Special Exception

Owner seeks exception to operate apartmentsA Pasadena man is seeking permission to operate an apartment building on a lot smaller than normally allowed and without sewer service or off-street parking.County inspectors ordered Simon Bobic of Mayford Avenue to obtain a special exception last April after they realized that the home he had converted into five apartments near Solley and Mountain roads more than two years ago violated zoning laws.An administrative hearing officer is to hear Mr. Bobic's request for a special exception at 9:30 a.m. Sept.

A county zoning hearing examiner has recommended the county deny an Abingdon man's request for a special exception to create a private aircraft landing strip.Michael J. Kozub, who owns a 113-acre agriculturally zoned parcel on Hookers Mill Road, said various types of aircrafts have been landing and taking off from his family's farm sincethe mid-1940s.Kozub had asked the county to recognize the non-conforming airstrip and to grant a special exception to allow the landing and storage of private aircraft in an agricultural district.

The Mount Airy Planning and Zoning Commission last night recommended granting a special exception to allow the town's first elderly housing project.Michael B. Berman, president of Wildwood Park Inc., has proposed building 30 one- and two-bedroom houses for senior citizens on a 4-acre tract off Ridge Avenue near the Carroll County Public Library and Senior Center.The special exception request now goes before the town's Board of Appeals. If it is approved by that board, the project will return to the planning commission for site plan approval.

A Columbia synagogue has abandoned its religion-based constitutional challenge to Howard County's land-use authority and asked for formal permission to teach elementary school classes at its day care facility in the Sebring neighborhood.Lubavitch of Howard County was due to plead its case in county JTC circuit court next month against the county Board of Appeals. The Jewish sect members sued the board after it ruled Dec. 6 that the 1989 special zoning exception allowing a religious facility and day care center did not allow first-grade classes.

After 100 years in Baltimore, the Boumi Temple has selected a 34-acre site in White Marsh for the Shriners' new meeting hall.The land, owned by John J. and James W. Bartenfelter, is bordered by Interstate 95, King Avenue, Babikow Road and a housing development. Although the Shriners wouldn't reveal the price of the property, land records show the Bartenfelters purchased the land, which includes a house and outbuildings, in 1992 for $194,000.Clifford Stevens, the Shriners' recorder, said a number of obstacles remain before settlement, including the need for Baltimore County to grant a special exception for the construction of a meeting hall on the residentially zoned land.

The Mount Airy Planning and Zoning Commission will consider a request for senior citizen housing Monday -- the first since the zoning ordinance was amended to allow such housing.Michael B. Berman, president of Wildwood Park Inc., has proposed building 30 one- and two-bedroom houses for senior citizens on a four-acre tract on Ridge Avenue near the Carroll County senior center and the public library.The project would require the granting of a special exception by the town's Board of Appeals.

Gas station clears hurdleThe county Planning Board unanimously recommended a special exception for a gasoline station at the new Snowden Square shopping center on Snowden River Parkway.Two weeks ago, the board told the Rouse Co. to do its homework and provide more information on whether the proposed Crown station was needed. That proof is required for all special exception requests for gas stations.At issue was the lack of information about other gas stations within a 7 1/2 -mile radius -- the same area the company used to show demand for the station.

The Howard County Board of Appeals will decide next month whether the former site of the Elkridge Drive-In will remain a flea market.The Department of Planning and Zoning accused Columbia developer Barry Mehta -- who owns the 17-acre parcel off U.S. 1 and Bonnie View Lane -- of failing to make required site improvements, such as paving the parking lot and fencing the trash area.During a four-hour hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Mehta said he complied with the conditions of the special exception, but planning and zoning officials chose to interpret the conditions too strictly.

DEVELOPERS, of late, seem very interested in bypassing Anne Arundel County's special exception zoning process. Last month, Middle River Racing Association convinced the County Council to make an auto racetrack a conditional use on industrial property in Pasadena. Now, the Mills Corp. wants similar treatment for its proposed Potomac Mills-style outlet mall in Harmans, near Baltimore-Washington International Airport.Protracted government review can, indeed, harm the business climate. James T. Brady alluded to the problem, citing "red tape" as a lingering concern, when he resigned as Maryland's economic development secretary two weeks ago. However, circumventing the county's established approval process for development presents its own perils.

The owner of a smoldering stump dump in Baltimore County got some bad news yesterday from Howard County, which revoked the zoning exception for his garden center near Ellicott City.The county's Board of Appeal in the first action of its kind revoked the special exception held by James F. Jett, who operates Patapsco Family Gardens in a residential zone on Route 99 near McKenzie Road.The board found that Mr. Jett had violated conditions it set in 1986 and clarified last year.The violations involved screening requirements, hours of operation, failure to erect a split-rail fence along the eastern lot line, storing equipment outdoors and selling fertilizer and hand tools prohibited for retail sale by the board, the board said.