Density

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.

The Howard County Planning Board has embraced the idea of expanding Maple Lawn, Maryland, the luxury development in eastern Howard County, but continues to leave open the issue of whether high density should be allowed on the 97-acre project. The board appears to be leaning against the developer, who is seeking approval to increase density to 2.7 units an acre from 2.2 units with the construction in 2015 of a senior housing complex as a separate and confined component of Maple Lawn. Against higher density Some residents near the development have criticized the idea of adding density.

The Howard County Planning Board today will seek to make sense out of a myriad of numbers as it considers whether to permit more housing at Maple Lawn, Maryland, the expansive and expensive minitown under construction near Fulton. The board's analysis likely will include the number of residents, employees and cars to be generated by the development. Another set of figures, though, has been lost in the flurry of deliberations over the others: The projected financial windfall to the county.

Two questions, both simple in their own way, appear to hold the key to the proposed expansion of Maple Lawn, Maryland, the luxury planned community in Fulton. Critics of the expansion were handed a stinging defeat this week when the Howard County Zoning Board rejected their principal argument that the county legally could not increase overall density, or the number of units per acre, in the sprawling, 605-acre development. That does not necessarily mean, though, that the board, made up of members of the County Council, is leaning toward handing the developer a complete victory.

Frustrated by roads and schools they feel are too crowded, residents around Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center are opposing proposed increased density for a planned development of up to 1,600 homes and thousands of square feet of office and retail space approved almost 20 years ago. The hotel complex on the western edge of Ellicott City is Howard County's only planned golf course community, a zoning district established for this approximately 800-acre...

A statewide anti-sprawl advocacy group announced yesterday its opposition to decreased density at Maple Lawn Farms, a 508-acre mixed-use development proposed for Fulton in southern Howard County. Members of 1000 Friends of Maryland, a nonprofit group based in Baltimore, said reducing the density of the development would cause more sprawl elsewhere. They voiced concern that statewide development proposals are being downsized to placate angry residents in opposition to Smart Growth policies.

Hoping to break a stalemate over proposals to further restrict development in western Howard County, a citizens committee has asked the county to consider overhauling its land preservation program by creating a "density bank" that would protect farmland and property values of large landowners. The suggestion was not a formal recommendation, but the committee is looking for alternatives to the county's proposed zoning changes, and it wants to determine whether the concept should be pursued.

In western Baltimore County, the Korean Women's Club wants to build 82 apartments on 3 acres, a haven for Korean-Americans and other seniors.Near Towson, residents complain about Blakehurst, a large life-care development for wealthy seniors, charging that it dwarfs nearby single-family homes.To address such issues -- and to preserve older neighborhoods -- Baltimore County may change its philosophy on housing for seniors. Instead of endorsing large, high-density projects, county officials are considering legal changes to allow more seniors to stay in their neighborhoods, by encouraging projects on tracts under 10 acres.

Some residents of Ellicott City's historic district are considering how far they will go to preserve their community, where homes on large lots lie in the shadow of Patapsco Female Institute. With deadlines for comprehensive rezoning fast approaching, about eight homeowners on Sylvan Lane, Park Drive and the upper part of Church Road hope to reduce the density of future development, said Church Road resident Gary Segal, who helped research the possibility. "We feel we have a unique piece of history -- a unique setting that really can't be found anywhere else in the county," Segal said.

The future of 221 acres in Gambrills was debated yesterday by developers who want to build 750 homes and by residents who oppose the plan.Testifying before a county zoning official, both sides argued the merits of the proposed planned unit development, which would bring a mixture of town houses, single-family homes and apartments to the site off Route 3.Ernest J. Litty Jr., president of Leimbach Development Inc., the primary developer, wants a special exception...