Zoning Code

There was consensus among County Council members last week that Harford's rural landscape is threatened, that its schools are crowded and that current policies have failed. How that would translate into votes on a bill tightening the link between elementary school capacity and new development, however, was tough to predict. The bill revised the county's adequate public facilities ordinance, bringing the county's criteria for determining school capacity in line with the state standard.

Sixteen months after his attempt to slow a planned residential community in Dayton failed, Howard County Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray is trying again.The east Columbia Democrat has drafted a zoning amendment that would prohibit Glenwood farmer Charles Sharp from building some of the 95 houses he has proposed on 237 acres of farmland on Triadelphia Road. Gray said the amendment would affect development of about 35 one-acre lots within 2,500 feet of the Triadelphia Reservoir.Gray, who in September 1997 proposed an amendment that would have reduced the number of houses Sharp could build, said he wants to protect the ground water in wells and the reservoir from the destructive effects of the development, known as Big Branch Overlook.

Harry Millstein knows his flowers.The owner of Greta's Gardens in Elkridge knows that cauliflower and broccoli seeds planted in the fall can withstand Maryland winters. He knows that pansies thrive during the spring and fall and must be kept in the shade during the summer.Millstein also knows that marigolds and petunias need sunlight and that if he moves them to a covered porch in front of his nursery as Howard County zoning officials have ordered him to do, the annuals -- and his business -- will perish.

County Executive Janet S. Owens has offered to create a task force to study noise restrictions in West County to help thousands of residents living in developments surrounded by industrial and commercial activities, and to help the County Council move forward on updating the county's commercial zoning code.The task force would create a county noise ordinance or other legislation separate from the commercial zoning code, and would decide who should enforce the law. In exchange, the County Council would likely delete any reference to noise restrictions in the zoning bill, according to chairman Daniel E. Klosterman Jr.County administrators, testifying before the County Council Monday night, offered Owens' proposal for forming the task force next month, with orders to report back to the council by the end of April.

County Executive Janet S. Owens has offered to create a task force to study noise restrictions in West County to help thousands of residents living in developments surrounded by industrial and commercial activities, and to help the County Council move forward on updating the county's commercial zoning code.The task force would create a county noise ordinance or other legislation separate from the commercial zoning code, and would decide who should enforce the law. In exchange, the County Council likely would delete any reference to noise restrictions in the zoning bill, according to chairman Daniel E. Klosterman Jr.County administrators, testifying before the County Council Monday night, offered Owens' proposal for forming the task force next month.

The Anne Arundel County Council continued the extensive task of revamping the county's commercial zoning code last night in an effort to meet a mid-February deadline.More than 40 amendments to a bill that would change the code were introduced last night. Council members hesitated to say the work would be done in time.If the revamped code is not approved by the deadline, the council would have to introduce a new bill and start over. The bill before the council has been two years in the making.

BEYOND PETTY DETAILS of the feud between Rite Aid Corp. Chairman Martin L. Grass and his Green Spring Valley neighbors over his helicopter lie these questions: Where should helicopter takeoffs and landings be allowed? How can Baltimore County meet the needs of executives who commute by copter?Regarding the feud, neighbors contend that Mr. Grass' helicopter is upsetting their lives. But like the judge who denied a request to ground the copter until county authorities resolve the dispute, we're skeptical that the situation is so atrocious, considering the noise exists for only a few minutes twice a day.Nonetheless, neighbors appear to have the law on their side.

BY PASSING THE General Development Plan, the Anne Arundel County Council has begun -- not ended -- a process of developing a new land-use blueprint for the county's future.The GDP, passed unanimously, is a broad outline of where development should take place. Work now begins on drawing up the detailed rules that govern new development and specifying how these subdivisions will mesh with existing communities.Residential zoning governs most land use in largely suburban Anne Arundel. Eighty percent of the county's 261,251 acres (leaving out the city of Annapolis, which has its own rules)

About 20 Pasadena residents said they will protest a County (( Council proposal to allow the operation of natural wood-waste recycling facilities in commercial-highway and light and heavy industrial zones.The Selby Grove residents said they oppose any legislation that would allow A-A Recycle and Sand Inc. in the 8200 block of Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. to grind wood stumps and tree limbs into mulch in the commercial area that abuts their neighborhood. Since 1990, the plant has been crushing concrete and asphalt, but residents began complaining when the plant started grinding stumps and tree limbs last summer.

To preserve the aesthetics of their town's business district, Hampstead officials have ordered about a dozen merchants to take down or alter illegal signs.The town's zoning code specifies the size, placement and content of all signs and requires owners to obtain zoning certificates for business and outdoor advertising."Essentially, most temporary signs and banners violate the town's zoning laws and must be removed within five days of our notifying the business owner of a violation, said Neil Ridgely, Hampstead's town manager.

