Jablon

Undergoing a $30 million renovation, Towson Marketplace -- former site of the quirky Best Products building dismantled last spring -- has spawned another avant-garde structure that is stirring controversy.The recently remodeled Toys R Us, with its red pillars, brightly hued letters and expanse of glass, has come under fire for violating the residential-style exterior promised by the shopping center's developer, Florida-based Talisman Co.In response, the Baltimore County Department of Permits and Development Management has imposed a Thursday deadline for the developer to come up with a time frame to comply with development plans.

Aiming to reduce the visual clutter along Baltimore County roads, the County Council moved last night to regulate signs ranging from huge billboards to lawyers' shingles, part of the first comprehensive sign law in more than 40 years."

In the wake of a zoning ruling that exposed major loopholes in the county's ability to regulate crowded rental homes, Baltimore County councilmen have introduced one bill and are preparing another to give more power to code enforcement officers. County zoning law says that no more than two renters unrelated to the owner can live in a house in a single-family zone. But in some areas, particularly around Towson University, renters looking for cheap housing crowd into dwellings while landlords turn a blind eye. The county and neighborhood groups often have trouble enforcing the law because it's difficult to prove conclusively how many people live together.

For residents fighting the battle of the helicopter in exclusive Green Spring Valley, yesterday's lesson was straight from the Yogi Berra book of life: deja vu all over again.For the second time since November, neighbors who had hoped to testify about the noise from Rite Aid Corp. Chairman Martin L. Grass' continued chopper landings on restricted farmland were denied the opportunity, leaving them infuriated.Yesterday's hearing -- involving fines totaling $2,400 against property owner Dale Lucas, who lets Grass land on his farm -- was canceled when hearing examiner Stanley Shapiro accepted request from Lucas to move the dispute to the county zoning commissioner, a separate zoning office.

Baltimore County's plan for a new, fast-track development-approval process has been shunted onto an unscheduled siding.County Administrative Officer Merreen E. Kelly told an approving County Council late Tuesday that the plan had been abandoned in favor of a less dramatic and slower approach.The old plan, intended for a select few high-priority, job-producing commercial developments, would have cut the approval process from the current six to 18 months to perhaps one month. The new plan calls for a three-month approval process.

Plans for an eight-story office building along Falls Road moved a step forward yesterday when a state appeals court ruled that neighbors seeking to block the proposal filed suit too early. The Court of Special Appeals ruled that neighbors of Foxleigh Enterprises' proposed building at Falls and Greenspring Valley roads must wait until a final decision is reached by Baltimore County before challenging the county's review process. "There is not yet a final action that can be appealed," Judge Andrew L. Sonner wrote in a nine-page opinion.

Prompted by community complaints, Baltimore County inspectors will soon begin yanking the small, temporary cardboard signs that litter intersections and advertise everything from new housing developments to karate lessons and diet powder."

Barbara Gradet, director of the Baltimore County Department of Aging, had never met new County Executive Roger B. Hayden until Friday when he fired her.Gradet, who in 11 years worked her way up to the top position in the department, said she was given no reason for her firing and was merely told she has one month to depart. She said Hayden told her he had no particular person in mind to replace her.Hayden, who was to formally take office today, handed down several firings and demotions in closed meetings Friday, according to several other fired bureaucrats.

A recent crackdown on illegal road signs -- the colorful advertisements for new homes, diet programs and restaurants -- has cleared nearly 20,000 cardboard placards from state and county roadways.But area homebuilders claim that the enforcement campaign -- especially Baltimore County's tough tactics -- has deepened a slump in house sales."My traffic has gone down drastically because of it," said President T. Kevin Carney of Thomas Builders, who is building houses in Owings Mills. "Forty percent of my traffic comes from signs."

The Baltimore County Council set up a fund last night for voluntary contributions to buy parkland and passed legislation requiring home sellers to instruct buyers to check with county agencies for any development plans before buying into a community.Councilman Vincent Gardina, D-5th, sponsored the bill to require home sellers to warn prospective buyers that they should check with county planning agencies to see what's in store for the neighborhood before signing a contract.The measure, which passed 7-0, will require a seller to advise a prospective buyer in writing that the property "may be affected by provisions of the master plan and that he may wish to review the master plan."