Green Neighborhood for Elkridge

Don Reuwer is expected to receive approval of his preliminary sketch plan for his Locust Chapel development in Elkridge this week. Locust Chapel may end up being the first single family home development in Howard County to meet the county’s newly adopted “Green Neighborhood” criteria.

The 64 lot development on 36.5 acres at the intersection of Ilchester Road and Beechwood Road earned 98 points out of possible 167 points to achieve the green neighborhood designation.

According to the Howard/Arundel Report newsletter, these green credentials will allow the project to “leap-frog out of the moratorium-bound Elkridge planning area” by taking advantage of the 100 housing allocations set aside by the county for green projects.

Another District 4 Rematch

Well at least part of District 4 will see another electoral rematch, the Village of Wilde Lake to be specific. In this story by Larry Carson in The Sun we only heard that Phil Kirsch was running for another term on the Columbia Council. What Larry failed to mention was that Linda Odum is running against him, again.

She lost by ten votes a year ago.

I’d like to see her replace Phil. The legacy of his four year stint on the Council is a continuing decline in the village center and a combative relationship with Greg Hamm and General Growth Properties that has led to missed opportunities for his village and Town Center.

Half Staff

As I drove up to the county offices in Columbia Gateway today I noted that the county and state flags were flying at half staff. When I checked in the guard station I asked what this was all about.

“It’s for the soldiers in Afghanistan,” the guard replied.

“Was a soldier from Howard County recently killed in Afghanistan?”

“Yes,” he replied. “There is information about it on the website.”

When I got back to the office I checked the county website and couldn’t find any mention of why the flags were flying at half staff. I decided to call the public information office.

“Let me check,” said the woman who answered the phone.

It turns out that this tribute has nothing to do with the war in Afghanistan. It is for PFC Thomas P. Jensen, a Prince George’s County police officer who died on March 9th from injuries sustained in the line of duty. According to this story by Scott Wykoff in WBAL.com, Officer Jensen was “badly injured while responding to an emergency call late last month”

“Officer Jensen was critically injured while responding to a call to assist the fire department with a disorderly person reportedly under the influence of PCP. He struck a sheet of black ice on Baltimore Avenue at Greenbelt Road in College Park at 6:55 a.m. on February 27th causing his vehicle to crash into a telephone pole.”

It would be nice if the folks on the front line were a little more informed about this.

Another One for the Record Books

So far the weather this year has been one for the record books. The Big Kahuna snow made this winter one of the snowiest on record. Now it appears that the rain this past weekend ranked right up there as well. According to this report by Frank Roylance in The Sun, “Elkridge and several other communities in Howard and Anne Arundel counties topped the charts for rain totals in Maryland for the 48 hours ending Sunday morning. The two-day total at Elkridge was 4.15 inches.”

Thankfully, all this rain has not caused another catastrophic flood in Ellicott City, at least not yet anyway.

Misery Acquaints a Man with Strange Bedfellows

As we were packing up from our podcast last Friday we started talking about the petition drive to subject the Columbia Town Center redevelopment enabling legislation to referendum.

“Have you seen any petition gatherers out and about?” I asked the boys.

No one had.

“Not even at the grocery stores?”

Dave Bittner said he had heard that the grocery stores weren’t allowing the petition proponents on their property.

Really?

Let me make it clear that I do understand that this is nothing more than hearsay. I do not know for a fact whether it is true or not. What I do know is that I haven’t been approached nor have I seen anyone out gathering signatures in my own Ho Co travels. I certainly haven’t seen anyone working the grocery store turf like I did for a previous ill fated petition drive.

If it’s true it would seem to suggest that the Bard of Avon was right in that “misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” The grocery stores, or more specifically the union grocers, perhaps might feel that they don’t have a dog in this fight. The right of citizens to petition for referendum was never really their issue anyway.

The Continuing Transformation of T-Bonz

T-Bonz restaurant on Montgomery Road in Ellicott City is pretty well hidden from plain view. It is tucked below and behind a strip shopping center. The building formerly housed a rib joint called Johnny Stars that featured mouth watering fall off the bone ribs. Those ribs drew quite a following to the off the beaten path location.

Johnny Stars closed eventually and T-Bonz opened in its place. Over time the interior has been completely transformed into a nice neighbor pub with wood floors a new bar. They still serve ribs but alas they are not of the same caliber as the old Johnny Stars.

There are plenty of other choices on the menu though and since I’ve long since abdicated any role of local food critic to How Chow, I’ll just say that the food in general is pretty good, the limited wine selection is above average and it’s selection of draft beers put’s the place right up there in the hierarchy of Howard County pubs.

But that’s not why I decided to write a post about them.

Last night, as Mama Wordbones and I ventured out during a break in the torrential rainfall this weekend, we dropped into T-Bonzs to cure our cabin fever. That’s when we learned of that the restaurant is adding a second bar to their unusual building. This summer, the owners plan to open a bar downstairs from the restaurant in what appears to be the buildings loading dock. On the surface it might seem an unlikely place for a bar but it could be a fun spot if they can pull it off. While it won’t have outside seating initially, on nice days they plan to roll up the overhead door to let the bar patrons enjoy the weather.

I like places that have character and T-Bonzs has loads of it.

Doughoregan Details

The descendents of Charles Carroll of Carrollton have gone digital. The family has created a website detailing their preservation and development and plans for the pre Independence era estate.

I only wish the Conceptual Site Plan did a better job of including adjacent roads, like Burnside Drive for example.

