Cherrytree

The Howard County Board of Appeals has approved a Scaggsville resident's petition for a variance for a storage shed and play area, a seemingly routine case that became controversial when the homeowner accused a neighbor of being racist.Abul Azad said he was pleased that the five-member board voted, 3-1, in his favor. Board member Donald Messenger was the lone dissenter, and George L. Layman, who chairs the board, was absent."I like it," said Azad, who still believes his neighbor, Joseph Dunworth, is prejudiced against his Pakistani heritage.

Every spring, Howard County is getting a little more pink. To date, 639 Kwanzan cherry trees have been planted by Howard County Tourism Inc.'s Blossoms of Hope project, adding thousands of pastel petals to the landscape when the trees bloom in April. The ultimate goal is 1,000 trees "to beautify and to beckon people to Howard County," said Rachelina Bonacci, executive director of the tourism group. At the same time, she said, "It is a project about giving hope." A $500 sponsorship of a tree includes 30 percent as a donation to the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource and Image Center at Howard County General Hospital.

Anyone who wants a chance to get a new garage townhouse in Howard County for half price must submit an application postmarked today, according to county housing officials. A lottery to choose nine moderate-income families to buy into the Cherrytree Park development of $240,000 garage townhouses near U.S. 29 and Route 216 will come within a month after the application deadline, said deputy county housing administrator Neil J. Gaffney. Those chosen will get a three-level, 2,160-square-foot townhouse for $118,700, with a minimum of $3,056 in cash required.

Facing the Baltimore area's highest housing prices, Howard County teachers like Jody Christophe are typically priced out of homeownership. But the 38-year-old single mother is celebrating some good fortune. Christophe, who teaches German at River Hill High School, just bought for herself and her son, Keita, 8, a new garage townhouse in North Laurel that retails for more than $400,000. She settled on the new home Thursday and moved in Saturday. "It's an absolute dream come true," Christophe said, recalling the whirlwind of activity that transformed her from a frustrated home seeker who in September was thinking about leaving the county into one of the rare beneficiaries of Howard's moderate-income housing program.

The Howard County Planning Board reluctantly approved yesterday a revised plan by the Rouse Co. to build a 516-acre Columbia-style village in North Laurel.The board also approved a revised preliminary proposal for Cherrytree Park, a 42-acre residential and commercial development in nearby Scaggsville.Rouse Co. officials retooled their project according to specifications set two months ago by the Zoning Board, which raised objections about the density of residential development after contentious hearings and complaints from nearby residents.

A proposed North Laurel community being heralded as a model for future development in Howard County must scale another zoning hurdle.The County Council, sitting as the Zoning Board, postponed last night a decision on the Cherrytree Park development until September, when it hears the case of nearby residents who oppose the plan.Cherrytree is a mixed-use community proposed for a 42.5-acre site near U.S. 29 and Route 216. Opponents disagree with the very core of the proposal -- the mixed-used concept.

On the heels of approving a mixed-use village in North Laurel, the Howard County Zoning Board endorsed a similar, though much smaller, project yesterday in nearby Scaggsville.The board, made up of County Council members, voted 5-0 during an early-evening work session to approve the preliminary development plan for Cherrytree Park, which had been on hold since it was sent back for revisions by the board in October 1996."I thought that the plan that came back is very responsive," said board member Dennis R. Schrader.

An article in yesterday's Howard County edition of The Sun gave the wrong dates for two public hearings before the Zoning Board. The preliminary development plan for the Rouse project in North Laurel is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 27. A similar plan for the Cherrytree Park proposal in Scaggsville is slated for 8 p.m. June 24.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 5/01/98

The Howard County Zoning Board last night heard more details of the plans for the Cherrytree Park development in Scaggsville, one of three major housing and commercial projects in the southeastern county.If the board approves the plan, the developers, Canton Builders and Winchester Homes, could begin the medium-sized development that would bring 170 homes and 212,102 square feet of commercial space to the North Laurel area. All 170 residential units proposed by the developers would be built on less than 16 acres.

Developers of a proposed 42-acre mixed-use community in Scaggsville that has been in limbo for almost a year have asked county officials to put their plan back on the approval track.Robert H. Levan, an attorney for a partnership of three developers, sent a letter dated Aug. 21 to the county Zoning Board requesting a work session so the developers -- Canton Builders, Winchester Homes and Cherrytree Corp. -- can submit a revised preliminary development plan for Cherrytree Park.Original plans for the Scaggsville project -- which would be the county's first mixed-use community since 14,000-acre Columbia was developed during the 1960s -- called for 252 single-family and multifamily homes on half of a 42.4-acre site at the southeast corner of U.S. 29 and Route 216, with 6 acres of employment and retail space and 15 acres of open space.

