Charrette

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.

Large sheets of white paper filled with Columbians' visions for Town Center line the hallway leading to the Spear Center at General Growth Properties' downtown headquarters. Written in red, black, blue and green markers, they list the hopes and concerns residents expressed at the start of the weeklong intensive design gathering that began Saturday and will result in a master development plan for Columbia's downtown. A few samples: "We don't want giant office buildings outlining the crescent area - we want award-winning architecture!

Tomorrow Columbia Master Plan Charrette -- The first of three public comment and review sessions to help Howard County government shape its vision for Columbia's Town Center will be held at 6:30 p.m. at General Growth Properties headquarters, 10275 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. Registration is requested but not required. Everyone is welcome. 410-313-2350. Board of Appeals -- The hearing examiner will hear Case Nos. BA 546-D (William and Sherrie Catterton) at 10 a.m. and BA 04-55C (Mark J. Saylor)

Four decades ago, James W. Rouse conjured up the idea of Columbia as an idyllic planned community, a place where groups of all incomes and races could live together in harmony in a town meticulously mapped out by Rouse's visionary architects and planners. Tomorrow, that process will be turned on its head. In an unprecedented move for Howard County, public officials are inviting all residents to an eight-day series of meetings - dubbed a "charrette" - supplying them with pens and paper and asking them to create what they think should be done with Columbia's largest tract of developable land.

Columbia needs citizens' input Beneath a typically suburban veneer, Columbia is a unique community. Unlike most other cities, which were founded on the needs of commerce or the whims of developers, the foundation of our community is a set of guiding principles that coalesced into an ambitious vision. Based on his experiences and exceptional foresight, James Rouse envisioned a community that is inclusive, instead of exclusive; that integrates life's essentials instead of relegating them to the fringes or ignoring them entirely; that connects instead of alienates; and that fosters growth instead of complacency.

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.

As Howard County officials work on ways to create more housing for working families, advocates for moderate-income housing intend to push the issue as part of next month's weeklong planning session, or charrette, on central Columbia's future. General Growth Properties, Columbia's developer, has outlined plans for hundreds of new homes and apartments, high-rise towers, stores, restaurants and offices in Town Center. Leaders of the Coalition for Affordable Housing see the county-sponsored charrette as a chance to be advocates for affordable housing during a process that, if successful, could be used again as Howard County prepares for more growth.

A Howard County Circuit Court judge's ruling affirming the Zoning Board's denial of the Rouse Co.'s petition to increase Columbia's density is essentially moot 20 months after the two bodies were at odds over developing the planned community's downtown. Since the board's denial -- when it and the community asked Rouse for more specific details about the 1,600 residences that were proposed to create an urban atmosphere for Columbia's Town Center -- General Growth Properties, which bought the Rouse Co. last fall, has created a draft master development plan for the downtown area.

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.

Baltimore County's first charrette, a new experiment in intensive community-based planning for development at the old Kingsley Park apartment complex, has cleared its initial hurdle -- the county Planning Board. The panel on Thursday approved a charrette vote that endorses the working group's vision of a new village to replace the 60-year-old complex of run-down apartments troubled by crime and violence. The vote was 48-0. The board's endorsement allows officials to begin work on a "pattern book" reflecting the development plans from the charrette.