Zoning Change

Rejecting the pleas of nearby residents, the Howard County Zoning Board last night sided with the powerful Rouse Co. and agreed that a large parcel of land in North Laurel was incorrectly zoned in 1993.The board's controversial decision will allow Rouse to build one of the largest residential developments in many years in the county.The 3-2 vote came after 14 public hearings over more than four months during which opponents and Rouse debated the merits of the developer's proposed 522-acre Columbia-style project, which opponents believe will transform the North Laurel area.

Controversy over a proposed 50-acre housing development in Jacksonville has prompted the chairman of the Baltimore County Council to seek a law requiring that residents be notified when adjacent properties are up for rezoning.Neighbors of the proposed Locksley Conserve near Manor Road and Jarrettsville Pike were outraged when they learned that the zoning had been changed on the former Christmas tree farm, increasing the development potential from two to 26 houses.Their anger has led Council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder -- a Fullerton Democrat who approved the zoning change during last year's comprehensive rezoning -- to push for notification.

Continuing a push to develop historic Hayfields, the Mangione family appeared yesterday before the Baltimore County Board of Appeals seeking to boost the number of houses allowed on the farm -- a zoning change that has been consistently rejected over the years.John Mangione, vice president of the company that owns the farm, said more houses are needed to defray the cost of a golf course that is part of the proposed development. The Mangiones want to build the course and 50 high-priced houses on the 474-acre farm near Shawan Road west of Interstate 83; existing zoning allows 40 houses.

The long-running attempt to craft ethics legislation for Howard County's Zoning Board is about to be renewed, this time with a greater chance of success. Even so, the impact of this bill, if passed, would be minimal.The goal of this legislation is to deter applicants for zoning changes from contributing to the campaigns of Howard County Council members, who also compose the Zoning Board. The bill also applies to the county executive.As authored by state Sen. Martin G. Madden, the bill would require applicants to disclose campaign contributions of $500 or more.

Attempts to craft ethics legislation for Howard County's Zoning Board are about to be renewed, this time with a greater chance of success. Still, the impact of this bill, if passed, would be minimal.The goal of this legislation is to deter applicants for zoning changes from contributing to the campaigns of Howard County Council members, who also compose the Zoning Board. The bill also applies to the county executive. As authored by state Sen. Martin G. Madden, the bill would require applicants to disclose campaign contributions of $500 or more.

A bank holding company is asking county planning and zoning authorities for a fivefold increase in the number of homes it could develop on a secluded 14-acre lot on Columbia's southern edge, claiming the Zoning Board made an error in rezoning the property last year.David A. Carney, a Columbia attorney representing the ownertold the county Planning Board yesterday that the property probably would be developed with 88 apartment condominiums or townhouses selling for $120,000 to $180,000.The site, on both sides of Old Columbia Road just north of the Middle Patuxent River, was zoned office/research until last year, when the Zoning Board voted 3-2 to convert 10 acres of it to "environmental residential," which would allow a maximum of 16 units, because of its steep, wooded slopes and the streams running through it."

Bravo to the residents of the Wheatfield subdivision of Ellicott City. With determination and a willingness to compromise, they have managed to hammer out an agreement that allows the developer of a parcel adjacent to their neighborhood to proceed with his plans, while addressing their concerns as well.It did not seem possible just a few short months ago. At that time, the residents of Wheatfield had locked horns with Howard County officials and the developer, accusing both of subterfuge and collusion over re-zoning of the parcel, which sits at the intersection of routes 29 and 103.The owner of the property, Robert R. Moxley, wanted a zoning change that would allow construction of a large retail center, with a warehouse store on the order of a Wal-Mart.

Waverly Woods II, the county's largest development since Columbia, won tentative approval yesterday from the county Zoning Board, but lawmakers cut 41 percent of its proposed office space.Faced with dogged neighborhood opposition, the rezoning case for the 682-acre project in Marriottsville and Woodstock had dragged through 16 days of hearings from last March to December.It was the longest-running case since 1976, when the Rouse Co. won its bid to annex hundreds of acres into Columbia."It's been a long process, and I think we got a better site plan as a result," said Waverly Woods II developer Donald R. Reuwer Jr. after the County Council, sitting as the Zoning Board, gave the go-ahead.

Waverly Woods II, the county's largest development since Columbia, won tentative approval yesterday from the county Zoning Board, but lawmakers cut 41 percent of its proposed office space.Faced with dogged neighborhood opposition, the rezoning case for the 682-acre project in Marriottsville and Woodstock had dragged through 16 days of hearings from last March to December. It was the longest-running case since 1976, when the Rouse Co. won its bid to annex hundreds of acres into Columbia."It's been a long process, and I think we got a better site plan as a result," said Waverly Woods II developer Donald R. Reuwer Jr. after the County Council, sitting as the Zoning Board, gave the go-ahead.

