Zoning Board

A plan to bring a gas station and carwash to the Waverly Woods Village Center in western Howard County died Wednesday when the county Zoning Board unanimously voted against a zoning change in the fifth hearing on the matter. "I'm obviously very disappointed in the outcome of the case," Rick Levitan, co-owner of the petitioner, Convenience Retailing LLC, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. "I'm shocked that this Zoning Board showed no regard for the recommendations of its own Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ)

As reported Oct. 4, 1977, in The Sun: The Howard County Zoning Board yesterday defeated the much debated proposal for a $ 75 million Marriott Corporation "theme park" on an industrially zoned site in the Guilford area south of Columbia. At the same time, the board adopted the first comprehensive rezoning plan for Howard county in 16 years. The vote to deny the bid by Marriott was 3 to 1. It is the second time in five years that the firm has failed to obtain zoning for a large amusement park in Howard county.

The Planning Board is considering enacting a series of proposals that would alter, in some cases significantly, how it functions. Many of the changes represent little more than housecleaning, but several members of the public urged the board to proceed cautiously. "You are the voice and face of the public," said Alan Klein, a founder of the Coalition for Columbia's Downtown. While several proposed revisions were endorsed by the public during a hearing last week, other changes raised concerns.

Tuscany-Canterbury's long-standing aggravation with the lone fraternity house in its midst has come to an end, Baltimore's zoning board ruled last night. Phi Kappa Psi, among the last of the Johns Hopkins University's Greeks with a true fraternity house, has lost the right to remain in the mansion at 3906 Canterbury Road, its home for about 30 years. The zoning board unanimously agreed, after a heated two-hour hearing, that the fraternity cannot remain grandfathered in the residential neighborhood after it vacated the property for more than a year to fix a laundry list of code violations.

Tuscany-Canterbury homeowners have had it with stray beer cans, music blasting at midnight, public urination and the boozy delinquency they say pervades the neighborhood because of the fraternity house in their midst. They have vowed to see it gone. But the young men of Phi Kappa Psi, who relish being among the last of the Johns Hopkins University's Greeks with a true fraternity house, aren't leaving without a fight. Though the neighbors think they can oust the fraternity on a zoning technicality because the brothers moved off site for more than a year, the Phi Psis have hired an attorney and enlisted the help of prominent alumni - including New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Throughout Baltimore, property owners are looking to go up. Requests to add a third-floor to traditional, two-story rowhouses in some neighborhoods are appearing before the city's zoning board in greater numbers than in the past. They reflect a desire for more living space by residents who want to stay in the city. But Baltimore's outdated zoning code unnecessarily discourages what should be encouraged - a homeowner's impulse to remain in town in a roomier version of a classic Baltimore rowhouse.

Democrat Ken Ulman and independent C. Stephen Wallis are using more aggressive tactics against Republican Christopher J. Merdon as the three vie to be Howard County's next executive. Ulman confronted his toughest critics on the campaign's most contentious issue - development - last week at a forum in Merdon's political backyard, while Wallis made a strong pitch for voters to reject both county councilmen.

A two-pronged challenge launched against a decision by the Zoning Board involving a relatively small parcel of land in Elkridge appears to be part of a broader chess match regarding the legality of Comp Lite, the county's rezoning procedure last year, and what happens should the courts invalidate that process. What makes the legal maneuverings unusual is that they are coming from the winning side, in large part as a defense in case the courts rule Comp Lite illegal. At stake in the Elkridge case could be the development of almost 28 acres at Routes 100 and 108, which has been the subject of a prolonged and heated debate.

Press bias shows in executive race The bias of the press in the race for Howard County executive hit a new high in Larry Carson's Friday, Sept. 22, column. That column was headlined "Ulman Speaks Out Against Zoning" and goes on to report that the Democrat is now considering favoring an independent zoning board. Steve Wallis, the independent candidate, was the first to propose that the zoning board be depoliticized when it drew applause at the COPE forum June 12. At that time, Carson did not even mention it in his column covering that forum.

Zoning and child care are subjects that don't often intersect, but as Howard County's three-way race for county executive heats up, Ken Ulman, the Democratic nominee, staked out new positions on both this week. Ulman said he wants before- and after-school programs in Howard County to expand and to eliminate a 448-child waiting list countywide, helping working parents. "It makes a huge difference in people's lives," he said about the programs that care for 3,000 children in 44 school buildings, according to county Recreation and Parks Director Gary Arthur, whose staff runs the sessions and hires workers.