Light breezes and low elevations make Baltimore County uninviting territory for big wind farms, but the terrain could be more promising for residents hoping to trim electric bills and their "carbon footprint" with a home turbine. The outlook could hinge on deliberations going on now, as the county revises the zoning code to cover such projects. Meanwhile, one homeowner's plan for the county's first electricity-generating wind turbine remains on hold as neighbors who say they support alternative energy have lined up against it. "We know this is coming," said Barry Antonelli, who has permission to put up a 120-foot turbine on his 97-acre farm in the Phoenix area, but is awaiting resolution of his neighbors' appeal, which in turn depends on how the new regulations take shape.

It's time to put up a fight. Baltimore is right to defend its existing zoning code against a Department of Justice lawsuit concerning the placement of group homes in residential neighborhoods. The suit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court, seeks an unspecified amount of money for three organizations and seeks to compel the city to allow residential treatment facilities housing up to eight addicts in any neighborhood. It would invalidate sections of the city zoning code that require City Council approval for the placement of such facilities.

The U.S. Justice Department, making good on a long-standing threat, announced Friday that it had filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging that Baltimore's zoning code discriminates against those seeking drug treatment. The suit attacks a part of the city code requiring applicants for drug-treatment group homes to obtain conditional zoning ordinances from the City Council, a constraint that gives the legislative branch of city government veto authority over those facilities. Other types of disabled housing do not require council approval.

The Annapolis Board of Appeals has upheld a Department of Planning and Zoning decision to allow a homeless shelter to be built on Hudson Street, despite contention from a local businessman who said the shelter does not conform to the city zoning code at the proposed building site. Michael Roblyer, who has a law firm on Willow Street near the proposed shelter site, filed an appeal in February that the Light House Homeless Prevention Support Center, which is scheduled to start construction this summer at 10 Hudson St., could not be built in a BCE, or business corridor enhancement, zone because of the way certain terms are defined in the city code.

Zoning rules permit PUD for care center A recent letter regarding the Keswick Multi-Care Center's proposal for the Baltimore Country Club property misrepresents the zoning aspects of the proposal ("Roland Park proposal imperils zoning code," Jan. 5). Keswick's plan for its continuing-care community would require the City Council to approve a planned unit development (PUD) ordinance for the property but would not require the area's existing R-1 zoning to be changed. The R-1 zoning category was not designed as an exclusive single-family enclave but, in fact, expressly permits such nonresidential uses as schools, museums, community recreation centers and religious institutions.

Roland Park proposal imperils zoning code There have been several thoughtful letters to The Baltimore Sun about the Keswick Multi-Care Center's proposed development for the open space along Falls Road owned by the Baltimore Country Club ("Readers speak out on Roland Park assisted-living facility," letters Dec. 23). But the point that cannot be overemphasized, and that makes this issue a concern for the entire city, is that this controversy is really about whether our city government will honor its moral and legal obligation to neighborhoods all over Baltimore by honoring the land's existing zoning designation.

After two years of work, the Harford County Council unanimously approved last night an overhaul of its decades-old zoning code. The council approved the revisions by a 7-0 vote; there was little discussion. The nearly 800-page code, which included 159 amendments, was revised to help the county get a handle on rapid development, including the growth expected as a result of the military base realignment and closure process. "It allows us to plan and control development and growth," said Harford County Executive David R. Craig, who attended the meeting to sign the code afterward.

A heavily amended zoning code appears likely to win the Harford County Council's approval Tuesday when it is scheduled for a vote. The seven-member panel added 136 amendments to the 800-page draft that was nearly two years in the writing and the subject of numerous workshops and public hearings. It was early Wednesday before the council had voted on all the changes. "The code is likely to pass because all of us understand the need to move forward on the issues," said Council President Billy Boniface.

Duncan moves from UM to private sector Douglas M. Duncan, the former Montgomery County executive, resigned yesterday from his vice president's job at the University of Maryland to take a job with a private start-up company, the university said. Duncan had served as vice president for administrative affairs for the past 17 months, at an annual salary of $255,000. Duncan will join CivicUS, a new firm that advises local governments on executive management, as a senior vice president. The university said the resignation, effective Nov. 7, is not related to a recent dust-up in which Duncan had said he was forced to back out of a political forum at the direction of Gov. Martin O'Malley's office.

The Harford County Council's public hearing Tuesday on the new zoning code promises to be crowded, contentious and long enough to be continued to next week. Community groups and residents have familiarized themselves with the 800-page draft and plan to raise their concerns at the hearing. "There are a lot of important issues that need to be addressed and the hearing before the council is our way of doing that," said Morita Bruce, a Fallston resident and member of Friends of Harford, a group that monitors growth issues.