Zoning Regulations

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

The dancing days are over at Milan . The Little Italy establishment is now prohibited from allowing or providing live entertainment, including disc jockeys, on its premises. The May 31 decision was made in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City in what amounted to a default hearing. No one representing Milan showed up. Milan's opponents have long claimed that the establishment was a nightclub masquerading as a restaurant, and they have repeatedly pressed the Baltimore City Liquor License Board to take action.

Robin Morrison grabs the leashes from a hook in the shed. She calls out to Nanny and Samuel, who are lounging in the shade on the back porch: "Come on, you two. It's time for a walk." At first glance, Morrison might look like a typical pet owner taking a dog for a stroll through her Baltimore County neighborhood. But passing motorists sometimes stop, she says, when they realize she's leading a pair of goats down the suburban street. "I know, I know, my daughter said the same thing: `Mom?

Harbin Farms employees recently began stacking large pumpkins on display, in addition to their second most popular seasonal items — mums and a wide variety of apples. Kimberly Taylor, who runs the produce stand with her husband, Michael, and her uncle, had worried that a year and a half dispute over zoning might have prevented the fall display from going up. The stand has been at Route 99 and Old Mill Road in Ellicott City since 1958, when it was part of a larger family farm.

County Councilwoman Shane Pendergrass has urged her fellow council member and Zoning Board chairman to respond to the public outcry over proposed mixed-use zoning by sending the plan back where it came from.Ms. Pendergrass, a 1st District Democrat, is the second council member calling for the mixed-use zoning regulations to be sent back to the county planning department for further study.The county administration's eastern comprehensive rezoning plan, which is modeled after the 1990 General Plan, creates four major mixed-use centers in Fulton, North Laurel, Jessup and southern Ellicott City.

Cookie-cutter subdivisions soon may be history in Anne Arundel County.County officials are considering whether to loosen zoning regulations that dictate the spacing, height and parking requirements for new homes in an effort to encourage more eclectic, diverse and traditional-looking neighborhoods.The county's Planning and Code Enforcement Department will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday at Anne Arundel Community College to ask the public's opinion about possible revisions to the county's strict building requirements.

Town officials and neighboring property owners protested, but it took Carroll County zoning regulations to scuttle plans to bring an explosives company to Sykesville.Explosive Experts Inc. of Baltimore County had eyed a 13-acre industrial site on Raincliffe Road for a storage and distribution center, closer to its Western Maryland customers. But, proximity to a prison terminated the negotiations."They cannot be within 800 feet of an institution for human care," said George L. Beisser, county chief of zoning enforcement.

The dancing days are over at Milan . The Little Italy establishment is now prohibited from allowing or providing live entertainment, including disc jockeys, on its premises. The May 31 decision was made in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City in what amounted to a default hearing. No one representing Milan showed up. Milan's opponents have long claimed that the establishment was a nightclub masquerading as a restaurant, and they have repeatedly pressed the Baltimore City Liquor License Board to take action.

Hampstead has turned to the University of Maryland Governmental Services Institute to help revise zoning regulations for industrial land -- rules the Town Council and planning commission say are vital to economic development in a town where residential growth is nearly complete."

A lawyer representing an adult entertainment store in Elkridge argued yesterday in Howard County Circuit Court that his client's business was actually a theater and permitted under zoning regulations.Yesterday's arguments were the latest in a long legal battle over the future of Adult Video & Books, owned by Nathaniel Lightfoot, on U.S. 1.Lawyer Howard J. Schulman told Judge James B. Dudley that the store was a theater -- a use permitted in manufacturing zones like the one where the store is located -- because it has several viewing booths that show adult movies for a price.

Councilman Tom Quirk is right to take a go-slow approach on the Central Maryland Y proposal to build a comprehensive medical services facility on the grounds of the Rolling Road Catonsville Y campus. Councilman Quirk wants to consider community suggestions and concerns to produce the best outcome for the Catonsville Y and the larger community. While he says he endorses the proposed 60,000-square foot St. Agnes Medical Center facility, he thinks it is a better fit in the established Frederick Road business corridor, where there are complementary business amenities and supports to meet the parking and traffic requirements of the facility.

