Farmers Supply

The long-anticipated redevelopment of the Farmers Supply Co. site in downtown Westminster has been delayed while the project's key player tackles the millennium computer bug.Officials at Carroll County Bank and Trust Co., which is redeveloping the property into a $6 million office and retail complex, said yesterday that construction will be pushed back by about five months to ensure the bank has resolved the year 2000 problem before moving its operations center.The...

With a $221,000 face-lift and development nearby, the former Farmers Supply building in downtown Westminster - a 135-year-old stone structure that has been vacant several years - appears poised for new life. As soon as signs advertising space in the two-story building on Liberty Street went up a few months ago, calls began pouring in, said Stanley T. Ruchlewicz, executive director of Westminster Town Center Corp., the private, nonprofit group responsible for implementing some city revitalization efforts.

The Westminster City Council is expected to sign an option tomorrow to buy the former Farmers Supply Co. property, a site identified as one of four parcels key to the downtown's future.City officials, however, have no intention of becoming permanent owners of the 1-acre site at West Green and Liberty streets. Instead, their plan is to sell the site to a commercial developer. The tract, which includes a historic stone building, has been on the market since 1989."I can tell you definitely that the city is not going to purchase it for the city's use," said Mayor Kenneth A. Yowan.

In 1998, the last time the city of Westminster held a ceremony to mark the redevelopment of the former Farmers Supply site downtown, Gov. Parris N. Glendening came to praise the city's commitment to fighting sprawl. The project proposed for the site, a $6 million Carroll County Bank and Trust operations center, was never built because the bank was sold to BB&T. City officials again donned their hard hats at the site recently for an event to celebrate the building of a four-story, $2.9 million office, retail and residential building called Westminster Square.

With a $221,000 face-lift and development nearby, the former Farmers Supply building in downtown Westminster - a 135-year-old stone structure that has been vacant several years - appears poised for new life. As soon as signs advertising space in the two-story building on Liberty Street went up a few months ago, calls began pouring in, said Stanley T. Ruchlewicz, executive director of Westminster Town Center Corp., the private, nonprofit group responsible for implementing some city revitalization efforts.

REPORTS THAT RITE AID Corp. is interested in purchasing the vacant Farmers Supply Co. property in the heart of Westminster shows that city officials made the right decision earlier this year when they banned some kinds of businesses from the downtown business district. If the deal goes through -- and there is always the possibility that it won't -- a retail drug store will enhance this section of Westminster more than a 24-hour filling station would have.A well-stocked drug store -- carrying a wide line of merchandise including medicine, greeting cards, cosmetics, snack foods and magazines -- would establish a much-needed retail magnet in the heart of the Carroll County seat.

The Westminster Common Council approved last night several measures that it hopes will secure a new developer for the old Farmers Supply Co. site.The council approved an updated package of information that will be sent to potential partners for the site at Liberty and Green streets.The city's former partner, Carroll County Bank & Trust Co., was planning to build a bank on the site but pulled out of the project last month when it was announced the bank would be acquired by BB&T Corp. of North Carolina.

A downtown Westminster property that has been on the market for six years could become the site for the city's fourth Rite Aid drugstore.Rite Aid spokesman Craig M. Muckle refused yesterday to confirm or deny rumors that a builder who frequently develops sites for the Camp Hill, Pa.-based drugstore chain is trying to acquire the old Farmers Supply Co. property at Green and Liberty streets.William B. Dulany, trustee for the approximately 70 owners of the Farmers Supply property, said yesterday that he had received a contract through the real estate agent who is marketing the property.

With a flourish of poster board, Westminster city officials unveiled a consultant's sketch for the old Farmers Supply Co. property -- intended to inspire a flood of development proposals for the key downtown site."

A new office and retail complex at the old Farmers Supply Co. site in downtown Westminster could be open by October 1999.Marcus L. "Lee" Primm, senior vice president for the Carroll County Bank & Trust Co., outlined plans for the eagerly awaited development to the Westminster mayor and Common Council in Monday night. The bank project is the first of its kind in the historic part of town.The new construction features two brick office buildings with jTC 203-space parking garage on the site, one block off Main Street.

