Master Plan

The Harford County Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening, Feb. 7, on legislation to adopt the 2012 Master Plan and Land Use Element Plan. These plans are used as a basis for future zoning and development decisions by the county and typically serve as a prelude to a countywide comprehensive zoning review which will follow within the next two years. Tuesday's hearing on Bill 12-01 will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the regular county council chambers at 210 S. Bond St. in Bel Air. This will be the first council proceeding to be held in the "Black Box" building since its structural problems were fixed.

Reinvestment and redevelopment of the distressed Park Heights neighborhood will continue under a funding agreement Baltimore's financial oversight panel approved Wednesday with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. The foundation, named for the late Orioles manager, will contribute $600,000 to develop a youth ballpark near Pimlico Race Course , one of multiple planned fields it's helping to create for at-risk children and teens in Maryland and across the country. The Board of Estimates agreed — over the protest of Arnold M. Jolivet, managing director of the Maryland Minority Contractors Association — to approve the agreement without opening the project up to competitive bids.

Howard County planners are developing a new bicycle master plan to guide road projects and connections to create a bike transportation network. The extensive plan is being developed over a year and will address bicycling capabilities on 300 roadways. It will also look at off-road paths and determine the need for bike racks, more bicycle commuting and a proposed shared bike system. In order to target specific locations that need improvement, the county is turning to interactive technology.

A proposal to reshape City Dock in Annapolis is drawing criticism from traditionalists, who say taller buildings and other ideas to spur economic development could spoil the Colonial-era character and Chesapeake Bay views of the historic waterfront. The dock is among the most prized pieces of real estate in Annapolis. But as the city considers the draft master plan for the area, the question of how to blend its past with the present-day desire for economic vitality is sparking controversy.

WESTMINSTER - The Carroll County Planning Commission will host its next work session on the county's Master Plan update Monday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m., in room 003 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., in Westminster. On the agenda is a discussion of several components of the plan, including its overall "vision statement" and community involvement, as well as aspects relating to agriculture in the county. Documents related to the master plan are available for review online at ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/compplan/masterplan2011.

A day after hundreds of Baltimore residents voiced strong opposition to a preliminary plan to add more parking spaces and an access road to Patterson Park, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Tuesday that she was creating a "working group" to study the park's future. "Today, I've ordered the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Health Department to work with Councilman [James] Kraft and community stakeholders to create a Patterson Park Master Plan Working Group," Rawlings-Blake wrote in a letter sent to citizens.

After a year of workshops, revisions and discussion, the Town Council approved the 1993 Mount Airy Master Plan last night.The plan, developed by town planner Teresa Bamberger and the Planning Commission, is a blueprint to guide growth and development over the next 10 years.Revision of the 1982 plan began three years ago.Council President Delaine Hobbs commended Ms. Bamberger and Planning Commission Chairman Frederick Goundry for the work."I think you've come up with a master plan that's do-able and acceptable," he said.

Neighborhood center zoning dominated the discussion at las night's Mount Airy master plan work session, the first joint meeting of the Town Council and Planning Commission on the FTC proposed document.The proposed zoning, to be limited to about four 20-acre sites specified in the master plan, would allow a mixture of housing types to provide transitions between various zoning areas.The proposed zoning also would allow people to work in large, single-family homes.Councilman Marc Nance drew applause from the eight-member audience when he said the issue for homeowners is that they don't want a row of townhouses built behind their single-family dwellings.

General Growth Properties Inc. will host a "Vision in Focus" series this week as a continuation of the "Many Voices, One Vision" draft master plan. Elements of the draft plan, including sustainability, environmentalism, transit and traffic, and culture will be presented by the project consultants. Those dates are: Tuesday: Sustainability/environment -- 7 p.m., Spear Center, 10275 Little Patuxent Parkway. Wednesday: Transit/traffic -- 7 p.m., Spear Center, 10275 Little Patuxent Parkway.

General Growth Properties Inc. will present a draft master plan for the revitalization of Town Center on Monday evening that integrates concepts generated during the Howard County charrette in 2005 and the meetings with the community since then. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Spear Center, 10275 Little Patuxent Parkway. The plan will be further refined with discussions in each of the villages. For anyone without alternative means of transportation, arrangements may be made by calling GGP at 410-992-6500 by 5 p.m. Friday.