It's been 13 years since the failure of the last real effort to convert Columbia into an incorporated municipality, but some feel the current suggestion that the town's homeowners association seek power over zoning is tied to that old debate. "If they can get control of zoning, they'll also be asking for incorporation," said Pearl Atkinson Stewart, the Columbia Association board member with the longest tenure and institutional memory. "I can't see it going anywhere." In fact, deputy county solicitor Paul Johnson said that based on his experience, he feels incorporation would be the only way for the town's residents to get zoning authority, an opinion shared by the Maryland attorney general's office, said spokeswoman Raquel Guillory.

A group hoping to block construction of a used car lot near Lisbon is trying to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. The site in Daisy has been zoned commercial for more than 50 years, and other vehicle-related businesses operate there. But more than 200 residents met to protest when they learned about plans for a 3,850-square-foot building and 155-vehicle lot on 4.2 acres at Daisy and Union Chapel roads. County officials have said they can't stop the legal use of a property owner's land.

Howard's state legislators and the Ulman administration are backing a General Assembly bill that would require people who apply for changes in county zoning laws to disclose political donations to county elected officials. It's a late addition to the list of local legislation for the 90-day session that starts this month. But the county delegation of state legislators won't vote on it until after their next public hearing Feb. 4. "It makes sense. You can't go wrong with full disclosure," said state Sen. James N. Robey, chairman of the Senate delegation.

The Belvedere in historic Mount Vernon boasts a 40-foot-long mahogany bar where the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, the Duke of Windsor and Clark Gable sidled up for a drink. The Suite Ultralounge Nightclub is in the basement of the Belvedere and boasts being "the only upscale venue in Baltimore where you can bring your own bottle of top shelf." Its Web site promo wants you to "swagger like us" and "come get your party on." One does not seem to go with the other. Early Saturday, loud music gave way to gunfire on East Chase Street in front of the Belvedere, leaving two people wounded by bullets, a third person stabbed and a bartender using a towel to try and stop the flow of blood.

The Howard County government released yesterday what it hopes will be the framework for the next 30 years of development in Columbia's Town Center. Two years in the making, the report, "Downtown Columbia: A Community Vision," is intended to provide General Growth Properties, the Chicago-based company that controls much of Columbia's downtown real estate, with guidance in creating its development program. "We know we're going to have a lot of discussion about the details," said County Executive Ken Ulman.

25 years agoDisputing state figures that the average welfare family in Maryland received more than $5,000 a year, Anne Arundel County says a family of four received $2,400 in cash and $624 in food stamps. -- The Sun, Oct. 9, 1971.Harbor Associates, Inc. is seeking a change in zoning regulations to build a 3,500-unit community between South River and Broad Creek, south of U.S. 50. The homes will be in the high-cost range, between $30,000 and $60,000. -- The Sun, Oct. 29, 1971.Pub Date: 11/03/96

Planning panel faces business decisionThe county Planning Board yesterday couldn't decide whether to recommend approval of a wood and lawn products business in Mount Airy.Two planning board members favored confirming a "non-conforming use" that would allow Kennety Clements to continue to operate a business on Ridge Road that sells cross ties, logs, pallets, saw dust, mulch, fencing, utility buildings, utility poles, panels, trees and lawn furniture.Designating the site as non-conforming would acknowledge that the business has been operating since 1962, before zoning regulations prohibiting it were created.

Nanny and Samuel will have to move. Baltimore County Zoning Commissioner William J. Wiseman III denied yesterday permission for the pygmy goats to continuing living in a backyard in Essex. Robin and Kenneth Morrison, who kept the pair of goats as family pets, had sought an exception to zoning regulations that require property owners to have three acres for livestock. The couple's fenced backyard is about a tenth of an acre. "I know you love these animals," Wiseman said during the hearing yesterday.

Robin Morrison grabs the leashes from a hook in the shed. She calls out to Nanny and Samuel, who are lounging in the shade on the back porch: "Come on, you two. It's time for a walk." At first glance, Morrison might look like a typical pet owner taking a dog for a stroll through her Baltimore County neighborhood. But passing motorists sometimes stop, she says, when they realize she's leading a pair of goats down the suburban street. "I know, I know, my daughter said the same thing: `Mom?