Zoning Regulations

A pair of proposals for a downtown Columbia project spawned a debate about retroactive laws, among other issues. The presumption against retroactive laws, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer observed, "embodies a legal doctrine centuries older than our Republic." Even children, he wrote in 2002, "understand this concept - they know, as we all instinctively did, that it isn't fair to change the rules in the middle of a game." That doctrine, though, is being challenged in Howard County by proposals aimed at the plan for a multimillion-dollar residential and retail tower in Columbia.

A Baltimore County judge heard Round 3 yesterday in a legal battle that revolves around whether a kitchen addition planned for a Rodgers Forge rowhouse would be built in its side or backyard. To resolve the dispute, Judge Ruth A. Jakubowski must answer the seemingly simple question of which side of Brigid and Dave Wilder's brick Colonial revival house is its front. "It's all about setbacks and location, location, location," the judge said at the start of yesterday's hearing, telling both sides that she has reviewed everything in the thick court file, including photographs and architectural drawings, lawyers' briefs and transcripts of hearings.

Ann Mech and Randy Nixon have many similarities. They are devoted to the land, widely respected, selfless, thoughtful and abstain from extreme positions. But the controversy over efforts to preserve farmland by imposing tighter restrictions on development in Western Howard County has created a chasm between the two. Mech sees those efforts as necessary tinkering, while Nixon views them as a challenge to sovereignty and property rights. The gap between them, though, is an emblem of the fissure on the citizens committee attempting to fashion a delicate compromise to foster conservation without financially harming large property owners and the homebuilding industry.

New zoning won't have desired effect According to the legislative intent adopted by the Zoning Board, one of the primary purposes of zoning regulations is to protect and preserve the value of land. As I sat in the meeting on August 2 at Glenelg High School and listened to the Department of Planning and Zoning's new proposed zoning regulations, I did not get the impression that these regulations, if adopted, are going to have the desired effect of either protecting or preserving the value of land in Western Howard County.

Residents rallying against the plans of a southwest Baltimore County trucking company to expand closer to their small Lansdowne neighborhood will take their concerns about noise and pollution to a county board today. New England Motor Freight Co. plans to renovate and expand its terminal to accommodate 300 trucks - up from about 70 - and increase the number of trailers parked on the site from 131 to 260. The company's plan was approved by a zoning commissioner in September, who granted New England Motor Freight a special exception to rules that require trucking companies to be set back 300 feet from residences.

The Howard County Council has dropped plans to create a citizens committee to review Columbia's zoning, opting instead to study the issue itself. Acting as the Zoning Board, the council pledged to do an in-depth analysis of Columbia's New Town zoning regulations, which were drafted in the 1960s, after unanimously rejecting the Rouse Co.'s petition to build more residential units in Columbia early this year. Initially, the board said the review would be headed by citizens and completed within months, but now members say it will take much longer.

Baltimore County's zoning commissioner ruled yesterday that Loyola College can proceed with plans to build a spiritual retreat center on 53 acres of forest and farmland in northern Baltimore County, despite the objections of some neighbors who worry the facility will ruin the rural character of their community. In granting the Baltimore college's request for an exception to build on land zoned for agricultural use, Commissioner Lawrence E. Schmidt determined that the retreat center would be similar to a camp, a land use allowed as a "special exception" under the county's zoning regulations.

On a unanimous vote, the Howard County Zoning Board rejected last night a Rouse Co. proposal to add a significant number of residences in Columbia's downtown. The board said it wanted to study and possibly modify Columbia's New Town zoning regulations before allowing a major change to the planned community's urban center. Board Chairman Ken Ulman said the county will appoint a citizens committee to do an in-depth analysis of Columbia's zoning regulations, which were drafted in the 1960s, and the development company was welcome to submit another petition if the zoning regulations are revised.

What seemed a victory for a Scaggsville family whose neighborhood snowball stand has been embroiled in controversy may be nullified by proposed changes to zoning regulations that could be approved within weeks. One week before Mike and Marian Frentz were to appeal the county's decision to revoke the license the family held for 11 years, the county reinstated the license and dismissed the charges it had levied. But county officials are using the issues surrounding the snowball stand built in the family's garage to guide regulations proposed to the comprehensive rezoning plan that is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.