools.

SOMETIMES things aren't what they appear to be. Seeing all the houses being built in Howard County, one would assume that growth is exceeding all expectations.That conventional wisdom, however, was knocked for a loop by recent data indicating some home-building rates have not met predictions.My first thoughts were that if fewer houses are being built, then population growth must not be as great either. Which would mean all the talk about new families overburdening a crowded school system was just that -- talk.

A campaign postcard sent to some 6,000 county voters Friday by Republican state delegate candidate Todd Arterburn has prompted cries of dirty campaigning from the political newcomer's Democratic opponent, District 12B incumbent Elizabeth Bobo.The Bobo camp held a news conference yesterday to denounce the postcard, which includes an unflattering caricature of the former Howard County executive riding on the shoulders of Baltimore Oriole star Cal Ripken Jr. and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire.

Undergoing a $30 million renovation, Towson Marketplace -- former site of the quirky Best Products building dismantled last spring -- has spawned another avant-garde structure that is stirring controversy.The recently remodeled Toys R Us, with its red pillars, brightly hued letters and expanse of glass, has come under fire for violating the residential-style exterior promised by the shopping center's developer, Florida-based Talisman Co.In response, the Baltimore County Department of Permits and Development Management has imposed a Thursday deadline for the developer to come up with a time frame to comply with development plans.

Hampstead's Board of Zoning Appeals has denied developer Martin K. P. Hill's request for a zoning variance that would have permitted him to build larger, more expensive homes in his North Carroll Farms IV subdivision.Last month, Hill applied for a reduction in the town's rear and side yard setback requirements for 148 single-family homes. In some cases, the variance would have reduced the yard space between the new houses and the homes of adjacent property owners in the North Carroll Farms development.

After years of delays in getting Fort Howard redeveloped as a retirement community for veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday scrapped those plans and said it will seek a new partner for the project. Fort Howard Senior Housing Association had signed a 75-year lease with the VA in 2004 to build what would have been the nation's largest continuing-care community for veterans. But the project, Bayside at Fort Howard, had become enmeshed in disputes over building permits, zoning regulations and taxes.

Howard County issued its fewest number of building permits last year since officials began collecting data three decades ago, according to new figures that planners say don't include the steepest part of the recession. In an annual development report, planning director Marsha S. McLaughlin said 1,157 building permits were issued during the year that ended Sept. 30, down from 1,899 the year before - a 39 percent decline. "This is the smallest annual amount since 1979, the earliest year for which the Department of Planning and Zoning has permit data," McLaughlin wrote in the report, noting that development is expected to drop even more next year.

A panel investigating erroneously issued building permits is expected to release its findings to Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold today, including a recommendation that applicants bear more responsibility for ensuring their project proposals are clear. The Task Force for the Study of Erroneous Permit Approvals also asks Leopold to require applicants with revisions to submit original and changed drawings of their project, go through a second review by zoning officials and get a signature from the contractor.

A Florida developer intends to build the contested 23-story condominium tower in Columbia's Town Center, according to a top official of the firm. William Rowe, vice president of WCI Communities, would not predict when construction might begin, but after watching the Howard County Planning Board decisively turn back two zoning amendments Thursday night that might have blocked the project, he vowed that the building would go up. "We ultimately are going...

The water crisis affecting Westminster and much of Carroll County goes beyond the concerns of pumping water from well to tap and could drastically alter growth plans in the county for decades to come, according to local officials and water experts. To brainstorm solutions to water deficits and the new state requirement that a water system meet its demand during the worst droughts on record, officials from Carroll's eight municipalities will gather for a countywide water summit Feb. 3. If the Maryland Department of the Environment continues to enforce water restrictions in those municipalities, that could undermine overall county efforts to contain sprawl, said Jesse Richardson Jr., an expert in water-rights law at Virginia Tech.

Even as the green light nears for construction of a planned residential and retail tower in downtown Columbia, several issues swirl around the multimillion-dollar project, among the most critical in the short-term: Will opponents to the 23-story luxury development pursue legal challenges to block the project? Can common ground be found to settle the dispute? The opponents have rejected two overtures for a quick accord. Will the sharp downturn in the nation's housing market, particularly in the luxury segment, result in a delay of the project?

Jo Ann Stolley has two visions as she relaxes on her third-floor deck. One is of the kaleidoscope sky as the sun sets. The other is a vision of things to come: a 23-story tower peering down on her and obliterating both her view and privacy. "It's a nightmare," she says almost in a whisper of the prospect. But plans for the multimillion-dollar residential and retail tower in downtown Columbia are progressing, even as opponents try desperately to block it. The project would be the signature building in the county, both in height and accoutrements and, more than any other structure, perhaps permanently transform the lakefront into a center for taller buildings and higher density.

Baltimore County officials are set to order the demolition of two houses under construction -- a rare, if not unprecedented, move that follows complaints that the homes were being built too close to a stream. Although the county had given approval for construction, a newly conducted engineering study found that the home sites are within an environmentally sensitive area that is off-limits to building, officials said yesterday. As a result, they said, the owner of the property, which is near White Marsh Mall, will all but surely be forced to remove what has been built: two concrete foundations, one supporting wood framing.

NEW ORLEANS -- Every day the line snakes down a spartan corridor on the eighth floor of City Hall, as hundreds of people clutch pieces of paper inscribed with fateful percentages that could force them to abandon their homes. The number is always over 50, and it means a house was so damaged in the flooding after Hurricane Katrina - more than half-ruined - that it faces demolition, unless the owner can pay tens of thousands of dollars to raise it several feet above the ground and any future floodwaters.

The task force studying whether agricultural buildings open to the public should be required to have building permits edged toward a compromise last week that centered on putting farm structures into categories. Buildings with clear agriculture-only uses or limited public use would not need permits, but structures with year-round public or non-agricultural uses would be required to have a permit, according to the proposal. The group, made up of farmers, county officials and other agriculture leaders, is working to resolve the issue before county building codes are updated Jan. 1. At the Tuesday meeting in Bel Air, which was attended by several farmers not on the 20-member committee but who are closely following the issue, task force member Albert A.J. "Jay" Young suggested the compromise.