Homes, offices and shops would sprout around Baltimore's Penn Station under a preliminary plan developed for Amtrak for the midtown site. The national passenger railroad tapped Beatty Development, the Baltimore-based developer responsible for Harbor East and Harbor Point, late last year to create a master plan and lead the redevelopment of about seven acres of underused land around the century-old train station. Beatty Development's vision calls for the construction of up to 1.5 million square feet of new residences and commercial space at a cost of about $500 million over the next decade.

In 2010, the Columbia Association retained an outstanding firm of landscape architects to prepare a master plan for Symphony Woods Park. The plan that evolved over a two-year period reflects the creative talent of a team of landscape architects and planners who have over 30 years experience planning urban parks and entertainment venues in the United States and abroad. The master plan that was prepared by Mahan Rykiel Associates was approved by the Columbia Association and the Howard County Planning Board in July of 2012.

  Construction will start next week on a planned expansion at The Mall in Columbia. Plans call for a 70,000-square-foot Main Street-style addition featuring an open-air plaza with two restaurants, two cafes and eight to 10 stores. Mall managers plan to break ground on the project Tuesday. Mall owner General Growth Properties has not announced any retail or restaurant tenants. The Howard County Planning Board approved plans in December to demolish the mall's free-standing L.L. Bean store to make way for the expansion, which will add 40,000 square feet to the 1.6 million square-foot-center.

The draft of the 2013 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan is available for public review and comment on the department's website, http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/planningzoning, and at the Department of Planning and Zoning office at 220 S. Main St. in Bel Air. The plan is an important step in helping Harford County become a truly multi-modal community by identifying needed facilities and presenting actions for implementation. It is also an important step in helping Harford County become a healthier community.

On paper, the plan for a car maintenance shop and a few stores on Snowden River Parkway in Columbia hardly seems worth fighting about. The business people opposing it, however, see it as an illegal first step toward drastic changes for the worse along some major roads, and a potential threat to businesses in Columbia's nine village centers.  "We just feel it was an illegal rezoning," says Christopher Alleva, president of the Howard County Independent...

A day after hundreds of Baltimore residents voiced strong opposition to a preliminary plan to add more parking spaces and an access road to Patterson Park, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Tuesday that she was creating a "working group" to study the park's future. "Today, I've ordered the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Health Department to work with Councilman [James] Kraft and community stakeholders to create a Patterson Park Master Plan Working Group," Rawlings-Blake wrote in a letter sent to citizens.

The county Planning Commission has amended its list of appointees to teams revising the master plan to include more than 30 residents who participated in a growth workshop in April.Four teams, with as many as 35 volunteers each, will attempt to find solutions to Carroll's growth problems.The commission expanded the number of members of each team to at least 11. Other appointees include representatives from industry, agriculture and community organizations.Teams will address adequate facilities, economic development, farmland preservation and land use. As the county reworks its 30-year-old master plan, a blueprint for growth, officials hope the teams can offer insight into problems caused by a burgeoning population.

A proposed resolution to amend Baltimore County's master plan and give the County Council greater authority to extend public water and sewer lines beyond the "Urban Rural Demarcation Line" -- which essentially serves as a boundary for dense development -- is on the County Council's agenda for a vote tomorrow. Preservation and "smart growth" groups oppose the measure, which they say could weaken the master plan and give council members too much latitude to approve water and sewer service that could allow for more development in rural areas.

A day after hundreds of Baltimore residents voiced strong opposition to a preliminary plan to add more parking spaces and an access road to Patterson Park, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Tuesday that she was creating a “working group” to study the park's future. “Today, I've ordered the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Health Department to work with Councilman [James] Kraft and community stakeholders to create a Patterson Park Master Plan Working Group,” Rawlings-Blake wrote in a letter sent to citizens.

Howard County planners are developing a new bicycle master plan to guide road projects and connections to create a bike transportation network. The extensive plan is being developed over a year and will address bicycling capabilities on 300 roadways. It will also look at off-road paths and determine the need for bike racks, more bicycle commuting and a proposed shared bike system. In order to target specific locations that need improvement, the county is turning to interactive technology.