Chalice

Refuting a charge of behind-the-scenes dealings that excluded residents, the Howard County Planning Board yesterday denied a Columbia village board's request to reconsider its earlier approval of a huge retail development planned by the Rouse Co. for east Columbia.The Planning Board also recommended granting a zoning exception to a Jewish organization allowing it to run an elementary school with up to 60 students -- an expansion plan that has been at the core of conflicts between the synagogue and its neighbors in west Columbia's Sebring community.

Poetry and song -- The UU Chalice Series of Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia will present "The Poet Sings," a concert by tenor Byron Jones (right) and pianist Michael Adcock (left), at 8 p.m. Jan. 13 at Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. On the program are works by Schumann, Poulenc and Britten, accompanied by texts written by Eichendorff, Eluard, Apollinaire and Yeats. Adcock, who directs the concert series, will offer a preconcert lecture at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance; $10 for students.

Long Reach village residents grilled Rouse Co. officials last night over plans to develop Columbia's second giant warehouse-style retail complex, expressing concern about traffic, appearance and the effect on nearby residential areas and village shopping centers.Several residents questioned whether Columbia -- particularly the eastern section near Long Reach -- needs another development featuring large discount retail chains, similar to the 2-year-old Snowden Square retail center about a mile from the proposed Chalice commercial site.

Patricia Barbernitz was alarmed when she returned one morning last week from an overnight trip to find the front door of her Rosedale home open, her lights on and drawers and closets rifled. But when she ran upstairs to check on what she most hoped had not been stolen -- the gold-plated chalice and Communion plate given to her eldest brother in 1950 when he was ordained a priest -- her heart sank. The chalice and plate -- stored in the family's safe-deposit box since the Rev. John Barbernitz's death in 2002 -- were to be used this weekend when the pastor's nephew is ordained a priest.

At one point during Howard County's planning board proceedings in July, a resident testifying against the Rouse Co.'s so-called Chalice project made a telling admission.While the resident was vehemently opposed to the proposed shopping center because of suspected traffic problems, she conceded that it would be nice to have a "baby super store." For those unfamiliar with the vernacular, a baby super store is a warehouse-style store that stocks infant accessories -- a Sam's Club for the toddler set.What this resident was expressing was the ambivalence we all feel about the kind of large retail project that the Rouse Co. plans to build in East Columbia.

A jewel-studded, silver chalice was stored in a safe at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation on East University Parkway, kept out of view so no one would be tempted to steal it. But the strategy failed.In the course of telling the police about an office break-in that occurred over the weekend, church officials checked the safe Monday and discovered the chalice had disappeared."We don't use these items for precisely this reason," said the Very Rev. Van H. Gardner, dean of the cathedral, referring to the risk of theft.

Patricia Barbernitz was alarmed when she returned one morning last week from an overnight trip to find the front door of her Rosedale home open, her lights on and drawers and closets rifled. But when she ran upstairs to check on what she most hoped had not been stolen -- the gold-plated chalice and Communion plate given to her eldest brother in 1950 when he was ordained a priest -- her heart sank. The chalice and plate -- stored in the family's safe-deposit box since the Rev. John Barbernitz's death in 2002 -- were to be used this weekend when the pastor's nephew is ordained a priest.

Let there be no confusion: The Rouse Co.'s planned 73-acre shopping center on Route 175 in Columbia is no Holy Grail -- and never was intended to be, according to a top company executive."

Rouse Co. officials will present plans for the proposed Chalice commercial development, a 73-acre warehouse-style retail complex, at the Long Reach village board meeting at 7:30 tonight at Stonehouse in the Long Reach Village Center.The project would be just north of Route 175 between Dobbin Road and Snowden River Parkway, near the developing Long Reach community of Kendall Ridge. Plans submitted to the county call for a 440,000-square-foot retail center -- about half the size of The Mall -- that would include four free-standing restaurants and a gas station.

Nearby Columbia residents fear that the Rouse Co. proposal for the new town's second giant warehouse-style retail complex may hasten the decline of their community shopping center and worsen congestion on one of the county's busiest and most dangerous traffic corridors.But county officials say road adjustments can be made to handle the increased traffic, and they praised the proposed $45 million retail hub on Route 175 between Dobbin Road and Snowden River Parkway for the taxes and jobs it would generate.

Commemoration of Holocaust set The Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City will commemorate the Holocaust with liturgy and dialogue this weekend. Six candles will be lighted at each of the weekend Masses in remembrance of the 6 million Jews who died in the Shoah. Leo Bretholz, a Holocaust survivor and author of Leap into Darkness, will speak at 7 p.m. Sunday in the church's chapel. Information: 410-465-1169 or 410-461-9111. Final concert slated in UU Chalice Series The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia's UU Chalice Series will present its final concert of the season, "A Peabody Preparatory Spectacular," at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way, Columbia.

Park volunteerism earns black eye Volunteers are supposed to help. They're not supposed to help themselves to our land and our critters. But that's what has been happening at a few of Maryland's parks. The wheels of change are starting to turn, but why did it take so long? Consider: Wildlife researchers find one of their radio-collared deer dead and hanging behind the house of a Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area volunteer. The field tag indicates the deer was killed at a time when the telemetry indicates the animal was still mobile.

He's a man of faith, but even the Rev. James Barker started to doubt that he would see his beloved chalice and paten again. Armed robbers took the religious items from a Bel Air jewelry store last month, along with $800,000 in gems. But the arrests of three suspects and recovery of much of the merchandise last week didn't include the heirloom chalice. With the 25th anniversary of his ordination recently and the approach of the Christmas worship season, the situation looked bleak. "My people kept telling me to have faith," he said of his Roman Catholic congregation at St. Ignatius Church in Forest Hill.

Let there be no confusion: The Rouse Co.'s planned 73-acre shopping center on Route 175 in Columbia is no Holy Grail -- and never was intended to be, according to a top company executive."

Refuting a charge of behind-the-scenes dealings that excluded residents, the Howard County Planning Board yesterday denied a Columbia village board's request to reconsider its earlier approval of a huge retail development planned by the Rouse Co. for east Columbia.The Planning Board also recommended granting a zoning exception to a Jewish organization allowing it to run an elementary school with up to 60 students -- an expansion plan that has been at the core of conflicts between the synagogue and its neighbors in west Columbia's Sebring community.

At one point during Howard County's planning board proceedings in July, a resident testifying against the Rouse Co.'s so-called Chalice project made a telling admission.While the resident was vehemently opposed to the proposed shopping center because of suspected traffic problems, she conceded that it would be nice to have a "baby super store." For those unfamiliar with the vernacular, a baby super store is a warehouse-style store that stocks infant accessories -- a Sam's Club for the toddler set.What this resident was expressing was the ambivalence we all feel about the kind of large retail project that the Rouse Co. plans to build in East Columbia.

Park volunteerism earns black eye Volunteers are supposed to help. They're not supposed to help themselves to our land and our critters. But that's what has been happening at a few of Maryland's parks. The wheels of change are starting to turn, but why did it take so long? Consider: Wildlife researchers find one of their radio-collared deer dead and hanging behind the house of a Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area volunteer. The field tag indicates the deer was killed at a time when the telemetry indicates the animal was still mobile.