Development Process

The lawyer for a Catonsville community association tried unsuccessfully again Thursday to delay a Baltimore County hearing on a proposed medical office building, saying state prosecutors' requests for information on the project have raised questions about the county's development process. Attorney J. Carroll Holzer, representing the Kenwood Gardens Condominium Association, called the situation unprecedented as the administrative hearing opened. His clients oppose construction of the Southwest Physicians Pavilion planned by Whalen Properties.

The "Inner Arbor" plan is a major breakthrough for CA and the community.  The plan is bold, exciting and wide ranging.  We should celebrate its introduction.  CA's now entrenched approach to community development is to act parochially; with a knee-jerk, anti-developer attitude to boot. Throughout the downtown redevelopment process CA testified and behaved as just another landowner - albeit a key one. In fact CA can be both a community leader...

In a move to give builders more flexibility while offering residents more input, the Baltimore County Council approved legislation unanimously yesterday to overhaul the rarely used "planned unit development" process. The bill also includes measures to encourage building more assisted-living facilities for senior citizens in the county. A handful of community activists worked extensively with the bill's prime sponsor, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, a Pikesville-Ruxton Democrat, and succeeded in attaching several amendments to the bill aimed at making new developments compatible with existing communities.

CA's plans to circumvent the county-mandated 16-step development approval process should not be allowed. During the lengthy downtown rezoning discussions residents argued long and hard for a process that would keep them informed of planned development in advance with opportunities to provide input into the process. This resulted in the county adopting the 16-step approval process. CA pushed the original plan for Symphony Woods, which included some ground-level walkways with a few amenities on the north side of Merriweather Post Pavilion, through the first eight steps to achieve the Planning Board's approval. CA is now changing the plan to elevated walkways with numerous different amenities on the east side of MPP and claims it can just start with step nine to acquire the rest of the needed approvals.

The Baltimore County Council is likely to revamp today a rarely used development process that was meant to encourage creative, high-quality development. One of the most complicated pieces of legislation the council has attempted in years, the measure would also overhaul the way construction of assisted-living facilities is approved in the county. Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, the Pikesville-Ruxton Democrat who wrote the bill, said he has seen a great need for more housing for the elderly in the county.

Baltimore County residents will have a much greater say in how growth affects their communities as a result of sweeping changes in the development process approved last night by the County Council.The seven-member council gave unanimous approval to the first major change in the process in a decade. The new laws include three key provisions that:* Require developers to meet with affected community groups before beginning the approval process, a move designed to avoid unwelcome surprises and give residents and builders a chance to negotiate their differences.

An advisory committee studying Howard County's development process recommended a list of modest steps yesterday designed to alert residents when something is proposed in their neighborhoods - and what to do about it - before the bulldozers show up. The recommendations deal with "conditional uses," which are projects such as child-care centers, gas stations and senior housing that require permission from the county Board of Appeals. Among other changes, committee members want to require that developers meet with residents before submitting plans to the county.

The Carroll Board of County Commissioners announced yesterday the reorganization of four departments, the elimination of several key positions and the goals of their four-year term, claiming the changes could save taxpayers $300,000.The commissioners said the county will save in salaries and benefits by eliminating six positions, most of them in the planning department. The changes take effect today."We're aiming for efficiency in government," said board President Julia Walsh Gouge. "We've outlined our goals for the next four years.

Once upon a time, people interested in taking a picture used a device known as a camera. Taking pictures was all that this device did. It could never make phone calls. Or play music and video. The pictures were captured on something called film, which came in a roll and had to be inserted into the camera. A certain number of photographs could be taken on each roll, and the used roll had to be removed from the camera to be developed. The development process took time. And chemicals.

Saying they are fed up with zoning loopholes and being shut out of the development process, some Baltimore County community leaders are calling for changes in the county's planning and land-use laws.The group last night released Project 98, a 111-page document demanding improvements in the county's comprehensive planning, zoning and development review process; stronger regulations to assure that projects are compatible with surrounding neighborhoods; a tougher adequate public facilities law; and better public access to meetings and information.

