Rezoning

In a stunning decision that could end efforts to build an ambitious 1,500-unit housing subdivision near Loch Raven Reservoir, the Baltimore County Board of Appeals yesterday threw out a rezoning case brought by the landowner.That was not the only bad news of the day for the owner, Security Management Corp. The Maryland Court of Appeals, Maryland's highest court, also served notice that it would not hear a company appeal in a suit against the County Council for denying a zoning change for the same property in 1992.

An article in the Howard edition of The Sun yesterday incorrectly identified the company for which Uri Avin works. He is chief of comprehensive planning for Columbia-based LDR International.The Sun regrets the error.A "more intimate space," with quiet walks and park benches under mature trees untouched by bulldozers, would result from a proposed rezoning, a former Howard County planning director told the county Zoning Board last night.That is the vision for Terra Maria, a 55-acre development along Route 144 that backs up to U.S. 40 in western Ellicott City, said Uri Avin, who now works for the Columbia firm Land Design & Development.

Baltimore County's quadrennial rezoning process, which in the past has produced battles over development and complaints of special interests, is expected to be tame this time around and to bring far fewer requests for change.The window for filing rezoning requests with the County Council opened Aug. 1, and the process ends with final decisions due Oct. 16, 1996."My sense is that the number of requests will probably fall between 400 and 500," said county Planning Director Arnold F. "Pat" Keller III.By comparison, in 1988, when there still was a boom in the economy and development was at a peak, about 1,200 requests were filed.

A Carroll judge has ruled against a Howard County developer's proposal to have 205 acres near Liberty and Linton roads in Eldersburg rezoned.Rezoning would have allowed Carroll Development Associates to build about 200 houses, nearly double the number originally approved for the Belt Farm property.In an opinion issued last week, Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. denied the developers' petition. The developer has 30 days to appeal to the Court of Special Appeals."Obviously, my client is disappointed and we are discussing options," said John Maguire, attorney for the developer.

The Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission last night denied a petition to rezone Raincliffe Center, the town's only industrial land.David Moxley, owner and developer of the 32-acre site, had petitioned the commission in June for the rezoning from industrial to residential. Under residential zoning, he plans to build 192 townhouses on the property along Route 32 at Raincliffe Road.The panel's unanimous recommendation, which includes staff reports and comments from county officials, will go to the Town Council, which has scheduled a Sept.

Baltimore County planners say rezoning requests declined in this year's Comprehensive Zoning Map Process, likely because of a glut of commercially zoned property and a dearth of undeveloped residential land. Yesterday was the last day for residents and property owners to file requests to rezone property in the county. By the end of the day, about 400 petitions had been filed with the Planning Department. County planners and council members still have the opportunity to petition for rezoning, but the total is likely to be well below the 619 requests filed in the last comprehensive process four years ago, said Community Planning Director Jeff Long.

A waterfront property may not be rezoned for residential development, the county Board of Appeals ruled yesterday, not because of environmental concerns, but because new homes would bring additional students to already overcrowded schools on the Broadneck Peninsula.School officials said this was the first case they could recall in which school crowding was the sole reason to deny a residential rezoning request, and area residents claimed it as a victory for their schools."That's a good precedent," said George E. Hatch Jr., the school system's planning officer.

The controversial school rezoning plan issued in Baltimor this week was prepared by staffers with the school board's knowledge that it was bound to ignite a firestorm of criticism."

A furious Alderman Samuel Gilmer, D-Ward 3, is calling for a "full review" of a planning board's decision that threatens to scuttle a proposed community and senior center at the old Wiley H. Bates High School."

Neighborhood activists will renew their fight against an absentee landowner who wants to double the number of homes that can be built on an 11.3-acre tract on Ballman Avenue.The landowner, Georgia Clift, wants her property rezoned R-10 to permit 10 housing units per acre.Clift, who moved to New Hampshire in 1983, says the R-5 designation, which limits the number of units per acre to five, has scared away potential buyers who want to build town houses there.A county administrative hearing officer denied her request, and Clift filed an appeal, which will be heard Dec. 18 in Annapolis.