Westminster Common Council voted last night to build a 155-space parking garage at the long-vacant Farmers Supply Co. lot, where a multimillion-dollar retail, office and housing complex is planned. The council chose plans for a smaller facility instead of a 177-space garage to keep the parking project within budget constraints. The smaller garage would save the city about $225,000, reducing the cost to an estimated $1.9 million. "The larger deck would force us to commit larger revenues that we had anticipated using for other parking projects in Westminster," said Thomas R. Beyard, director of planning and public works.

Three years ago, when Harry Sirinakis decided to pour $330,000 into his popular Westminster restaurant, Harry's, a Main Street staple since World War II, it was the biggest risk of his life. Businesses were trickling out of town. Shops were boarded up. City officials and developers were desperately trying to draft local merchants into supporting a revitalization effort. Last week, after that effort received a multimillion-dollar boost with plans to develop three downtown landmarks, Sirinakis is more confident he made the right decision.

The Westminster Common Council voted last night to begin a $3.3 million development of the former Farmers Supply Co. property and to commence negotiations to purchase the Carroll Theater for use as an arts center. Faced with three options for the 1-acre Farmers Supply site, just off Main Street at Liberty and Green streets, city officials chose a proposal from William A. Hasson of Tyler-Donegan Inc. of Hyattstown that combines office, retail and residential space with a city parking garage.

Plans stalled last night to give two buildings on Main Street in Westminster a new designation that would allow for intensive retail, office and commercial use, while barring new housing. Moments after a public hearing before the Westminster Common Council, the elected officials declined to introduce the ordinance to rezone the 1934 post office building at 83 E. Main St. and the old fire hall at 66 E. Main St. The ordinance died -- for now -- when no one seconded the motion to introduce it. The map change would have been the first under the city's new central commerce zone, which applies only to selected properties rather than a geographic area.

The Westminster Common Council discussed zoning changes last night that could dramatically alter development plans for two parcels seen as key to the financial health of downtown: the old post office and the Farmers Supply Co. site.A proposed ordinance, the subject of a council hearing last night, would amend the central business zone and create a downtown business zone and a central commerce zone.Thomas B. Beyard, city director of planning and public works, said the central commerce zone would allow retail and commercial projects in key areas but would bar new housing at certain sites that have yet to be designated.

Housing had never been part of the original plans for developing the old Farmers Supply site at the corner of Liberty and Green streets in downtown Westminster.But it is an important component of each of the proposals from three developers eager to transform the site into a place that would be used around the clock with retail, office and apartment space.One outside observer who is an expert in land use is glad to see plans that could rejuvenate Westminster's Main Street by having more people live there.

Westminster Common Council voted last night to build a 155-space parking garage at the long-vacant Farmers Supply Co. lot, where a multimillion-dollar retail, office and housing complex is planned. The council chose plans for a smaller facility instead of a 177-space garage to keep the parking project within budget constraints. The smaller garage would save the city about $225,000, reducing the cost to an estimated $1.9 million. "The larger deck would force us to commit larger revenues that we had anticipated using for other parking projects in Westminster," said Thomas R. Beyard, director of planning and public works.

Westminster's mayor and Common Council voted last night to place a three-month moratorium on accepting plans to develop two locations on Main Street that are deemed keys to downtown revitalization.Plans for development of the 1934 post office building and the Farmers Supply Co. will have to wait until at least mid-September while a report by Westminster city planners on revitalization of the downtown corridor is completed."As we look at all the sites together, it is important to have the remaining sites be developed in the way we'd like to see happen," said Councilman Gregory Pecoraro.

As Westminster officials consider proposals for a key downtown parcel, the North Carolina bank that acquired Carroll County Bank & Trust Co. -- and ended a $6 million development deal -- will present the city with $2.25 million and the deed to the one-acre site.The donation from BB&T Corp. of Winston, N.C., will include $2 million toward a planned parking garage, $125,000 to the city for remarketing the property and $125,000 to the Town Center Corp., a nonprofit entity created to handle that and other key sites.

As Westminster officials consider proposals for a key downtown parcel, the North Carolina bank that acquired the Carroll County Bank & Trust Co. -- and ended a $6 million development deal -- will present the city with $2.25 million and the deed to the one-acre site.The donation from BB&T Corp. of Winston, N.C., will include $2 million toward a planned parking garage, $125,000 to the city for remarketing the property and $125,000 to the Town Center Corp., a nonprofit entity created to handle this and other key sites.