The Howard County zoning board last night postponed until late February a hearing on whether Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be allowed to build a department store and members-only wholesale buying club in Ellicott City.C. Vernon Gray, the board chairman, said the panel was awaiting information in order to rule on a nine-point motion calling for dismissal of Wal-Mart's zoning petition.The motion, filed by the Wilder Building Corp., a town house developer, alleges that Wal-Mart's petition to rezone 54 acres near U.S. 29 and U.S. 40 for retail rather than office use "is both inappropriate and premature" because its site plan documentation is incomplete.

After years of delay, Baltimore is moving to allow a prominent developer to build two residential towers along Key Highway - renewing community concerns about the future of the peninsula's vanishing waterfront. If the City Council approves the zoning change, HarborView developer Richard A. Swirnow would be permitted to build a 26-story tower and could also proceed on an adjacent 17-story building west of the high-rise already on the site. City officials say the proposed design is the best they have seen because it maintains better views of the water for surrounding residents and includes first-floor shopping to enliven Key Highway.

A 106-unit apartment building for limited-income residents is slated for Ellicott City, thanks to a complicated Howard County Council compromise on a touchy zoning bill. The Residences at Ellicott Gardens will be built on land zoned for office commercial on Route 108 near the Route 104 intersection. It is intended to meet the housing needs of single adults and couples, though some children could live there too, officials have said. Two resolutions approving the 4-acre county Housing Commission project won unanimous approval at Monday night's council meeting, as did a heavily amended zoning change to allow the project.

Exhibiting bipartisan cooperation in an election season, the Howard County Council has approved a package of four zoning reform bills designed to make it easier for citizens to participate in zoning cases. The primary bill would authorize the Zoning Board to suggest voluntary mediation in deciding on development plans for mixed-use or seniors projects -- not for decisions on whether a zoning change is legally justified. The others would require larger, two-sided signs placed on land where development is proposed, to make meetings about development more convenient to attend and to give the public at least two weeks to examine technical reports submitted to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board.

Howard County Council Democrats have submitted a package of four zoning bills they say will help residents participate more effectively in land-use changes and make Zoning Board cases less contentious through the use of voluntary mediation in some cases. But the package is getting a cool reception from some in an election year when development resentment is a major issue and two council members are vying for the county executive's job. "I believe that because it's an election year doesn't mean I should stop doing my job," said Councilman Ken Ulman, a west Columbia Democrat and a co-sponsor who is running for county executive.

Voting against the pleas of some residents and the county executive, the Harford County Council approved a series of rezoning requests last night - even though some members expressed concerns that the rezoning process has flaws that need fixing. Among the properties granted more intense zoning were two tracts totaling about 36 acres on Route 22 between Bel Air and Aberdeen, an area that County Executive David R. Craig has said will be a crucial pipeline that requires planning as thousands of new jobs and new residents flood the area after expansion at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Dozens of Pasadena residents implored the Anne Arundel County Council in testimony Monday night not to approve a zoning change that would keep a nearby wood recycling plant open. "We don't want our quality of life ruined," said Helen Warfield, a civic activist who lives near the plant. Backers of the A-A Recycling & Sand plant said the council had improperly targeted the business when it approved a zoning change in 1999 that would have forced owner William H. DeBaugh to relocate within three years.

Six years after trying to close a recycling center in Pasadena, the Anne Arundel County Council is poised to approve a zoning change that would put that plant into legal compliance. The change is included in the Pasadena-Lake Shore zoning maps, part of the county's most comprehensive zoning makeover in three decades. It would allow A-A Recycle & Sand, a natural wood waste recycling center, to legally operate in a residential area along Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, near Lake Waterford Park.

Leaders of Ellicott City's Bethel Korean Presbyterian Church tried to persuade their neighbors last night to support a zoning change that would allow a major expansion, but it was a hard sell for the more than 100 people who attended. The Rev. Walter Lee, who conducts Bethel's English-language services, said church officials were taken aback by the community's negative reaction to their request at a Jan. 25 County Council zoning hearing and are determined to regain their trust and forge new connections with the neighbors.

The Baltimore County Council approved sweeping changes last night in zoning classifications affecting thousands of acres, protecting streams that feed area reservoirs and further restricting development in the farmland and forests that surround sources of drinking water for much of the metropolitan area. The council also shifted significant acreage into a month-old zoning classification designed to allow small-scale landowners to develop a portion of their land while preventing large-scale development on big tracts set aside for conservation.

In a surprise move, Anne Arundel County Council members withdrew last night a controversial zoning amendment that would have given a Gambrills developer the right to build a commercial and residential "village" on Bestgate Road near Annapolis. Councilman Bill D. Burlison, an Odenton Democrat, announced about 8:45 p.m. that he was withdrawing the amendment after more than an hour of emotional public testimony, including comments from former Councilwoman Maureen Lamb. She reminded elected officials of a past policy decision not to allow commercial growth north of Bestgate Road, including the site of the proposed village.