Once upon a time, people interested in taking a picture used a device known as a camera. Taking pictures was all that this device did. It could never make phone calls. Or play music and video. The pictures were captured on something called film, which came in a roll and had to be inserted into the camera. A certain number of photographs could be taken on each roll, and the used roll had to be removed from the camera to be developed. The development process took time. And chemicals.

The lawyer for a Catonsville community association tried unsuccessfully again Thursday to delay a Baltimore County hearing on a proposed medical office building, saying state prosecutors' requests for information on the project have raised questions about the county's development process. Attorney J. Carroll Holzer, representing the Kenwood Gardens Condominium Association, called the situation unprecedented as the administrative hearing opened. His clients oppose construction of the Southwest Physicians Pavilion planned by Whalen Properties.

A Baltimore County administrative law judge turned down Monday a request from a community association to postpone a hearing on a proposed medical office building in Catonsville that has drawn scrutiny from state investigators. Last week, the Office of the State Prosecutor subpoenaed eight county agencies for information about the Southwest Physicians Pavilion, a proposed project by Whalen Properties on a 2.5-acre site next to the Baltimore Beltway. The prosecutor's office has not commented on the reason for the subpoenas.

The Office of the State Prosecutor subpoenaed eight Baltimore County agencies this week for records on a planned Catonsville medical office development, county officials confirmed Thursday. The subpoenas sought "information and correspondence" regarding the Southwest Physicians Pavilion planned by Whalen Properties, a Catonsville-based developer, county spokeswoman Ellen Kobler said. The county declined to release the subpoenas, and Kobler said officials "would not begin to speculate" on why the state was seeking the information.

In the tussle over mega-development projects in Owings Mills, it's about time we had an adult in the room. Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, who is ordinarily loath to interfere with the County Council's prerogatives when it comes to land use and zoning, is stepping into that role with his promise to veto a piece of legislation that amounted to a massive giveaway to two developers. The bill, passed by the council on Monday, represented legislative sausage making at its worst and could have swamped Owings Mills' already overtaxed infrastructure.

Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth Oliver wants his colleagues to reject a proposal to allow a retail development anchored by a Wegmans supermarket at the former Solo Cup plant site in Owings Mills. Oliver represents a district near the site and said his main concern about the proposed Foundry Row development is traffic congestion on Reisterstown Road. The Randallstown Democrat said he also believes the site, which is in Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond's district, should be preserved as manufacturing property and said using it for retail is not "smart growth.

The Howard County Council approved one bill this week and received two more aimed at making it easier for residents to learn what developers have in store for their neighborhoods. The bill approved unanimously at Monday night's session would require developers to hold information meetings about their plans in public or institutional buildings within five miles of the construction site, unless a waiver is issued by county officials, before formally submitting plans to the county. The council also approved the appointment of Kevin Doyle and James D. Walsh to the county Board of Appeals.

M E M O R A N D U MTo: Mayor Kurt L. SchmokeFrom: Mr. Rockthrower, ofthe Calvert St. RockthrowersRe: City development issuesYour recent naming of David M. Gillece as acting president of Center City-Inner Harbor Development Inc. raises some significant issues for how Baltimore manages the development process. It also provides a good opportunity to conduct a thorough review of this process. And, should you wish to view this as a strategic issue, your handling of this matter could have a positive impact on your re-election efforts.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge dismissed a legal challenge Friday filed against opponents of the $1.5 billion State Center project, allowing the court fight to continue against the midtown Baltimore redevelopment. Judge Althea M. Handy issued a decision late Friday, two days after opponents, a group of downtown property and business owners, argued they have a First Amendment right to protest the plans. The group had filed a lawsuit against the project a year ago, accusing the state of using a noncompetitive process to choose developers.

An east-side Baltimore County Council member expects the owners of a sprawling old warplane factory to seek rezoning of their property. A Towson lawyer will try for a third time for new zoning allowing a small office building. North county activists plan to study maps looking for environmentally sensitive areas that might need protection from development. The time has come to redraw the zoning map of a county that stretches from the Pennsylvania line to the Chesapeake Bay, 612 square miles of suburbia, urban centers, town main streets, farms and waterfront.