Town Center

General Growth Properties has agreed with all but three county-recommended changes to its 30-year redevelopment plan for Town Center Columbia, but the disagreements are over key points. Still, Columbia General Manager and General Growth Properties Senior Vice President Greg Hamm told county Planning Board members Thursday night that his firm wants to work out the disagreements and go forward. "A collaborative community process yields better communities," he said, as a crowd of about 75 people listened at the Bain Senior Center in Harper's Choice.

The Odenton Town Center is poised to be a key element in our county's future growth and economic development. The center's location in the heart of the Fort Meade BRAC expansion area adds to its importance and the need to implement this project as part of a coordinated plan for West County. The county's planning staff and economic development are working with the property owners in the Town Center to ensure that this growth is effectively managed. The infrastructure needs of this mixed-use community will be met through a combination of state and county funds.

As key components in the final phase of the long-planned Glen Burnie Town Center near completion, some additional ambitious plans for the center are beginning to take shape.The 56,000-square-foot shopping center at the heart of the 5.5-acre town center site is nearly fully leased, with a grand opening set in February and a Food Lion grocery store as the anchor. The 54-unit adjacent apartment complex is under construction, and the county plans to break ground on a skating rink this week.Meanwhile, the committee overseeing Glen Burnie's downtown revitalization is studying two other major projects: a proposed national drugstore chain with a drive-through pharmacy, construction of an upscale hotel conference center at the LaFontaine Bleu banquet hall site and expansion of the town center boundaries.

SILVER SPRING -- Pigs are flying. Hell has frozen over. Silver Spring is getting a new downtown.After two decades of fits and starts that included visions of a monorail and wave pool and plans that nearly tore the community apart, officials will break ground tomorrow on a $321 million town center.The project will bring high-tech movie theaters, name-brand stores and civic boasting rights to a community that as recently as last month was used as a seedy backdrop for a political TV spot.The Silver Spring Town Center has spawned $500 million worth of development nearby, such as the $150 million Discovery channel headquarters, the American Film Institute's East Coast center, an expansion of Montgomery College and a multimillion-dollar transit center.

Glen Burnie residents are more than ready for construction to begin on a 30-foot arch on the corner of Ritchie Highway and Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard.For three years they have been raising money, planning and soliciting designs for a monumental structure they hope will grab the attention of the drivers flying through and make them take notice of a town that has spent more than 40 years trying to re-create itself.The years invested in the arch are a flash compared with the four decades that have gone into rebuilding the town center, a long-promised renewal that never seemed to get top priority for funding in Anne Arundel County until the past year.

GERTRUDE STEIN'S saying about Oakland, Calif. -- "There is no there there" -- unfortunately applies to too many old Maryland towns that have seen their commercial centers atrophy.Glen Burnie, in an attempt to re-create a sense of place, is planning to build a 30-foot-wide arch at Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard and Ritchie Highway. Proponents don't pretend that their modest structure will rival Paris' famed Arc de Triomphe or St. Louis' soaring Gateway Arch. All they seek is a focal point for redevelopment of the town center.

HIGH-DENSITY residential development has been expected near Lake Kittamaqundi and Symphony Woods in Columbia almost as long as there has been a Columbia -- 30 years. But some are raising concerns now that the Rouse Co. has agreed to build 550 apartments on property behind the Howard County Central Library.One worry is that the new development touted as part of the effort to make Columbia Town Center more like a real downtown might detract from the natural beauty that surrounds and enhances the commercial area.

FIRST and foremost, give me a quiet neighborhood with low traffic flow, in a setting that feels "small town." Give me readily accessible bike and walking paths, with plenty of natural open spaces and gardens scattered here and there.Give me street designs that emphasize courts, circles or cul-de-sacs rather than through streets. And wherever possible, preserve local historic structures or features that help define the community and give it a distinctive personality.Much lower on my wish list, according to a new study of American homebuyer preferences: tennis courts; outdoor swimming pools; a fancy, gated entrance to the development; and a golf course within the community.

When developer Jay Winer orchestrated a $1.3 million land deal in November in an attempt to get a library branch and community college campus built in Odenton, residents applauded a man who has repeatedly brought county money and projects into their declining town.That Winer's motives appear as much financial as charitable matters little to residents who have long felt cheated in a county teeming with projects and development in every corner but theirs.Winer's real estate firm got an $81,000 broker's commission when the county bought land for the library and campus.

Developers are negotiating with potential buyers and tenants -- including a major hotel chain -- for the last remaining space in the old Hutzler's department store property in Towson, raising hopes for a far-reaching revival of the community's business corridor."

