Zoning Hearing

The county Zoning Board will hear a 10th night of testimony May 14 on a rezoning petition that would allow Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to build two warehouse-sized stores in Ellicott City.Opposition attorneys plan to present a real estate expert as their final witness in what is believed to be the longest zoning hearing in county history.MA The nation's largest retailer is planning to build a 119,500-square-foot Wal-Mart department store and a 135,500-square-foot Sam's Club wholesale buying store on 54 acres near U.S. 29 and U.S. 40.Residents of neighboring Ellicott Meadows town houses fear the development would bring noise, trash, bright lights and crime to their homes.

R ecently there has been outrage over the revelation that the pensions for retiring members of the Baltimore County Council, after serving in office for 20 years, are $54,000 per year, for life. Outrageous as this may be, when it comes to what is wrong with Baltimore County government, it is just the tip of the iceberg. There is great excitement over the possibility that several Baltimore County Council seats may be changing hands in this year's election. Thinking beyond the pensions issue, it is important now to frame the top issues of governance that citizens should be focused on before next year's elections.

A chief opponent of a church agency's proposal to build a foster care complex in Fallston for abused young children has testified that hefears visiting parents could become violent, posing a danger to arearesidents."

The Anne Arundel County Council will not vote on zoning bills that would allow slots into the county until at least December, further delaying and potentially derailing an already stalled bid to open what would be the state's most lucrative gambling parlor. Council members introduced two competing bills Monday night - one to permit a slots parlor at Arundel Mills mall and another shifting the location to an industrial area in the western part of the county - but by law cannot vote on either measure until after a public hearing scheduled for Dec. 7. The decision sets up a clash among the various parties involved in bringing slots to Arundel.

Eldersburg residents overwhelmingly opposed a proposed $30 million shopping center and theater complex on Route 32 during the fourth day of a zoning hearing yesterday.After listening to comments all day, the Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals scheduled a fifth hearing on the Promenade at Eldersburg. The hearing will continue to 9: 30 a.m. April 20 in Room 300A of the County Office Building.The board hopes to announce its decision at that time.Opponents outnumbered supporters by about 4-to-1 yesterday.

Eldersburg residents concerned about noise and light pollution from a proposed drive-in theater plan to express their concerns tomorrow at a public hearing before the Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals. Residents have invited a noise-control specialist from the Maryland Department of the Environment to bolster their arguments when the zoning appeals board resumes a hearing that began last month. "We will be on hand to answer questions of a technical nature and offer opinions as to noise levels," said George Harman, an MDE noise program specialist.

Tomorrow Zoning hearing examiners -- Public hearing, 6:30 p.m., County Council chambers, 212 S. Bond St., Bel Air. 410-638-3349. Case 5486 (Bruce and Mary Hegstad, Harford Lutheran School, 701 Whitaker Mill Road, Fallston). harfordcountymd.gov/council/zoning.cfm. Wednesday Zoning hearing examiners -- Public hearing, 6:30 p.m., County Council chambers, 212 S. Bond St., Bel Air. 410-638-3349. Cases 5514 (Brad and Sherri Hutchens, 2203 Furnace Road, Fallston); and 5517 (Barry and Jennifer Jordan, 409 Wilgis Road, Fallston)

Thirteen Frizzellburg residents are challenging a Carroll Board of Zoning Appeals decision to allow a Cellular One communications tower in the 1400 block of Richardson Road.The residents filed an appeal in Carroll Circuit Court on Friday.At a zoning hearing in July, some residents testified that the tower might cause health problems and would be an "eyesore" that could lower property values.The zoning appeals board voted 2-1 to give Cellular One permission to build a 250-foot tower on the Robert E. and Audrey J. Warner farm at 1418 Richardson Road.

TODAY Landfill meeting -- Eastern Sanitary Landfill will hold its bimonthly meeting at 10 a.m. at 6257 Days Cove Road, White Marsh, to discuss operations. 410-887-3188. County Council -- The County Council will meet for a work session at 2 p.m. on the second floor at the County Court House, 400 Washington Ave., Towson. 410-887-3196. School board -- The county Board of Education will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the Education Support Services Building, Room 114, 6901 Charles St., Towson. The Building and Contracts Committee will meet at 3 p.m., followed by an open board session at 5:15 p.m. to discuss school board association events.

A lawyer for a Pikesville methadone clinic told a federal jury yesterday that Baltimore County officials were motivated by stereotypes of drug addicts and had bowed to pressure from residents when they created a zoning law to keep drug treatment facilities away from neighborhoods. "This is a discrimination case," Steve Barber, a lawyer for A Helping Hand methadone clinic, said during opening statements in what is expected to be a three- to four-week trial. Jeffrey G. Cook, a lawyer for the county, told jurors yesterday that the 2002 change in the zoning law wasn't a biased attempt by legislators to block drug treatment, but rather "democracy at work."