Ridge Farm

The Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night started with another shouting match between a Hawk Ridge Farm resident and the builder, Jeff Powers, over flooding problems.George and Rose Ann Fischer of CaraCara Court again brought their seven months of water and flooding problems to the commission."I've been flooded approximately eight times," George Fischer said. "Two weeks ago, I blocked up two basement windows to keep the water from coming in. This past Friday, water built up behind the silt fence behind my house and the silt fence collapsed, so the water is coming off that into my yard."

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Linda and Gene Moose's Chapel Ridge Farm sits amid the foothills of South Mountain, not too far over the Maryland line. It's been a dry summer, and everything is the color of hay. A couple of dozen cows, looking like small reddish-brown mountains themselves, are working away at a block of salt and other minerals Gene has put out for them.The cows are Santa Gertrudis cattle, bred in the flatland of Southern Texas to withstand harsh weather. They are naturally sturdy, naturally healthy -- and naturally lean.

Sykesville officials said last night that they will consult the town attorney before they take action on a bond reduction request from the developer of Hawk Ridge Farm.The developer, Powers Homes, is asking the town to reduce its bond from $400,000 to $93,000 for Section III of the development, which eventually will contain several hundred homes.Town Manager James L. Schumacher said the town would not reduce the bond below $120,000."Normal policy says we don't have to take action immediately on the request," Mr. Schumacher said.

Mount Bay Homes and GYC Group are building 29 traditional homes on quarter-acre lots at Hawk Ridge Farm in Sykesville.Gas heat, cooking and hot water, unfinished basement, hardwood flooring in foyer and ventilated closet shelving are some of the standard features in the Howard County community.Mount Bay's model at Hawk Ridge is the Brandywine, a 1,860-square-foot house with a base price of $200,900.The first floor has a foyer with guest closet, powder room, 15-by-13-feet living room, 10-by-12-feet dining room, 9-by-12-feet kitchen, 7-by-14-feet breakfast nook, 21-by-13-feet family room and two-car garage.

The Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night started with another shouting match between a Hawk Ridge Farm resident and the builder, Jeff Powers, over flooding problems.George and Rose Ann Fischer of CaraCara Court again brought their seven months of water and flooding problems to the commission."I've been flooded approximately eight times," George Fischer said. "Two weeks ago, I blocked up two basement windows to keep the water from coming in. This past Friday, water built up behind the silt fence behind my house and the silt fence collapsed, so the water is coming off that into my yard."

County and Sykesville officials issued immediate stop-work orders at Hawk Ridge Farm yesterday following an on-site inspection of continuing grading problems."

The chairwoman of the Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission will cite a conflict of interest and announce her resignation at the conclusion of the meeting tonight."

SYKESVILLE -- Town officials are asking the county to review seven recommendations to head off traffic problems at the Obrecht Road entrance to the new Copper Ridge facility at Fairhaven.A number who attended Monday night's Planning Commission meeting presented a petition containing 49 signatures of Hawk Ridge Farm subdivision residents who oppose locating Copper Ridge's entrance directly opposite Norris Avenue."Our main concern is traffic density. [Fairhaven] is saying 125 more cars will be traveling Obrecht Road, plus we get traffic from other areas and school buses," said Bob Ruane, a Norris Avenue resident.

The opening of the expanded Freedom District sewage treatment plant will clear the way for the eventual development of about 2,500 to 3,000 lots in various phases of the subdivision approval process.Sewer hookups haven't been allocated since a moratorium was imposed in September 1990 because the plant was nearing capacity and needed improvements to meet state discharge standards. The moratorium has stalled a wave of development plans in Sykesville and Eldersburg.The capacity of the plant will nearly double, from 1.8 million gallons per day to 3.5 million.

When the founders of the Maryland Million created their racing lineup a decade ago, they couldn't imagine a horse like Rebuff. Otherwise, they would have written in a race for classy senior citizens.At 11, Rebuff is a year older than the Million itself, which ran its first series of races in 1986 for horses sired by Maryland stallions. Born in 1985, Rebuff is the oldest horse entered in Saturday's 11 Maryland Million races at Laurel Park. What's more, no horse older than Rebuff currently races at Maryland's thoroughbred tracks.