Nearly blind from diabetes and with only one good arm, Bharat Pandya, 51, his wife, Nita, and their two children came to Howard County from India knowing the odds against having a better life were long -- but last night those odds changed. The Pandya family was one of nine winners out of 121 entrants in a moderate-income housing lottery that will enable them to buy a new, luxury townhouse in the Cherrytree Park development for less than half the $240,000 market price. "We tried our luck.

Anyone who wants a chance to get a new garage townhouse in Howard County for half price must submit an application postmarked today, according to county housing officials. A lottery to choose nine moderate-income families to buy into the Cherrytree Park development of $240,000 garage townhouses near U.S. 29 and Route 216 will come within a month after the application deadline, said deputy county housing administrator Neil J. Gaffney. Those chosen will get a three-level, 2,160-square-foot townhouse for $118,700, with a minimum of $3,056 in cash required.

Forget the Maryland Lottery. Howard County's got a better one: a chance to buy a new, $240,000 garage townhouse in the state's wealthiest county for half price. It's a working family's dream, and the odds are a lot better than the state offers, even though only nine houses will be involved in the first drawing. So far, 105 people are on a list of applicants, but dozens more are expected. The drawing is open to people who live or work in Howard and are first-time homebuyers. Buyers must have incomes between $38,400 and about $50,000, and can get up to $6,000 in help with closing costs from a county program.

Faced with spiraling real estate prices that are pushing even used townhouses out of reach of many working families, the Howard County Council approved yesterday a modest attempt to help - setting below-market maximum prices for 187 "moderate-income" houses in three planned mixed-use communities. The bill the council approved establishes a top price of $106,100 for a moderate-income, 1,500-square- foot townhouse to be included in the three planned mixed-use developments: Cherrytree Park in Scaggsville, Key in North Laurel and Maple Lawn Farms in Fulton - all in the county's southeast corner.

On the heels of approving a mixed-use village in North Laurel, the Howard County Zoning Board endorsed a similar, though much smaller, project yesterday in nearby Scaggsville.The board, made up of County Council members, voted 5-0 during an early-evening work session to approve the preliminary development plan for Cherrytree Park, which had been on hold since it was sent back for revisions by the board in October 1996."I thought that the plan that came back is very responsive," said board member Dennis R. Schrader.

The Howard County Zoning Board last night heard more details of the plans for the Cherrytree Park development in Scaggsville, one of three major housing and commercial projects in the southeastern county.If the board approves the plan, the developers, Canton Builders and Winchester Homes, could begin the medium-sized development that would bring 170 homes and 212,102 square feet of commercial space to the North Laurel area. All 170 residential units proposed by the developers would be built on less than 16 acres.

Facing the Baltimore area's highest housing prices, Howard County teachers like Jody Christophe are typically priced out of homeownership. But the 38-year-old single mother is celebrating some good fortune. Christophe, who teaches German at River Hill High School, just bought for herself and her son, Keita, 8, a new garage townhouse in North Laurel that retails for more than $400,000. She settled on the new home Thursday and moved in Saturday. "It's an absolute dream come true," Christophe said, recalling the whirlwind of activity that transformed her from a frustrated home seeker who in September was thinking about leaving the county into one of the rare beneficiaries of Howard's moderate-income housing program.

Faced with spiraling real estate prices that are pushing even used townhouses out of reach of many working families, the Howard County Council approved yesterday a modest attempt to help - setting below-market maximum prices for 187 "moderate-income" houses in three planned mixed-use communities. The bill the council approved establishes a top price of $106,100 for a moderate-income, 1,500-square- foot townhouse to be included in the three planned mixed-use developments: Cherrytree Park in Scaggsville, Key in North Laurel and Maple Lawn Farms in Fulton - all in the county's southeast corner.

The Howard County Planning Board reluctantly approved yesterday a revised plan by the Rouse Co. to build a 516-acre Columbia-style village in North Laurel.The board also approved a revised preliminary proposal for Cherrytree Park, a 42-acre residential and commercial development in nearby Scaggsville.Rouse Co. officials retooled their project according to specifications set two months ago by the Zoning Board, which raised objections about the density of residential development after contentious hearings and complaints from nearby residents.

An article in yesterday's Howard County edition of The Sun gave the wrong dates for two public hearings before the Zoning Board. The preliminary development plan for the Rouse project in North Laurel is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 27. A similar plan for the Cherrytree Park proposal in Scaggsville is slated for 8 p.m. June 24.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 5/01/98