Housing Developments

WHAT'S to dislike about a law that seems to increase open space in housing developments and to promote the higher-density housing that Smart Growth advocates love? Plenty, since the new zoning ordinance adopted by Carroll County commissioners aims to increase the number of new houses that can be built and encourages costly leap-frog development. This in a county hard-pressed to provide adequate public services for existing housing. Plus, Commissioners Donald Dell and Robin Frazier sneaked through the measure with scant public input after a panel of landowners and real estate people concocted the ambiguously worded scheme.

Construction began Tuesday on a housing development in the Greenspring neighborhood of northwest Baltimore for limited-income seniors. Renaissance Gardens will be a 60-unit independent living complex in the 4300 block of Pimlico Road. The complex will be four stories and all units will have one bedroom. There will be several common areas, including a multipurpose dining room, a living room, a computer room and an activities room. Some on-site health and social services will be offered for residents.

Stephen J. Ferrandi is in an enviable position: He's got the gold - and he knows it. The gold in this case are the large land parcels the real estate agent is selling for 25 clients. Typically, his clients are farmers who are selling land that's been in their families for generations. And its Ferrandi's job in the Columbia office of KLNB Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage, to find a developer with the deepest pockets possible. But in an era of high builder demand and short land supply, even Ferrandi has trouble comprehending the dollars being thrown at ever scarcer properties suitable for housing developments.

Editor: I am a resident of Harford County who has just finished reading the article "Harford County officials push for county business loan fund," in your April 13 edition. You quoted Economic Development Director [Jim] Richardson, as saying that Harford County could be the, "New Silicon Valley. " Other than the fact that a handful of developers and politicians would make a ton of money, why in the world would anyone want to transform a beautiful county into a network of congested roads, shopping centers, office buildings, housing developments, higher crime rate, overcrowded schools and probably higher taxes!

In an article yesterday in The Sun, reasons that many students are truant in Baltimore schools were incorrectly attributed to a school system official. In fact, the information was provided by officials at the city Housing Authority.The Sun regrets the error.Baltimore school system officials yesterday announced the start of an effort to combat its escalating truancy rate, already the highest in the state.The $256,000 program, funded by federal housing dollars, will target students who live in six of the city's public housing developments, where more than 30 percent of 10,500 school-age children are chronically truant -- meaning they miss more than 36 days of classes a year.

Editor: I am a resident of Harford County who has just finished reading the article "Harford County officials push for county business loan fund," in your April 13 edition. You quoted Economic Development Director [Jim] Richardson, as saying that Harford County could be the, "New Silicon Valley. " Other than the fact that a handful of developers and politicians would make a ton of money, why in the world would anyone want to transform a beautiful county into a network of congested roads, shopping centers, office buildings, housing developments, higher crime rate, overcrowded schools and probably higher taxes!

In order to absorb an expected budget shortfall, the Baltimore Housing Authority plans to eliminate the daytime shift of security personnel who monitor the doorways in 18 public housing high-rises and is likely to lay off some of its 1,500 workers."

As frigid temperatures hit Maryland and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. scrambled to save energy through periodic blackouts, many windows in the city's public housing developments were open all week -- some with fans going.Some residents blamed oppressive heat in their apartments. Others said they opened windows because they craved a breath of fresh air."You can turn the heat down, but I turned it up and opened the window because I like to breathe some air. We're so hot we're sweating," said Donnell Comer, a resident of Perkins Homes, near Fells Point.

When the public housing program was created by Congress in 1937, its aim was to provide temporary living arrangements for Americans down on their luck due to the lingering Depression. Over the past half-century, public housing has ceased to be a stop-gap measure. It is now a fixture of big-city living, a symbol of the nation's constant -- and worsening -- urban crisis.In his 1991 book, "The Promised Land," Nicholas Lemann charted the great black migration to the North in the 1940s and how it changed America.

Staking out one of his legislative priorities in this year's General Assembly, Gov. Martin O'Malley argued Monday that rural development using septic systems needs to be curtailed to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay and to preserve the state's remaining farmland from suburban sprawl. O'Malley joined with environmental activists and green-leaning lawmakers to defend the bill he has introduced, which would ban any new major housing projects on septic. It also would require less-polluting but more costly septic systems on smaller housing developments or individual homes not affected by the ban. The governor said he wanted to end a "proliferation" of new housing on septic systems, which allow up to 10 times as much water-fouling nitrogen to leach into streams per household as do homes hooked up to public sewage treatment plants.

