Zoning Process

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."

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.

Peace Means Taking RisksI am writing to voice my opinion on the public's perception of Clinton's foreign policy decisions thus far in his presidency. To me it seems that our post-Cold War peace drive is conflicting with our fears of a second Vietnam.Americans naturally want to bring peace and democracy to every part of the globe, but not if it means that American soldiers have to die. We have yet to realize that changing entire governmental systems takes commitment, and often lives.Since we have been elected to be the world's police force, conflicts within Bosnia, Somalia, Israel and Haiti have been suddenly exploited by the American press.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Traffic assumptions the Washington Redskins made in their quest for permission to build a stadium in Laurel are "highly optimistic," Prince George's County Executive Parris N. Glendening said yesterday.Mr. Glendening criticized in written comments to Anne Arundel County zoning officials the team's assumption that each private vehicle traveling to games would contain an average of 3.5 occupants. He also said the team underestimated the cost of necessary infrastructure improvements.In their request for a zoning exception, Redskins officials promised to ease traffic problems on roads into the stadium by encouraging fans to car pool or ride buses or trains to the games.