Zoning Change

The board of directors of a Brooklyn Park drug treatment center has voted to proceed with its expansion plan but will be consulting from now on with neighbors who oppose it. Damascus House's board voted unanimously at its Tuesday meeting to move forward with its plan to expand. But it also supported mediation sessions with the community, a move board member Trisha Lightstein said will help soothe tensions. "We feel as if we are making progress, and we hope to make more progress," she said.

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 several months of debate, the Howard County Council agreed on a tax-relief measure for nonprofit swim clubs. The council voted Monday in favor of a bill sponsored by Councilwoman Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat, that allows pools to sell their development rights to builders to use elsewhere. Such transactions lower the pools' property taxes and also generate income. Several swim clubs approached the council last year for help, saying their pools faced mounting debt because of high property taxes, coupled with increased expenses.

A decision on whether to allow a large mixed-use project near the Dorsey MARC train station along Route 100 was postponed late Thursday night by the Howard County Planning Board. Oxford Square, which could have up to 1,400 apartments, 1 million square feet of commercial space, stores, and give the county a 5-acre school site, is different from two other train station proposals in the county, because it is across Route 100 from the station. The developers say they'll gain access to the train platforms via a 1749 easement that allows extension of an existing road along the railroad tracks from the station, under the highway bridges, directly into their property.

Carl Beall's family dates back to 1907 when his grandfather moved to Stevenson, a picturesque village with an historic church, a quiet village center and scenic hills where deer and cows graze among fields and farms.Mr. Beall wants to renovate two houses his family owns alongside the Stevenson Village Center so he can lease them to real estate brokers, accountants and attorneys.His reasoning is simple: While the community hasn't changed much since the 1900s, the real estate market has. There's a demand for office space in Stevenson, he says.

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.

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.

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.