Density

ANYONE who's been following Vice President Al Gore's speechifying in recent months knows that the idea of stopping suburban sprawl through Smart Growth is considered smart politics.It's not just the vice president who thinks this. More than half the nation's governors endorsed some notion of Smart Growth in formal addresses this year. All of which must make Maryland's Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who coined the term, awfully proud indeed.In an age where small policies (i.e. school uniforms)

Looks like candy. Chews like candy.But it's not candy.Move over Tums, here come "calcium chews."Mead Johnson's Viactiv and Nature Made's CalBurst -- supplements that can be munched like saltwater taffy -- are the latest products aimed at helping you meet your daily dietary requirement of calcium.They're convenient, that's certain. But it's not a good idea to substitute them for natural calcium sources such as broccoli, spinach and milk, says a report from the American Dietetic Association.

In hopes of improving the appearance of the planned community of Honeygo, the Baltimore County Council is considering a move to limit the size of the development yet again, this time looking to cut 250 to 500 homes from the project.The proposal would expand the minimum size of lots as a way to limit housing density, reducing the number of homes by 5 percent to 10 percent. It also would add other design restrictions. Those moves, developers and officials say, would help drive up prices in a community where the average price of a single-family home is $270,000.

SEATTLE -- The intensely multicultural, potentially contentious cities of the 21st century will demand new leadership skills of U.S. mayors.In futuristically oriented Seattle, a beta test has just begun. The new mayor, Paul Schell, has spent a lifetime espousing such causes as good urban design, inventive transportation solutions and regional unity from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Portland, Ore.But however strong his convictions, Mr. Schell is not taking office with a rigid agenda. No, he says: "We are building a city of choices."

Despite the unexpected appearance of the long-promised, 36-hole Pasadena dream golf course as an issue in this fall's political campaigning, residents probably will be waiting a little longer for work to begin on the course.Anne Arundel County officials hope the project will be under way by next summer, but they expect that needed grading permits won't be requested until late spring.Meanwhile, two neighboring developers who have agreed to donate land for the course in exchange for higher density zoning are negotiating over details and have yet to sign on to the subdivision plats, the final indication of commitment to the project.

TWO YEARS AGO, several Carroll County mayors suggested the state create a Transfer Development Rights program to ease pressure on farmers to sell their land to developers.A state commission on economic and planning issues is preparing such a plan for Gov. Parris N. Glendening. It has some serious questions to address.As John Colvin, a developer in Baltimore and Harford counties, explained during a conference held last week by the Home Builders Association of Maryland, the state, through its Rural Legacy program, would buy per-acre development density rights from farmers.

John Brooks' veterinary practice has been a good barometer for the changes that have taken place in Kingsville throughout the years."When I started 25 years ago, my practice was 80 percent large animals and 20 percent small ones; now that's completely reversed," Brooks said. "They're growing houses where they grew cows and horses."Kingsville is no longer all farmland but the northeast Baltimore County community still retains much of its rural character. The town has the fortune -- or misfortune depending on whom you ask -- to possess the two prerequisites most important to many people looking for a place to live: a quite country setting and an easy commute.

Fed up with bait-and-switch governmentIf you pay taxes in Howard County, you might want to read what follows very closely.In 1993, over the objections of many citizens, our county zoning board approved a category of zoning called "mixed-use district." This Columbia-style development category, having a mix of mid- to high-density housing, employment and open space uses, was put forth largely on the (questionble) tenet that tax revenues from the employment portion would help offset the costs to taxpayers generated by the residential part.

JUST WHOM are we letting into Dayton? Families who shop the bargains at Nordstrom's Rack? Couples whose children attend public universities? Folks with domestic-made automobiles? Indeed, it seems that the western Howard County neighborhood may cease to exist as we know it unless the County Council approves an amendment to reduce housing densities there.The council is being asked to stop a plan by farmer-developer Chuck Sharp to build 98 homes on 298 acres. At one to 1 1/2 acres, the lots would be so small by present standards, push mowers might even be used by some.

SOUTH COUNTY RESIDENTS in Shady Side, Deale and Mayo are once again forcing Anne Arundel County planners and politicians to explain how the proposed General Development Plan will affect their communities.This is not a bad thing. Their questioning has forced planners to focus more sharply on the issues of controlling growth.Earlier in the process, South County residents had problems with wording in the plan.In their minds, the designation "primary growth area" meant that high-density development would be dumped into their relatively rural communities.

