Land Development

Baltimore County's plan to donate a parcel of undesirable land in Essex to a developer for the construction of affordable housing is being challenged by two councilmen who question why the county would get no money for the land and instead would help pay for the project. Under the plan, the county would give the former site of Kingsley Park Apartments to a partnership of Enterprise Homes and Mark Building, officials said yesterday, and would agree to contribute an undetermined amount for loans and for roads and other improvements.

A Pennsylvania developer who sold his 570-acre Worcester County farm to the state for $6.5 million - a price that critics said was far more than the land was worth - now says he took a loss on the sale and is seeking a tax break for his "donation" to Maryland. Douglas J. Weidman has asked county officials to sign off on his federal 8283 tax form, which lists noncash charitable contributions and is often used for donated items such as cars or stocks. The county contributed to the purchase and is holding title to the land, which it intends to operate as an environmental center.

Fall of city forest won't end the fight The loss of Woodberry forest to Loyola College is another sad chapter of a pornographic book of city politics and land development ("Fight for woods draws to a close," Dec. 30). The heroes are those who don't give up the fight, even when the odds are against them. But with elected officials pretending to care and mainstream environmental groups in Baltimore afraid to take on their Democratic Party patrons, it is no wonder that Woodberry and the woods will be the loser.

Later this year, new townhouses and single-family homes will sprout on a site in Middle River where apartments built 60 years ago for defense workers once stood. As part of the continuing revitalization of eastern Baltimore County's waterfront region, the first spades of dirt will be tossed today by officials to start the Miramar Landing development, which will also feature a senior community with 100 apartments. A spokeswoman for Ryland Homes said sales have started for townhouses that will sell for about $260,000 and up. "On Wednesday night, we had a line form overnight at our sales center at what will be Miramar Landing," said Cindy Plackmeyer.

The Howard County Horse Show Association is a thriving organization, now in its 24th year, with a solid membership base and reputation for putting on good, competitive shows. But most of those shows - horseman-speak for competitions that include jumps in a ring - no longer occur within the county's boundaries. The pressures of development and the organization's growth, to the point where it needs a large venue to hold its shows, have meant that county competitors find themselves hauling their horses to farms in neighboring Montgomery County and as far away as Middletown or to McDonogh or Garrison Forest schools in Owings Mills.

Robert Addison Fox, a retired developer, died of liver cancer Saturday at his daughter's farm in New Freedom, Pa. The former Ellicott City resident was 78. Mr. Fox was born in Baltimore and raised in Evanston, Ill. During World War II, he was an Army Air Forces pilot. In 1953, Mr. Fox and his wife joined four other couples in developing 20 acres of Dunloggin Farms in Ellicott City into a residential community that they named St. Johns Manor. Mr. Fox joined Joseph Meyerhoff Corp. in 1958 and by the 1970s was senior vice president for Monumental Properties Inc., a Baltimore-based land development company.

Anne Arundel County officials took a second major step yesterday in their overhaul of local land-use laws, releasing proposed rule changes that they say would streamline the approval process for residential and commercial developments. The changes, coupled with revisions to the zoning code released this year, are designed to simplify laws known in the building community for their unclear and sometimes contradictory language. "A clear statement of the development standards and a predictable process is essential for an efficient and effective planning operation," said Joseph W. Rutter Jr., the county's planning and zoning officer.

As they prepare for public hearings next month on Howard County's once-a-decade comprehensive rezoning, four County Council members released lists of their political campaign contributors, some of whom have rezoning requests pending. The council members released their fund-raising lists after requests by The Sun. All the members defended their right to raise money for future political campaigns even as they ponder the future of sometimes-sensitive parcels of county land, raising an ethical question for some.