Plans for two Baltimore County senior housing developments, one of which is tied to the expansion of the Catonsville Family Y, are set to move forward this week. County Councilman Tom Quirk said he plans to introduce resolutions Monday seeking council approval for the projects. The senior housing developments would be located at the Y campus on Rolling Road in Catonsville and on Oak Road in Baltimore Highlands, which is near Lansdowne. The developers of the projects have applied for Planned Unit Development (PUD)

Every other Monday night, Annapolis Alderman Kenneth A. Kirby, dressed in a suit and tie, takes his seat on the dais at City Council meetings, discussing community issues and voting on legislation. Afterward, the others head home from City Hall. And Kirby wanders. Kirby, who grew up in public housing in the capital city, is without a permanent place to live. He stays with a network of friends and family who open their homes to him — a niece in public housing, a friend in Annapolis' moneyed downtown.

The developer of a planned affordable-housing community in Glen Burnie will start construction on the project next month, after the Anne Arundel County Council voted to grant the company a key tax break on the project. The council's 4-3 vote on the tax break for New York-based Conifer Realty allows the 36-unit project to move forward, despite complaints from residents who said the development has the potential to bring more crime to the area and decrease property values. Those assertions were voiced by County Councilman John J. Grasso, who represents the Glen Burnie area and has said it already has an abundant stock of low-income housing.

The fate of a proposed affordable housing community in Glen Burnie is in limbo after an Anne Arundel County Council vote to delay a proposed tax break that the project's developer says it needs to move forward. Councilman John J. Grasso, a Glen Burnie Republican whose district includes the planned Marley Meadows development, pushed for the delay, which was unanimously approved by the council Monday. Members will now vote on the $5,000 annual tax break at a Nov. 21 meeting, a timeline that officials said could potentially derail the controversial project.

In its first major project planned for downtown Columbia since emerging from bankruptcy last November, the town's master developer has proposed building up to 817 residences and 70,000 square feet of retail space. The Howard Hughes Corp., which controls much of the land once held by the Rouse Co., says the as-yet-unnamed project next to The Mall in Columbia is being designed to attract young professionals and others who work nearby. Robert Jenkins, vice president of engineering for Howard Hughes, said his company chose the site for its first downtown project because it has "major infrastructure" already in place, including water and sewer service, and is centrally located and within easy walking distance of restaurants, stores and other amenities.

A city-owned inn in Midtown-Belvedere has been sold to a private developer with plans to convert the property into a boutique hotel, according to the city's economic development entity. The corporate buyer agreed to pay $725,000 for the Inn at Government House, a three-building complex that was converted under then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer, said Darrell Doan, the Baltimore Development Corp.'s director of economic development for the eastern half of the city. Mount Vernon Mansion LLC, the purchasing company, is led by Eddie Brown of the Baltimore investment firm Brown Capital Management and Martin Azola of real estate developer Azola & Associates.

Gov. Martin O'Malley stunned environmentalists and builders alike Thursday by calling for a crackdown on housing developments that use septic systems — a bid to curb suburban sprawl and help restore the Chesapeake Bay. His proposal, part of the annual State of the State address, set the stage for a fierce debate in Annapolis. Developers warned that it could stifle growth and cost jobs in a real estate industry still struggling to climb from the recession. Speaking to lawmakers, O'Malley said that pollution from homes being built with septic systems is undercutting Maryland's efforts to clean up the bay. While the state has moved to curb pollution from farms and sewage treatment plants, the governor said, "there is one area of reducing pollution where so far we have totally failed, and in fact it has gotten much worse ... and that is pollution from the proliferation of new septic systems — systems which by their very design are intended to leak sewage into our bay and water tables.

The Three Nine's tavern on U.S. 1 in Jessup seems an unremarkable place — a patchwork stone, brick and white-sided two-story structure. But the establishment's everyday appeal is exactly why patrons, employees and even the owners who've sold out to upscale developers are already mourning the bar's scheduled demise in September. To the regulars — truck drivers, mechanics and secretaries, plus a few professionals — the Three Nine's is an unpretentious, welcoming spot with good food and friendly company.

Over 90 percent of the proposed housing developments in Maryland have gone bankrupt over the last five years; now you can add Thistle Landing to the list ("More of the same," June 12). It's a shame you have once again attacked a proposed housing development. And how dare you imply that owners and elected officials are unethical and trying to sneak around the rules. Remember, you cannot sell a home for what it costs to build anywhere in Maryland. With newspapers like yours who would want to?

Staking out one of his legislative priorities in this year's General Assembly, Gov. Martin O'Malley argued Monday that rural development using septic systems needs to be curtailed to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay and to preserve the state's remaining farmland from suburban sprawl. O'Malley joined with environmental activists and green-leaning lawmakers to defend the bill he has introduced, which would ban any new major housing projects on septic. It also would require less-polluting but more costly septic systems on smaller housing developments or individual homes not affected by the ban. The governor said he wanted to end a "proliferation" of new housing on septic systems, which allow up to 10 times as much water-fouling nitrogen to leach into streams per household as do homes hooked up to public sewage treatment plants.