Property

Visitors to Ocean City are often struck by the contrasting fortunes of the vacant Ocean Plaza Mall on 94 t h Street and the bustle of development along U.S. 50 in West Ocean City , with its new Walmart and other big-box stores. There are a number of reasons for this, but one in particular sticks in the resort town's collective craw: double taxation. In essence, property owners in Ocean City have been subsidizing sprawl development outside town limits, a self-destructive policy that can only be described as dumb growth.

An arts and crafts-style home in Eastport, a historic Annapolis mansion and a 121-acre farm near Monkton are among the properties in the Greater Baltimore region that sold for more than $1 million in November. The 17 properties that sold for $1 million or more last month are all in Anne Arundel, Howard or Baltimore counties, according to data recently released RealEstate Business Intelligence, an affiliate of the region's multiple listing service. Sales closed on 2,135 properties in Baltimore and its five surrounding counties - Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard - during November, the data shows.

A battle over the future of the closed Chestnut Ridge golf course in Lutherville is continuing, with the company that bought the property now suing the Baltimore County Council over its decision to limit the land's development potential. In a lawsuit filed last month in Baltimore County Circuit, CR Golf Club LLC, which has ties to Timonium developer Cignal Corp., claims council members made an unfair land-use decision this summer that limited the number of homes that can be built on the approximately 230-acre property off Falls Road.

Low gray clouds of a late autumn day appear to envelop a two-story cedar cottage and its attached one-story log cabin. Sitting on three acres in Howard County and accessed through a wrought-iron arch down a narrow lane, the property has been the home of 63-year-old Priscilla Griffith for most of her adult life. A roughly landscaped front garden contains the print of a fenced-in vegetable patch, harvested months ago. The path to the cottage is a dirt one; a brick walkway from its side entrance leads to the main house.

For those folks seeking to leave the state's farm preservation program because they feel that  they are incapable of financially succeeding in modern day Howard County,  perhaps they should simply sell their farm property at fair agricultural value to those capable of being successful in these present circumstances. They would probably find a number of potential buyers in that process and preserve the integrity of the preservation program as well. Of course they would not make nearly as much money that way.  Steve Curtis Dayton

A woman who faced more than 140 counts of keeping dozens of cats in poor conditions and not taking care of them entered a plea Tuesday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her of 10 charges. Deanna Lusko, who owned the Cool Cats Rescue, in Severna Park, entered an Alford plea to five counts of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to the animals and five counts of not providing veterinary care, according to Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the county prosecutors.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's plan to offer some county properties for sale in Dundalk, Randallstown and Towson has the potential to solve a few problems and create better opportunities for some students without any cost to the taxpayers, though it also has the potential to create some new problems, too. As such, it is a perfect example of the strengths and weaknesses of Baltimore County government. If your main concern is efficiency and tight stewardship of taxpayer dollars, you'll be happy.

Baltimore County wants to sell three government properties to developers to raise money for air conditioning and better technology at schools in Dundalk, Randallstown and Towson. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is expected to announce a plan Tuesday to put the public facilities up for bid and find better spots for the government services located there. The buildings are the North Point Government Center on Wise Avenue in Dundalk, the Towson fire station on York Road, and the Randallstown police substation on Liberty Road.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman moved Tuesday to ban the sale of high-sugar drinks such as soda in parks, libraries and other county properties and at county-sponsored events - hoping yet again to make the county a progressive model. "I believe Howard County government should lead by example," Ulman said. "That's why today I've signed an executive order to increase the availability of healthy beverage options in our county departments and programs. "The vending machines will look different, starting right away," Ulman said at an event in Ellicott City.

Protenergy Natural Foods Corp. expects to add as many as 100 workers to its Eastern Shore operations by next spring, the state announced Tuesday. The Canadian food processing company, which currently employs 53 in Cambridge, is ramping up faster than originally anticipated. When it opened the site a year ago as its U.S. headquarters, Protenergy told the state that it expected to have 100 employees by 2016. As part of the expansion, the company purchased the 67-acre site it had been leasing.