Charrette

General Growth Properties has kept a low profile since November when it acquired the Rouse Co., which founded Columbia, and its properties. Company executives have declined invitations to speak to local business groups, answered most questions with a "no comment" and spoken only when necessary at public meetings on planning and zoning issues. But quietly, the company has begun interviewing community leaders to get their input on proposals for developing downtown Columbia. "In a sense, it's the first time they've reached out since they moved here," said County Council Chairman Guy Guzzone, a North Laurel-Savage Democrat.

Karen Grey pointed to a thick black line on the map of downtown Columbia covering the table in front of her. The line represented U.S. 29, the busy road that runs between her neighborhood and downtown. It was no match for her green marker. "We need a way to make Town Center accessible to other areas," said Grey, among the hundreds who turned out for the first day of this week's "charrette," intended to hammer out a new blueprint for downtown Columbia. After discussing the problem, the people gathered at her table Sunday agreed that the city needed a monorail.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr.'s signature legislative proposal for the revitalization of the county's older neighborhoods received an official go-ahead last night from the County Council - after its members expanded their role in the plan. The amended bill, which passed unanimously and without comment, allows developers of selected projects in selected areas of the county to bypass a property's zoning and the traditional development process by agreeing to take part in an intensive community approval process.

THE ISSUE: -- A traffic study has concluded that central Columbia's roads would not be able to absorb much more traffic without producing severe congestion, though a county-sponsored community design session last year recommended thousands more homes, offices and shops in the next 30 years. Do you think the county should deny permission for any but the minimum number of homes and businesses allowed by current zoning? What do you think the right number of homes and businesses would be? No copies, please, of Bethesda A great deal of time and money has been spent on a "plan" for the redevelopment of downtown Columbia without knowing what our roads could bear.

Company selected to conduct charrette for Town Center Howard County Executive James N. Robey has announced that Design Collective Inc., a Baltimore firm, has been selected to conduct the Columbia Town Center charrette, a collaborative planning process for the redevelopment of Columbia's Town Center and its remaining undeveloped land. The process is designed to use the talents and energies of all interested parties to create a master plan that has broad-based community support. The charrette, a five- to seven-day series of public activities and workshops, will give participants a chance to learn and discuss mixed use, walkability, pedestrian and motor vehicle balance, diverse and affordable housing, environmental preservation and development consistent with Smart Growth principles and good urban design.

Essex Coastal zoning district is topic A Lower Back River Neck community meeting will be held tonight to discuss a new coastal zoning district in the area. The 7 p.m. forum at Chesapeake High School, 1801 Turkey Point Road, Essex, will offer information about a planning process, called a charrette, being organized to develop a new zoning code for the waterfront neighborhoods. The charrette will be held Sept. 11 through Sept. 15. The first meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 13. Information: 410-887-3480, or www.baltimorecountymd.

The Baltimore County Council unanimously approved a contract last night for a company to draw up development plans for the Kingsley Park apartments site in Middle River. The $94,000 contract to run community meetings and draft plans for the county-owned complex, which is being razed, was awarded to Baltimore- based Design Collective Inc. The company is to oversee a charrette - a series of community planning meetings - in May or June to decide what will be built at the 18-acre site at Old Eastern Avenue and Back River Neck Road.

Plans for a 22-story lakefront tower in Town Center are moving forward even as the county prepares for a new planning process designed to map out central Columbia's future. Florida developer WCI Communities submitted revised plans for the building near Lake Kittamaqundi last week, and the county Planning Board could get the project as early as next month. A sales office is scheduled to open next month in the former Columbia Exhibit Center next to the 1.2-acre site, now a grass field where Bennigan's and an office building once stood.

Over the past 10 years, a group of young architects known as the "New Urbanists" has gained international attention by designing suburban communities based on old-fashioned principles.But can their traditional town planning concepts also be used to help energize older urban areas in a city such as Baltimore?That's the challenge posed by the Harford Road Partnership, a nonprofit group that has hired one of the acclaimed leaders of New Urbanism to recommend ways to revitalize a one-mile stretch of Harford Road, from Parkside Drive to Echodale Avenue.

As a tenant with a long-term lease, the Columbia Association is competitively poised to solicit developers to build it a new headquarters, according to an urban economist. Don Zuchelli, a contract worker for Design Collective Inc., has suggested that the homeowners association allow developers to compete over buying land for a new headquarters and constructing the building, which could also house restaurants and entertainment. "Let private enterprise come in and make some offer to you," Zuchelli told the association's board of directors Thursday night.