When the founders of the Maryland Million created their racing lineup a decade ago, they couldn't imagine a horse like Rebuff. Otherwise, they would have written in a race for classy senior citizens.At 11, Rebuff is a year older than the Million itself, which ran its first series of races in 1986 for horses sired by Maryland stallions. Born in 1985, Rebuff is the oldest horse entered in Saturday's 11 Maryland Million races at Laurel Park. What's more, no horse older than Rebuff currently races at Maryland's thoroughbred tracks.

The chairwoman of the Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission will cite a conflict of interest and announce her resignation at the conclusion of the meeting tonight."

Sykesville officials said last night that they will consult the town attorney before they take action on a bond reduction request from the developer of Hawk Ridge Farm.The developer, Powers Homes, is asking the town to reduce its bond from $400,000 to $93,000 for Section III of the development, which eventually will contain several hundred homes.Town Manager James L. Schumacher said the town would not reduce the bond below $120,000."Normal policy says we don't have to take action immediately on the request," Mr. Schumacher said.

The builder of Hawk Ridge Farm will have to pay Sykesville to hack off tall weeds on vacant lots in the 200-home development.Powers Homes missed the town's deadline yesterday for cutting the weeds. Now, in addition to a fine, the builder will have to pay the town's mowing costs."We have to make [vice president Jeffrey] Powers realize that it will cost him more for the town to do this job," said Councilman Jonathan Herman. "We will charge him for overtime at comparable rates and equipment rental or bill him for a subcontractor's work."

The Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night started with another shouting match between a Hawk Ridge Farm resident and the builder, Jeff Powers, over flooding problems.George and Rose Ann Fischer of CaraCara Court again brought their seven months of water and flooding problems to the commission."I've been flooded approximately eight times," George Fischer said. "Two weeks ago, I blocked up two basement windows to keep the water from coming in. This past Friday, water built up behind the silt fence behind my house and the silt fence collapsed, so the water is coming off that into my yard."

The Sykesville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night started with another shouting match between a Hawk Ridge Farm resident and the builder, Jeff Powers, over flooding problems.George and Rose Ann Fischer of CaraCara Court again brought their seven months of water and flooding problems to the commission."I've been flooded approximately eight times," George Fischer said. "Two weeks ago, I blocked up two basement windows to keep the water from coming in. This past Friday, water built up behind the silt fence behind my house and the silt fence collapsed, so the water is coming off that into my yard."

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Linda and Gene Moose's Chapel Ridge Farm sits amid the foothills of South Mountain, not too far over the Maryland line. It's been a dry summer, and everything is the color of hay. A couple of dozen cows, looking like small reddish-brown mountains themselves, are working away at a block of salt and other minerals Gene has put out for them.The cows are Santa Gertrudis cattle, bred in the flatland of Southern Texas to withstand harsh weather. They are naturally sturdy, naturally healthy -- and naturally lean.

Mount Bay Homes and GYC Group are building 29 traditional homes on quarter-acre lots at Hawk Ridge Farm in Sykesville.Gas heat, cooking and hot water, unfinished basement, hardwood flooring in foyer and ventilated closet shelving are some of the standard features in the Howard County community.Mount Bay's model at Hawk Ridge is the Brandywine, a 1,860-square-foot house with a base price of $200,900.The first floor has a foyer with guest closet, powder room, 15-by-13-feet living room, 10-by-12-feet dining room, 9-by-12-feet kitchen, 7-by-14-feet breakfast nook, 21-by-13-feet family room and two-car garage.

County and Sykesville officials issued immediate stop-work orders at Hawk Ridge Farm yesterday following an on-site inspection of continuing grading problems."

The day Rose Ann Fischer moved into her $247,000 dream house in Sykesville she was reduced to tears, she said. They weren't tears of joy.Last summer, her family selected a lot in Hawk Ridge Farmsubdivision, one of several Powers Homes developments in Carroll County. While she packed at her home in New Jersey, she envisioned her two children playing in the grassy back yard of their new home."I loved the model when I saw it, and I wouldn't look anywhere else," she said.Five months after moving into the house on Caracara Court, the only vision she has from her kitchen window is a muddy expanse leading to a huge mound of dirt.