Zoning Process

Maybe you fear that grove of trees behind your house will sprout condominiums. Or the nearby vacant field will be paved over. Or perhaps you want to cash in one day on your land, selling it for a subdivision.The future of every parcel in Baltimore County will be determined in the coming months as the county begins its comprehensive zoning process -- a yearlong exercise in lobbying and deliberation that will end with each of the seven councilmen deciding the fate of land in his district."From the citizens' standpoint, the comprehensive rezoning is critical," said J. Carroll Holzer, a lawyer who has represented many community groups in their land battles.

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."

Two major Baltimore County manufacturers are seeking zoning changes to allow stores on large tracts near their plants in Owings Mills and Hunt Valley -- requests that could bring more congestion to two of the county's busiest roads.Sweetheart Cup Co., one of the nation's largest makers of disposable plastic and paper products, has asked the county to rezone 75 acres along Reisterstown Road that is used for industrial and warehouse purposes.In addition, Noxell Corp., a Procter & Gamble Co. division that makes cosmetics and fragrances, wants to rezone and sell 25 acres of vacant property off York Road.

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.

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.

All of the many changes to the Howard County charter that the County Council began considering this week involve fairly innocuous items such as procedural shifts and clarifications. Yet it is what's not being discussed that is most startling.Of the 34 proposed changes being reviewed by the council, only one deals in any way with the issue of growth or zoning in the county. When the council met to discuss which proposals it might put on the next ballot, zoning was never mentioned. That, of course, was the topic of the last election, when there was considerable discussion about the merits of the county's current system of establishing zoning policy.

County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann and zoning officials are looking for a few good citizens to join seven new community planning councils that are forming this month.Members of the councils -- all volunteers -- will represent the needs, concerns and interests of their individual communities in the planning and zoning process, particularly as Harford County begins to revise its 1988 master land-use plan and implement comprehensive rezoning later this year.Last year, Mrs. Rehrmann chose three communities to form "pilot" councils.

How fast and how much the county should be developed was the question that divided Republican County Executive Charles I. Ecker and his challenger, Democrat Susan Gray, in a televised candidates forum yesterday at Howard Community College.Ms. Gray, an activist attorney who has made a name for herself in various development and highway battles, accused the incumbent of running an administration that has encouraged rampant growth while misleading the public about its cost.Mr. Ecker charged that if his opponent were to be elected, business would take flight, leaving county homeowners with a larger share of the county's bills to pay.Each candidate said the other would have to raise taxes.

When Susan Gray took the stage at county Democratic Party headquarters Tuesday night to concede her crushing defeat by Republican County Executive Charles I. Ecker, she broke into laughter."

Incumbent Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker trounced Democratic challenger Susan B. Gray in yesterday's election, but a major change in county zoning procedures that she promoted was approved overwhelmingly.Republicans also took three of five seats in County Council, giving the GOP control of both the executive's office and the council for the first time in county history.Mr. Ecker -- only the second county executive ever to win re-election in Howard -- thanked Democrats for crossing party lines in droves to vote for him. He ran a well-financed campaign on the theme of measured growth, a campaign heavily backed by area developers.

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.

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.

Some ideas seem snakebitten from the outset. One of them is a proposal to develop commercially a modest parcel along Route 100. The bid has suffered more setbacks than efforts to achieve peace in Iraq. It was impeded further when the Planning Board gave a resounding thumbs-down to a petition to rezone the property, which is necessary for the plan to proceed. David A. Carney, an attorney representing the estate of Carroll and Ruth Braun, will take the case to the Zoning Board. If he loses again, he probably will appeal.

Tired of the claims about cutting taxes I've read in these pages for a couple of weeks now, Howard County Republicans complain about the fact that the Democrats are now looking for ways to cut taxes. Frankly, I'm tired of it, and it's time to put some of this stuff to rest. It is claimed that if Democrats had been serious about cutting taxes, they should have passed Gail Bates' "Aging in Place" bill. Unfortunately, Ms. Bates' bill wasn't about true "aging in place." What it said was, "If you are a Howard County homeowner, and you are a certain age, you get a property tax cut."

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.

Preparing to study Columbia's New Town zoning regulations, the Howard County Council listened last night to residents' opinions on what shape development of the planned community should take. The council is studying Columbia's New Town zoning after, acting as the county Zoning Board, unanimously denying a Rouse Co. petition to increase Columbia's residential density in an attempt to urbanize the community's downtown. Chairman Guy Guzzone told an audience of more than 50 people that the council wants to learn more about the zoning process that was created in the 1960s for Columbia and examine "how it has worked and how it can work in the future."

Back growth controls at Tuesday hearing As Carroll County citizens, whether we are aware or not, we sit on the verge of some monumental changes in the way our county will manage growth in the future. After many years of inadequate control and irresponsible leadership, we elected a new board of commissioners in 2002. These new commissioners pledged to listen to citizens, open our government beyond the influence of builders and developers and, finally, put a system in place to begin controlling growth rather than being controlled by it. The commissioners, through the residential building deferral action, have supported recommended changes in the planning and zoning process meant to fix the county's broken Concurrency Management Ordinance.

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]