Development

Eleventh-hour surprises are to no one's liking, especially when it comes to the problems of development. The sooner that the community becomes involved in a building project, the easier to resolve potential conflicts. The sooner a developer learns of local concerns, the better chance to resolve them efficiently.Harford County is considering legislation to require developers to hold community input meetings before submitting a project for review by county agencies. Developers would have to notify interested parties and neighbors of the hearing, and public comments made there would be considered part of the developer's plan filed with county agencies.

Developer James W. Rousewas a pioneer at recycling other people's buildings for new uses, including Faneuil Hall in Boston and parts of the South Street Seaport historic district in Manhattan. Now one of the most prominent buildings he constructed from scratch - the former Rouse Co. headquarters in Columbia - is about to get a similar treatment from a successor to Rouse's firm. The Howard Hughes Corp. of Dallas, which succeeded Rouse and General Growth Properties as the master developer of Columbia, has a $20 million plan to convert the former Rouse headquarters on Little Patuxent Parkway from a single-occupant office building to a mixed-use, multitenant development with a 41,000 square-foot Whole Foods Market as the anchor.

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman -- DURING A six-week trip through Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, I knew I should celebrate a new world. The Cold War is over, communism is dead, the gulf war was won by "the just."Instead, I found myself thinking of the world in terms of the two new "D's": disintegration and delusion. National disintegration is thriving, from East Germany to Yugoslavia, and from Gaza to Kuwait to India. Much of humanity seems ever more rooted in the delusions of extreme nationalism, of expansionism and particularly (as in Kuwait City and Belgrade)

BETTER DAYS SEEM to be dawning for those of us who fear that our children are destined to inherit a Maryland that looks like a mess.All of a sudden the Powers That Be are taking a close look at what we have created these past 30, 40 years -- the tacky commercial strips, the charmless developments repeating themselves across the countryside, the architecture ranging from mediocre to atrocious, the miles of road connecting isolated subdivision dwellers with...

Baltimore's Canton neighborhood, a blue-collar community reshaped as the city's Gold Coast in the 1980s, is about to experience another wave of development.Over the next several months, decisions are likely to be made that will affect the look and character of up to 17 acres of valuable land on both sides of Boston Street.Redevelopment plans aroused controversy in Canton throughout much of the 1980s as out-of-town developers proposed mega-projects that threatened to wall off the working-class neighborhood from its waterfront.

First American Bank has accused developer W. Patrick McCuan of fraudulently transferring his interest in 10 commercial enterprises to a trust fund, or jointly to himself and his wife.The allegation, detailed in a lawsuit filed Nov. 19 in county circuit court, is McCuan'slatest entanglement over development loans.The bank is suing McCuan to collect $7.3 million on loans to his development company, McCuan Development Group, and a partnership called MJF Associates. The lawsuit says McCuan gave personal guarantees on the loans.

The state's highest court dealt a setback Friday to developer Jane Nes' bid to build a residential, commercial and industrial project on 277 acres in a northern stretch of Anne Arundel County. In a brief order, the Court of Appeals dismissed her appeal of a Circuit Court decision involving the land, saying it was moot. Her agreement with the county for water and sewer service and roads for Tanyard Springs - a proposed mixed-use project on Marley Neck - expired in 2001. Nes' attorneys had asked the Court of Appeals to toss out a secrecy clause of the agreement that prevented them from revealing the pact to the Board of Appeals and courts when she sought a waiver of school adequacy requirements.

Opponents of a townhouse project near Cape St. Claire won a major victory yesterday when an Anne Arundel Circuit Court judge reversed a county administrative decision giving a green light to the project.Judge Lawrence H. Rushworth said the proposed 153-unit Woods Landing II development violated the intent of the Critical Areas laws enacted by the General Assembly in 1984 to protect the Chesapeake Bay."It appears the General Assembly intended that the . . . limitations should encompass and restrict all development within the critical areas," the judge wrote in a 24-page decision.

Katrina M. Carroll has been hired as the new business development specialist by the Howard County Economic Development Authority. She will administer the Howard County Incentives Program, the attraction of businesses to Howard County and their retention. Carroll, who has more than 15 years of experience in finance, project management, law, affordable housing and real estate development, is completing a dual Master's of Science and MBA degree at the University of Maryland University College.

A Laurel developer has been appointed to oversee Anne Arundel County's development review process, county officials have announced.Steven R. Cover, who designs subdivisions, commercial and industrial projects and developments for KCI Technologies Inc. of Laurel, will take over as administrator of the Office of Planning and Zoning's development division.Mr. Cover, who is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners, will supervise 14 employees.Ardath M. Cade, county planning and zoning officer, did not return phone calls yesterday.