Montgomery Road

The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department plans an all-you-can-eat breakfast with Santa Claus from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. today at the fire hall, 6275 Old Washington Road, Elkridge. Adults pay $7; seniors ages 55 and older pay $6. Children ages 5 to 12 pay $5, and children younger than 5 get in free. Baked goods will be available to buy. Information: 410-313-4901. Santa and missus to visit Elkridge Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit Elkridge on a fire engine from Thursday through Dec. 17, weather permitting.

The Howard County Health Department regularly inspects food establishments. Violation of any of eight "critical items" -- those most likely to contribute to food-borne illness -- requires immediate correction or closure of the facility.Of 36 facilities inspected from May 4 to 17, eight were cited for such violations but corrected immediately. The numbers after the restaurant names and addresses correspond to descriptions below:Black-eyed Pea, 8335 Benson Drive (5).Borders Books, 9051 Snowden Square (5)

THE IMMEDIATE neighbors are not the only local residents dismayed as fields and woodlands are transformed into housing developments.Last week's column recounted the anguish of people on each side of one new project near Rockburn Elementary School, Rockburn Run -- Polly and Joe Thornton, and Mary and Earl Strain.The column prompted a call from Patrick O'Brien, who with deep emotion told of growing up in the area on his family's land -- and how he was glad he was not there to see the house where he had grown up come down.

Brampton HillsThe Stanley Halle Co. has four floor plans available at Brampton Hills in Howard County.The model, the Camden, starts at $278,990 for 2,505 square feet.The first floor features a foyer, 13-by-11-foot living room, 11-by-14-foot dining room, 9-by-12-foot kitchen, 10-by-12-foot breakfast area, 14-by-17-foot family room, powder room, laundry room and two-car garage.The second floor consists of a 13-by-11-foot bedroom, 13-by-10-foot bedroom, bathroom, 11-by-12-foot bedroom, 17-by-12-foot master bedroom with master bath and walk-in closet.

A half-mile stretch of Montgomery Road has become a crossroads where old and new Ellicott City meet.On one side, there are old homes and large, green pastures left from farms. But on the other side, five traffic lanes away, there are growing subdivisions and the county's second-largest shopping center, Long Gate.While development has led to homes for thousands, two Montgomery Road residents who have lived there a combined 99 years want to leave. They say the roadside community they knew is gone forever.

Some Ellicott City residents said they are one step closer to stopping commercial growth along Montgomery Road after the Howard County Zoning Board rejected a proposal yesterday to build two restaurants and an office building across from Long Gate shopping center.The next step, residents say, will be to stop the latest project -- a strip mall in the same area.The Zoning Board, composed of the members of the County Council, turned down the rezoning for the restaurants and office building yesterday on a 3-2 vote that split Republican council members Charles C. Feaga and Dennis R. Schrader, who are candidates for county executive in the primary.

A set of rezoning requests that has sparked the ire of some Ellicott City homeowners made its debut before the county Zoning Board last night.The quasi-judicial hearing kicked off the board's consideration of the rezoning requests that would allow two restaurants and an office building to be built on land zoned for residential use on the north side of the 4200 block of Route 103/Montgomery Road. Residents from the Wheatfield area turned out in force with yellow signs saying "Vote No" in silent protest of the two proposals.

Opposed to a proposed strip mall on Montgomery Road, nine Ellicott City residents argued yesterday before the Zoning Board that it would be better for the community to keep houses on the property.But a local developer said two other residents -- who live on the proposed site -- want to sell because the area is no longer fit for homes.Triangle Development Corp. and residents opposed to the mall finished presenting their conflicting visions yesterday of what the parcel across from Long Gate Shopping Center should be -- a small residential community or a five-store strip mall.

Almost six years ago, homeowners along Montgomery Road in Ellicott City fought a rezoning that resulted in a major shopping center. Now their fight against the spread of businesses has moved across the street.With two weeks left before a pivotal Zoning Board hearing, Wheatfield-area residents are mobilizing to quash proposals to build two restaurants and an office building on the north side of Montgomery Road (Route 103).That is across the road from the Long Gate Center -- which includes a Safeway, Target and Barnes & Noble bookstore -- built on land zoned for a mixture of homes, shops and businesses until the Zoning Board changed it in 1993.

A proposal to widen Montgomery Road in Elkridge is drawing reservations from nearby residents who live on the busy thoroughfare.Howard County transportation officials are considering a recommendation to widen Montgomery Road between Marshalee Road and U.S. 1 from two lanes to three. Another suggestion involves installing left-turn lanes at some intersections.A public meeting on both proposals, which resulted from a study of existing and future traffic patterns on the road, will be held tonight from 7 to 9 in the Ellicott Room of the George Howard Building in Ellicott City.

