Density

Grab those free weights or head to your gym for resistance training. A regimen of exercise, along with calcium and vitamin D, may be the prescription for reducing your risk of osteoporosis, regardless of your age. Preliminary studies showing the benefits of resistance and weight-bearing exercise on bone density may be welcome news to the millions of Americans, most of whom are post-menopausal women, suffering from osteoporosis. Until recently, many women went on hormone replacement therapy as a treatment to slow the bone loss that can lead to osteoporosis.

A councilman from east Columbia and about 100 residents of Dayton in the west county joined forces last night in an effort to persuade the Howard County Council to approve an amendment to the 1990 General Plan that would help slow residential development.The council held a hearing last night on the amendment introduced by Democratic Councilman C. Vernon Gray that would lower the home-to-acre ratio of the Density Exchange Option program from one home per 2 acres to one home per 3 acres.The amendment was introduced in reaction to Glenwood farmer and developer Charles Sharp's plan to build 98 homes on a 298-acre tract in Dayton, where many residents question the project's planned high density and potential impact on infrastructure.

Anne Arundel County will begin operating under revamped land-use laws in May after the County Council passed a broad package of legislation changing everything from how farmers give land to their children to how wooded land is laid out in subdivisions. Council members had spent eight months reviewing the 200 single-spaced pages of legislation, submitting 290 amendments and listening to hours of testimony from developers, environmental activists, school principals and farmers. Monday night, they voted 7-0 to approve the sweeping overhaul of land-use policies, the first in the county in 30 years.

When they offered Lawrence Campbell $50 to go away, the 44-year-old public housing tenant says he didn't hesitate before turning it down. Campbell was living at Lexington Terrace in 1995 when he heard all the speeches about how the demolition of the crime-ridden high-rise building on Baltimore's west side that had been his home for a decade would help build a new safer community. "He told us to dream, dream about what this neighborhood could be," said Campbell, recalling a speech by former Baltimore Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III. But three years after hearing that speech Campbell is still waiting to get back to his old neighborhood.

Guy J. Guzzone continues to surprise everyone. Guzzone, a North Laurel-Savage Democrat, indicated last night in a straw poll at a Howard County Zoning Board work session that he might support reducing the housing density of Maple Lawn Farms, a huge mixed-use development proposed for southern Howard County. Two weeks ago, Guzzone had said during a work session that he supported the density as is, angering neighbors who oppose the project. John Adolphsen, an observer who opposes the development, summed up the night's proceedings as: "Flip, flop, flip, flop, flip, flop."

Despite all the facts, figures, projections and often eloquent debate, the biggest question for months underlying efforts to expand Maple Lawn, Maryland has been: Did Howard County officials enter into an all but ironclad commitment when they approved the project five years ago? The Zoning Board, which is made up of members of the County Council, gave a resounding "yes" as it voted, 4-1, Thursday night to deny a request to increase the overall density, or number of units per acre, in the planned community in Fulton.

The Rouse Co., which transformed thousands of acres of farmland into its model community of Columbia, has long been Howard County's dominant developer. But the county Zoning Board's denial last week of the Rouse Co.'s proposal to add a significant number of residences in Columbia's downtown - in an effort to urbanize Town Center - is the second big defeat for the developer in recent years. In 2000, the Columbia Association turned down the annexation of the company's Emerson development into Columbia, choosing not to provide the area with its traditional amenities, including a swimming pool, parks and walking paths.

Some skiers pay a steep price for a week of powder, even if they get good rates on flights, accommodations and lift tickets. That's because even the most savvy traveler can't negotiate altitude out of the deal.Everyone reacts differently to a change in elevation, but it is not unusual for the human body to do a physiological snow-plow during the first few days of a ski trip."You will probably feel the worst about 48 hours after arriving," said Barry Mink, an internist at the Aspen (Colo.)

Mount Airy to vote on zoning for senior housingThe Mount Airy Town Council will meet at 8 tonight at the Town Hall at 2 Park Avenue.The council is expected to approve changes in the town's zoning ordinance to allow senior citizen housing in certain zoning classifications. Under the plan, senior apartments and condominiums would be allowed in medium-density, high-density and commercial zoning, town officials said at a public hearing last month.Convalescent homes will be added to the exceptions allowed in medium-density areas.

ISSUE: Two Annapolis city council members are seeking to limit the density of developments along the outer West Street corridor, where major office and residential projects are fast overshadowing older homes and storefronts. Prompted by concerns that the thoroughfare is being overdeveloped, Aldermen Josh Cohen and Samuel E. Shropshire have proposed an ordinance that would limit the density of multifamily developments to 35 units an acre, a 20 percent reduction from current standards. YOUR VIEW: Should the city council limit the density of new developments along West Street outside downtown?