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."

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."

Feel free to talk to your Howard County Council member about anything -- anything except rezoning cases. Then the county's elected representatives put on their Zoning Board hats, and in that quasi-judicial atmosphere they are forbidden to listen to anyone outside of public hearings. It is a distinction that has long frustrated some residents. But now people are free to lobby to their hearts' content as local leaders decide how to comprehensively rezone the county, setting development patterns for years to come.

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]

The City Council is seriously considering amending a zoning bill that could affect the private Calvert School's plans to demolish an adjacent North Baltimore apartment complex and replace it with two large playing fields and a middle school. Sheila Dixon, council president, said yesterday that there is support for the bill as proposed, which would require a public review process when a primary or secondary school plans to raze a residential building of 50 or more units. But, Dixon said, she and others believe the bill would be strengthened by changing the language and bringing it to the floor for a vote March 19. The main change, Dixon and 1st District Councilwoman Lois Garey said, would be to focus on land disturbed rather than dwellings destroyed.

Zoning counsel would strengthen citizens' role An issue will soon come before the Howard County Council which gets to the heart of citizen representation and participation in government. That issue is the creation of an Office of Zoning Counsel (also referred to as People's Counsel). Any citizen who has testified at a public hearing, especially quasi-judicial hearings such as the zoning board, knows the frustration felt when going up against special interests with much more time, money and political influence at their disposal.

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.