The Town Center and Wilde Lake Community Associations will host a family pool party from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Bryant Woods Pool. Event is free and include pizza, refreshments, swimming and a raffle. Children younger than 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Party is for Town Center and Wilde Lake residents only. Call 410-730-3987 for more information. Slayton House events * Summer registration continues for Slayton House Camp of the Arts. Camp dates are Aug. 3-14. Families with two or more children in the same session can receive a discount.

The next important election in Howard County is less than a month away, though no public offices are at stake. The members of the Columbia Association board of directors may not draw salaries, but they, along with incoming CA President Phil Nelson, could play a vital role in plans to remake central Columbia and its aging village centers. Each of the 10 villages has one seat on the board, and half could elect new board members when the two days of voting end April 25. Three villages - Owen Brown, Town Center and Harper's Choice - have no board contest this spring, while incumbents in Oakland Mills and River Hill are running unopposed.

The county Planning Board is weighing conflicting visions of the fears and hopes generated by plans for a major urbanization of Columbia's town center as board members prepare to make their own recommendations. The divide was clearly outlined in remarks at a Thursday night public hearing by Long Reach resident Russel Swatek and the Business Alliance, which represents 46 local business owners. "Some don't want a city," Swatek, a five-year resident, said about the plans to urbanize Town Center.

General Growth Properties has agreed with all but three county-recommended changes to its 30-year redevelopment plan for Town Center Columbia, but the disagreements are over key points. Still, Columbia General Manager and General Growth Properties Senior Vice President Greg Hamm told county Planning Board members Thursday night that his firm wants to work out the disagreements and go forward. "A collaborative community process yields better communities," he said, as a crowd of about 75 people listened at the Bain Senior Center in Harper's Choice.

A plan for a larger supermarket at Turf Valley's proposed town center was unanimously approved by the County Council on Monday night, despite objections from some residents. The five members approved one change to the bill that is intended to prevent big-box retailers from coming to the planned office/retail center near the western edge of the redeveloping 809-acre hotel/golf resort. The amendment, introduced by Fulton Republican Greg Fox, caps the size of any other store in the retail center at 20,000 square feet.

Almost everyone in Columbia agrees that settling on a master plan to guide an energizing makeover of the city's 40-year-old town center is an urgent priority. But some residents are concerned that the wrong plan could do serious harm. The Howard County government should proceed cautiously on this matter. The proposed redevelopment may be the biggest project since Columbia's birth, and its impact will be felt for decades to come. General Growth Properties, which owns the Columbia Mall and much of the land around it, has submitted a proposal to the county to build 1 million square feet of retail space, 4.9 million square feet of office space and 5,500 townhouses and apartments, as well as hotel rooms and cultural amenities.

Patuxent Toastmasters will hold a "Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Oliver's Carriage House, the home of Kittamaqundi Community Church, 5410 Leaf Treader Way, in Town Center. The parameters for the contest have been developed by Toastmasters International, a world-wide organization that helps its members develop leadership skills and improve speaking and presentation skills. Both speakers and evaluators will be judged; winners will be eligible to compete at the area-level contest Oct. 15. Those interested in learning more about Toastmasters can enjoy the humorous program and meet the club's members.

Another business-oriented group of Columbia activists in favor of the General Growth Properties plan to redevelop Town Center is organizing with the hope of playing a role in the long process. The group, called Columbia Tomorrow and led by development consultant Jud Malone, joins several others with similar objectives. They include Columbia 2.0, oriented toward younger adults, and Bring Back the Vision. Other groups, such as the Columbia Association and the Coalition for Columbia's downtown, have taken a more skeptical view of the GGP plan.

When Harriet Fisher's son Jason graduated from Centennial High School in 2000, he could not climb onto the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion during the procession with his classmates. Jason is a lifelong sufferer of cerebral palsy, and he and his wheelchair had to be brought in separately. That story surprised Gregory F. Hamm, vice president of General Growth Properties. He assured Fisher, a member of the access committee of county's Commission on Disability Issues, that he is professionally and personally committed to involving the committee in planning for the redevelopment of Town Center.

Questions persist on Town Center plan The General Growth Properties (GGP) presentation on the Town Center master plan earlier this month was most impressive. It is clear that the plan has been well thought out and that GGP is committed to thinking creatively in terms of redefining Town Center as the heart of a new Columbia that will endure as a leading edge community of its size for future generations. However, there are three looming questions in my mind that still need to be addressed.