Zoning Appeals

Developer Martin K. P. Hill's continuing dispute with the town of Hampstead over construction of his proposed Robert's Field condominium project entered the courtroom yesterday.Hill is appealing a ruling in April by the Hampstead Board of Zoning Appeals, which found that the developer was in violation of town requirements relating to density, open space and lot size.The action has blocked Hill from proceeding with plans to build 90 condominiums as the last section of the Robert's Field subdivision.

The Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals has approved a request for a bed-and-breakfast at 3514 Kump Station Road in Taneytown.John A. and Mary Dawn Durange made the request to operate a bed-and-breakfast on 9.5 acres. The couple want to use two or three bedrooms and one bathroom of a home there for the business.The board approved the request with the conditions that a turnaround for vehicles be installed on the property and that the sewage disposal and water supply systems be modified.

Noting concerns about noise and traffic, the Carroll Board of Zoning Appeals denied a developer's request yesterday to build the nation's first digital drive-in movie theaters on a hilly, 37-acre industrial site in Eldersburg. The three-member board unanimously rejected Alan Ackerman's petition to build a $5 million, drive-in theater complex along Liberty Road after concluding the third day of a hearing that began in late November. "I think their concept will work somewhere ... but I don't want to see Eldersburg or Carroll County be the guinea pig for something new," said board member Ronald Hoff, who expressed fear that the project would cause noise and traffic problems in an area that suffers from congested roads.

Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals has approved a conditional use for a kennel for 49 dogs at 446 Rockland Road, Westminster.The request was made by John N. and Alice L. Davis Jr. for the kennel and variance reducing the minimum distance requirements where necessary. The property is zoned agricultural.The kennel is to be for grooming and boarding dogs, with no breeding anticipated. It would include 24 heated and air-conditioned enclosed runs and 16 outside runs.In response to neighbors' concerns about noise, the couple agreed to limit the kennel to 49 dogs.

So much for the theory of political clout.The Carroll Board of Zoning Appeals has denied a request submitted by Jesse L. Gouge, husband of County Commissioner Julia W. Gouge, to permit the storage and sale of mulch on the couple's Lees Mill Road property.About 10 neighbors objected to the request at a hearing last month, saying the mulch pile had expanded and become an eyesore.They expressed concern that the operation would increase traffic, produce noise and harm the environment.Seventy-nine people signed a petition opposing the request.

THE CHAIRMAN OF the Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals, James Schumacher, put it most aptly and succinctly: "It's amazing to me the project even got to us."The project, a 254-unit apartment complex in the most congested area of Eldersburg, was rejected by the board for badly failing to meet the county's adequate public facilities standards. Traffic-jammed roads, crowded schools and an overtaxed fire department were cited by the board, upholding an earlier denial by the county Planning and Zoning Commission.

The Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals has approved a conditional use for a day care center at Faith Lutheran Church, 1700 St. Andrews Way, Eldersburg.The Grow, Learn & Play Day Care Inc. made the request to move from the Freedom Village Shopping Center. The church and Grow, Learn & Play have an agreement for the day care center to lease space on the church's lower level and to use some outside area as a playground.The day care center has 12 adult employees and a capacity of 65 children ages 2 to 5.The board approved the request but limited the operation of the center to weekdays and no later than 7 p.m.FireGamber: Firefighters from Reese assisted Gamber at 1: 33 a.m. Monday, responding for a fire alarm in the 2700 block of Cold Saturday Drive.

The County Commissioners voted 2-1 yesterday to fund a lawsuit challenging the Board of Zoning Appeals' approval of a proposed $32 million shopping center in Eldersburg.Commissioners W. Benjamin Brown and Richard T. Yates voted to fund the lawsuit filed by the county planning commission. Commissioner Donald I. Dell voted against funding it.The planning panel -- which has taken the appeals board to court more than a dozen times in the past two years but has yet to win -- noted concerns about traffic and the shopping center's impact on the neighborhood among reasons for the suit.

Despite opposition from the county's oversight panel on industrial development, the city Board of Zoning Appeals last week gave its approval for a restaurant to be built at the Air Business Center.Industrial Development Authority chairman Russell A. Sellman had argued ina hearing earlier that agreements made when the center was developedin 1980 say retail businesses are not allowed. A restaurant is a "borderline" case, he said. Traffic from restaurants, shops and offices could cause problems with trucks coming from industrial sites, Sellman said at the Dec. 2 hearing.

After conferring with its attorney for more than two hours behind closed doors Friday, the county board of zoning appeals voted to approve an eight-lot subdivision in Westminster, provided the lots aren't recorded until the fall.Since developers cannot build until their lots have been recorded in Circuit Court, the ruling means that owner-developer J. Robert Johnson cannot begin construction of section two of his Sharon's Ridge subdivision on 27.7 acres off Old Westminster Road until Sept.