Judge backs zoning shift
She rules board made no `error of law' on Key property; Foes fear
more traffic; Funds being sought to continue fighting Rouse
development
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By Alice Lukens
Sun Staff
A major Columbia-style development in
Howard County moved a step closer to
reality yesterday.
Circuit Court Judge Diane O. Leasure
ruled that the Howard County Zoning Board made no "error of law"
when it changed zoning to make way for residential and business
development on the 516.9-acre Key property in North Laurel.
The Rouse Co. plans to build a mixed-use development on the site,
which straddles Interstate 95 and is bounded by Route 216 to the
south and Gorman Road to the north. The development would
consist of 1,200 apartments, townhouses and single-family homes
and 1 million square feet of retail and service space.
Hundreds of residents had opposed the development, claiming it
would strain area roads.
Gregory K. Fries, chairman of the Southern Howard Land Use
Committee, a group representing several community associations that
oppose the project, said his group plans to appeal the Circuit Court
decision to the Board of Special Appeals.
Fries said the group, which has spent about $25,000 trying to stop
the development, has planned a fund-raiser for mid-April to raise
money for an appeal of Leasure's ruling, which can be found at
www. sunspot.net.
Alton J. Scavo, senior vice president of the Rouse Co., called
Leasure's ruling "very good news." He said he expects home sales
for the property to begin in 2002.
Last week, the Rouse Co. also submitted plans to build 176 homes
adjacent to the Key property, off Gorman Road in North Laurel.
Another major mixed-use plan for southeastern Howard County is in
the works: G&R Maple Lawn Inc. in Fulton. That proposal calls for
1,168 housing units and 152,370 square feet of retail space on 507.9
acres.
Together, these developments could cause congestion on local roads
and highways, Fries said.
"We were hoping to avoid what we're faced with right now, which is
both of these large projects coming on line without the infrastructure
in place," Fries said.
In June 1998, the Rouse Co. successfully petitioned the Zoning
Board to rezone the Key property to make way for the proposed
development. Neighbors challenged the board's decision in Circuit
Court, saying the board approved the zoning change based on
several faulty assumptions.
Fries said the traffic study, which estimated the Key project would
generate 24,209 vehicles a day, was incomplete and did not take
into account all of the planned developments in the area.
In June, the State Highway Administration expressed concern about
the project's effect on traffic.
In a letter to Planning Board Chairman Robert Geiger, Neil J.
Pedersen, SHA director of the Office of Planning and Preliminary
Engineering, said the proposal would require Route 216 between
U.S. 29 and All Saints Road to be widened to six lanes and that the
bridge over Interstate 95 would also have to be widened.
But Scavo said he thinks residents aren't as concerned about traffic
as they say.
"I believe they simply don't want development, and this is their way
of delaying it," he said.
Originally published on Mar 29 2000