Zoning Process

If the developers who want to tear down the vacant Bendix factory don't get the zoning change that would permit them to build a home-improvement store in the Loch Raven area, they have a Plan B in place. The project has already been approved for the planned unit development process, which eliminates some zoning and development regulations for projects deemed a benefit to the community. Some community leaders are becoming increasingly wary about planned unit developments - PUDs - being used as an alternative to the highly scrutinized comprehensive zoning map process, or CZMP, currently under way in Baltimore County.

Green Spring Station - a collection of boutiques, restaurants and offices near the northern end of the Jones Falls Expressway - commands some of the highest rent in Baltimore County. Visitors can shop for French linens at Paris-based Yves Delorme, try on mink at furrier Mano Swartz, and play squash at the Green Spring Racquet Club. Now, though, owner Foxleigh Enterprises says a County Council vote has stymied its plans for an addition and renovations, putting the Lutherville development at a competitive disadvantage.

The Wilde Lake Village Center is the prime guinea pig for change after the Howard County Council voted this week for a new zoning process to redevelop Columbia's aging village centers, but no one knows what the result will be. The planned town's oldest retail center stands half-empty now, since a small Giant supermarket closed three years ago followed by Produce Galore and several other tenants. But Kimco Realty, the center's owner along with five others, no longer has a firm idea for what to do with it. Kimco Vice President Geoffrey Glazer made it clear after Tuesday night's County Council vote that this time he will be coming to the residents for a discussion, not presenting them with a plan.

Stop! Don't sign it! A petition drive secretly sponsored by developers Howard Brown and David Cordish has been circulating for the last few weeks in an effort to quash all of the zoning changes in Council Districts 2 and 6 that were approved in August by the Baltimore County Council. This vote took place after an exhaustive one-year process of community input meetings, Planning Board recommendations and staff reviews called the Comprehensive Zoning Map Process (CZMP). Finally, it was signed into law by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

The Baltimore County Planning Board wants to make it easier to build apartments for the elderly, although some neighborhood leaders have warned that such moves will lead to congestion and blight.The board endorsed a special zoning process yesterday to build apartments and assisted living facilities for the elderly.Developers no longer would have to seek zoning changes to build the apartments in residential neighborhoods, according to zoning law revisions unanimously recommended by the board.

For Howard County residents who worry about waking in surprise to the sound of bulldozers where trees stood the day before, help may be on the way. After months of discussion, the County Council is asking a 12-member advisory committee to suggest ways of giving people more notice and information about proposed changes in their neighborhoods. "In my nine years' experience on the planning board, the thing that most upset the community are conditional uses [formerly called special exceptions]

Developers trying to build a 61,000-seat stadium and racetrack south of Key Bridge in Pasadena said yesterday that they might have to pack up and give up if the County Council passes a controversial bill next month that would send them back to the beginning of the zoning process."

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.

Zoning process should be more open The League of Women Voters of Howard County believes that democratic government depends upon the informed and active participation of its citizens and requires that governmental bodies protect the citizen's right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions and making public records accessible. We therefore request the County Council's consideration, examination and recommendations regarding public notification and participation in the County Comprehensive Zoning process.

Ellicott City business and property owners asked the Howard County Council last night to reject a proposed 12-unit apartment building for low-income senior citizens in the city's historic district, voicing concern that the project could disrupt the decor of the district and hurt local businesses.Columbia developer D. A. McDaniels Inc. has asked the council to amend county zoning regulations to allow the construction of the apartment building, known as the Tiber-Hudson project.Usually, a developer would have to go through the county's zoning process and seek a special exception if a project does not meet zoning regulations.

Yes, I think its time for the Baltimore County Council to make some changes in the zoning process, but in more ways than one. ("Balto. Co. Zoning Changes Sept. 10," Sept. 4). It has been suggested that its present archaic process be changed in the future. In most counties, zoning is done after the county revises its master plan. In Baltimore County, the master plan is reviewed every decade while zoning maps are reviewed every four years. They should be much more closely aligned. Another improvement would be to keep community associations from "blanketing" requests for down- zoning of over 1,000 acres of land.

For the first time in more than a decade, Baltimore County's land use and zoning policies seem to be under serious scrutiny. The decisions of the County Council over the coming weeks - and how the community responds to those decisions - could result in significant changes in Baltimore County's comprehensive zoning process and even reshape the balance of power among Baltimore County's elected officials. As a former state delegate and former member of the Baltimore County Planning Board, I know that when communities feel shut out of the political process, their blocked energy needs to be expended in other ways, frequently with negative results for incumbent politicians.

Crafting plans to remake the ailing Wilde Lake Village Center and winning approval for them will "take every bit of two years" before any actual work can begin, according to Geoffrey Glazer, vice president of Kimco Realty, the center's owner. In the meantime, he said, the still-developing overhaul of Columbia's nearby Town Center area into an urbanized downtown is making it virtually impossible to attract new merchants to the town's oldest — and now partially empty — village center, roughly a mile away.

The Wilde Lake Village Center is the prime guinea pig for change after the Howard County Council voted this week for a new zoning process to redevelop Columbia's aging village centers, but no one knows what the result will be. The planned town's oldest retail center stands half-empty now, since a small Giant supermarket closed three years ago followed by Produce Galore and several other tenants. But Kimco Realty, the center's owner along with five others, no longer has a firm idea for what to do with it. Kimco Vice President Geoffrey Glazer made it clear after Tuesday night's County Council vote that this time he will be coming to the residents for a discussion, not presenting them with a plan.

If the developers who want to tear down the vacant Bendix factory don't get the zoning change that would permit them to build a home-improvement store in the Loch Raven area, they have a Plan B in place. The project has already been approved for the planned unit development process, which eliminates some zoning and development regulations for projects deemed a benefit to the community. Some community leaders are becoming increasingly wary about planned unit developments - PUDs - being used as an alternative to the highly scrutinized comprehensive zoning map process, or CZMP, currently under way in Baltimore County.

Man sought in robbery of armored-car guard County police are searching for Jerome Willis in the robbery of an armored-car guard who was making a delivery in front of Wachovia Bank in the 6800 block of Belair Road on Sept. 26. A warrant has been issued for Willis, 23, whose last known address was in the 2800 block of Pelham Ave. He is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with a medium build and black hair, police said. Police said a man was waiting in a car for Joseph Dukes Jr., who is accused of assaulting the guard and taking the money.

Man sought in robbery of armored-car guard County police are searching for Jerome Willis in the robbery of an armored-car guard who was making a delivery in front of Wachovia Bank in the 6800 block of Belair Road on Sept. 26. A warrant has been issued for Willis, 23, whose last known address was in the 2800 block of Pelham Ave. He is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with a medium build and black hair, police said. Police said a man was waiting in a car for Joseph Dukes Jr., who is accused of assaulting the guard and taking the money.

Major political consequences are being predicted after a decision Thursday by Howard County's Board of Elections not to challenge a court ruling striking down a referendum item on the Comp Lite omnibus zoning measure, meaning the issue likely will not appear on November's ballot. Board Chairman Guy Harriman said his board decided not to ask the Court of Appeals for a ruling because "this is really a matter for the legislature. Should zoning issues be subject to a referendum?" is a question either the County Council or the state legislature should answer, he said.