On October 12, 2008 ALVEETA ALLISON (WINKY) MITCHELL. Beloved wife of Thaddeus P. Mitchell, Jr. On Thursday, friends may call at VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES (RANDALLSTOWN), 8728 Liberty Rd. from 4:00-8:00 P.M. On Friday, Mrs. Mitchell will lie instate at Unity Baptist Church, 7204 Montgomery Road (Elkridge), where the family will receive friends from 11:00 A.M.- 12:00Noon with services to follow. Inquiries to (410)655-0015

Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Ellicott City has announced the store's participation in the launch of "The Dangerous Boys Club" at the chain's stores across the country. Based on the book, The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Boys Club is designed to keep boys engaged in reading and constructive, hands-on activities. The club, recommended for ages 7 and older, will start at the Ellicott City bookstore at 2 p.m. Feb. 2. The theme for its first meeting will be "It's a Secret!"

As part of the 60 Plus Wills and Legal Screening Program of the Office on Aging, attorney Charles Jerome Ware will be at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Road, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Jan. 23. Services to be offered include simple wills, powers of attorney, living wills, small estates and deed changes. The program is open to Howard County residents ages 60 and older. The cost to prepare documents is on a sliding scale. An appointment is required. Because of the demand for services, appointment should be scheduled well in advance.

Youngsters in grades six through 12 are invited to submit up to three original poems to the Howard County Library's Word Up! Poetry Contest. Winners will be invited to read their poems at a spring event and will receive cash prizes. The deadline to submit entries is March 14. The contest is being held in partnership with the Friends of Howard County Library and the Howard County public schools. Poet and teacher Michael R. Clark will help contestants and others, ages 11 to 17, revise and perfect poems they have been working on from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Miller branch library, 9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City.

Mothers and daughters will discuss body image, self-esteem and the pressures on middle-school girls to conform to media images and peer pressure in a program at the Miller branch library, to be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 24. "Family Communication Night: How Do I Look? A Mother-Daughter Workshop on Body Image and the Pressure to be thin, `Hot,' and Perfect," will include a free dinner. The program, to be led by Lisa Morrell, adolescent counselor and founder of Health Integration, is designed for youth ages 11 to 15 and their parents.

The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department plans an all-you-can-eat breakfast with Santa Claus from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. today at the fire hall, 6275 Old Washington Road, Elkridge. Adults pay $7; seniors ages 55 and older pay $6. Children ages 5 to 12 pay $5, and children younger than 5 get in free. Baked goods will be available to buy. Information: 410-313-4901. Santa and missus to visit Elkridge Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit Elkridge on a fire engine from Thursday through Dec. 17, weather permitting.

Howard County police are asking for the public's help in finding the man they believe to be responsible for the robbery of a food chain and an attempted robbery of a bank. The first incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 11 at the Subway restaurant on U.S. 1 near Montgomery Road in Elkridge. A man entered the store, demanded cash and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. The second incident occurred at 1 p.m. Friday at the BB&T Bank branch at U.S. 1 and Montgomery Road. A man entered the bank, approached a teller and demanded money.

On March 11, 2006, CHARLES N. ANDERSON, SR.; husband of the late Edith C. Anderson; beloved father of Charles N., Jr., Albert R., Nelson C., Sr., David D. Anderson, Sr. and Carolyn R. Horka. Also survived by 11 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. Friends may call on Monday 5 to 8 P.M. at the Stallings Funeral Home, P.A., 3111 Mountain Road, Pasadena. Interment Cedar Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions to Living Stone House of Worship, 8291 Old Montgomery Road, Columbia, MD 21045.

Water main work to begin along U.S. 1 County workers are scheduled to begin tomorrow the replacement of about three miles of water main along U.S. 1 between Meadowridge Road and Montgomery Road in Elkridge. The project in expected to be complete in December 2006. The project is intended to improve water service in the area, which has been troubled by water main breaks because of corrosive soils in the area, officials said. "The department is aware that this project will inconvenience the driving public," James Irvin, director of the Department of Public Works, said in a statement.

Toll House Road, the two-lane connection between Old Columbia Pike and Frederick Road in Ellicott City, has reopened to through traffic after installation of water pipes along the right of way. The project represents the first phase of a two-part project to replace the major water transmission pipeline that runs from Montgomery Road (Route 103) to U.S. 40. The new pipes were placed in service Thursday. The next phase involves replacing the pipe along U.S. 29 to U.S. 40. That work will begin in the fall, officials said.