Consensus appears elusive as Howard County Council members prepare for Monday night's public hearing on changes to a complex bill on redevelopment of Columbia's village centers. After a nearly three-hour work session last week at school board headquarters, issues such as parking, affordable housing and village center boundaries were unresolved, and at least one member appeared uncertain of how the bill addresses basic goals. No further discussions were scheduled before the 7:30 p.m. hearing.

As anyone who has tried to navigate the junction of Interstates 70 and 270 in the late afternoon knows, the city of Frederick has no shortage of drivers on its roads. That congestion is just one reason why proposals to annex land for commercial development and thousands of new homes have some people in the area nervous. Nevertheless, Frederick, which grew like gangbusters during the 1990s, is on track for more growth and development now that the city has secured access to millions of gallons a day of Potomac River water.

A Princeton study of Baltimore thunderstorms finds that the density of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes here peaks at nearly 10 strikes per square kilometer in late June and early July, between 5 and 6 p.m. The highest densities occur south and east of Baltimore. Urban "heat islands" and bay breezes stoke our electrical storms. Dense lightning is associated with flash floods, and Moores Run in Northeast Baltimore has one of the highest frequencies of flash flooding in the U.S. Who knew?

Two things Americans hate are density and sprawl. Fortunately, there are solutions to each. The solution to density is sprawl, and the solution to sprawl is density. No problem. Recent reports on a Baltimore City Council member's effort to restrict corner stores brought to mind two other things Americans hate: busy stores close by and long drives to buy even such routine items as milk. The solution to having stores too close is to put them far away. The solution to long drives to stores is to put them close by. Hey, I have a solution to everything.

Coalition supports tower construction The African American Coalition of Howard County is an organization dedicated to fostering equal rights and opportunities for all individuals. If we, as a community, truly want affordable housing to be a part of the future of Columbia, then it is imperative that we support the construction of The Plaza Residences. Yes, the Plaza is a luxury condominium, but we need to look at the issue more broadly and recognize the direct connection between the Plaza and our overall crisis in affordable housing for our work force.

The next phase of the luxury planned community Maple Lawn, Maryland will include more than 220 homes and a significant expansion of space for commercial offices. Many regulatory hurdles must be cleared before the expansion can begin, and it will be several years before the homes are constructed, but the developer is seeking county approval of an amended sketch plan that determines what can be built and where on the property. The Planning Board deferred action on the request Thursday night after a lengthy public hearing, saying it needed time to consider the application and testimony, particularly from opponents.

Throughout Baltimore, property owners are looking to go up. Requests to add a third-floor to traditional, two-story rowhouses in some neighborhoods are appearing before the city's zoning board in greater numbers than in the past. They reflect a desire for more living space by residents who want to stay in the city. But Baltimore's outdated zoning code unnecessarily discourages what should be encouraged - a homeowner's impulse to remain in town in a roomier version of a classic Baltimore rowhouse.

As Valerie H. Twanmoh greeted voters outside Youth's Benefit Elementary School, the smile on her face hid her frustration. The Democrat was making her third try at winning a seat on the County Council representing Fallston and Abingdon, and it had seemed as though things could be breaking her way. But she was disheartened by an eleventh-hour mailer sent out by her opponent, Republican Councilwoman Veronica L. "Roni" Chenowith. It portrayed Twanmoh as a big-developer ally who had been booted from her job as zoning hearing examiner.

The next phase of the luxury planned community Maple Lawn, Maryland has been approved, clearing the way for 75 additional housing units and four office buildings. In less than two years, the development near Fulton has been transformed from a place where there were only workmen, steel pillars and house frames into a minitown, with residents, retail shops and other businesses. The continuation of that evolution was assured Thursday night when the Planning Board, in three unanimous votes, approved sites developments plans for: Forty townhouses, to be constructed on 2.52 acres by Miller and Smith, a McLean, Va.-based builder.

Vernon D. Swaback had time to kill four nights ago, so he strolled the downtown lakefront. "You know what was missing?" he asked rhetorically. "People," he answered after a pause. Although he is an admirer of Columbia - "it's a rare place" - Swaback, a renowned urban designer, also said it is disappointing because it has failed to evolve. "Given the opportunity of Columbia, the place right now should be more than it is," he said in an interview. "I don't know, with the exception of adding new buildings and maintaining them, how much of an idea has been added to anything beyond that which was really put together in the 1960s.