Episode Nine

Our guest this week on “and then there’s that…” was Greg Hamm, the vice president and general manager of Columbia for General Growth Properties. Greg is a pretty personable fellow and he has a long history of new community development including a stint in Reston, Virginia.

We asked Greg about the continuing opposition to the Columbia Town Center redevelopment plans after the council voted unanimously to approve it. Specifically we were curious as to what the opponents are referring to when the say this is a “giveaway”.

“What is the government actually giving you?” I asked

“I’m still waiting to find that out too, I’d like to pass that on to the people in Chicago as soon as I know. It will help me internally a lot” he quipped.

As Freemarket already noted in his blog this morning, GGP will spend approximately $100 million on creating new public spaces, renovating Merriweather Post Pavilion and creating a new housing trust fund for workforce housing.

True, the government did give the company approximately 3,500 additional housing units as part of the redevelopment program but the company already had the right to build more office and retail space. If anything, the additional housing units give the plan more balance.

“The worst of all worlds for the people of Howard County and Columbia would have been for us to have done more office buildings and retail here.”

And then there’s that…

We also had little fun with local new stories on porn, proms, sprinklers and my buddy Allen Dyer.

Our next podcast will be on March 19th and our guest will be Dick Story, the CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

Twelve Minutes for a Nickel

I just have time for a quick Friday afternoon post. We just finished taping the latest (9th!) edition of “and then there’s that…”…I’ll post more on that later.

Three things:

One, thanks to Columbia Compass for bringing my attention to this post from Maryland Politics Watch. It seems that Tales of Two Cities was recognized as the third most popular local blog in Maryland. We’re moving up. Last May, MPW had us in fourth place. The number one local blog was Inside Charm City and number two was our neighbor just up the pike, Just Up The Pike.

Two, I don’t think I ever formally welcomed HoCo Rising. This past Tuesday he and I met up at Clyde’s and made a connection. The bottom line is good guy, good writer, and increasingly prolific poster. Ya gotta like that.

Three, the lowest parking rate on the meters in Ellicott City is twelve minutes for a nickel. That’s my five cents.

Gotta run.

Warped Thinking

The Carroll family may be the oldest residents of Howard County. They were here before the county even existed. They built their home, Doughoregan Manor, in Ellicott City back in 1727 when Maryland was still a colony of Great Britain. Almost three hundred years later the estate is still owned by the same family. While development occurred at a breakneck pace all around them they preserved their farm.

And how do we acknowledge almost three centuries of their stewardship of the land?

We threaten to take away their property by an act of Congress.

On a recent posting on the Howard County Citizens Association listserv, Allen Dyer, a member of the Howard County School Board, wrote that “in light of its historic value, the "private property" aspect of Doughoregan is a sham issue.”

He went on to say “howard county local politics is much too small a forum for planning the destruction (or preservation) of Doughoregan manor.”

Picking up on this thread, C. Edward Walter, a resident of Woodstock, wrote that there should be “an act of Congress to preserve the site.”

He has even written to Congressman Elijah Cummings to enlist his support for this.

Who do these people think they are?

I’ll give a pass to Mr. Walter since he is a private citizen and entitled to his opinion but Allen Dyer is an elected official and therefore his words tend to carry a little more weight.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. He’s got to go.

What’s Up with the MAC?

As I drove by the new Meadowbrook Athletic Complex today I noticed that there was a blue mesh fence surrounding the building. I also noted that there were no cars in the parking lot at three o’clock on a Thursday afternoon.

You may recall that the grand opening of the 38,000 square foot multi purpose gym was held back in December. When I went to the front doors they were locked. There was a note saying that the facility is currently limited to program use only, whatever that means.

It turns out that the MAC will hopefully be open for general public use in April, four months after the opening that wasn’t so grand after all. According to the HoCo Recreation and Parks Department, it isn’t fully operational because there are no phones or computers in the building yet.

Once it is truly open for the general public you’ll need a Get Active fitness card to use it. This is a new program from Recs and Parks that sounds a little like a private gym membership. It will cost an adult (18 plus) $79.00 for a three month pass. It’s so new that that there isn’t any information about it on the department website.

What about the blue fence?

It seems as if the Big Kahuna snow event was a little too much for the MAC. The roof suffered some damage and a few of the exterior light fixtures got beat up.

I would expect this type of damage on an older building but the MAC is brand spanking new. If I was Gary Arthur I think I’d have a little meeting with the building contractor about the quality of their work.

The Great State Disconnect

A recent telephone poll conducted by Opinion Works revealed that over half of Maryland voters support a ten cent increase in the state liquor tax. According to this story by Len Lazerick in Maryland Reporter “Legislative leaders have repeatedly pledged to pass no new taxes this election year, but a new poll says half of Maryland voters think they should make an exception for a 10-cent per drink tax on alcohol.”

It’s not likely to pass this year though. Powerful lobbying efforts by the states licensed beverage dealers and the restaurant association are working to keep it bottled up in committee. According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun, they’ve done a good job working on the Howard County delegation.

“Only one of the county's 11 legislators supports a no-strings-attached alcohol tax increase, while five, including all three Republicans, oppose the idea outright. And four lean toward being against it but are willing to listen, they said.”

It’s pretty much the same story with the state laws that prohibit the direct sale of wine to consumers. According to this story by Julie Bykcowicz in The Sun, “The movement to legalize wine shipping has grown to more than 20,000 supporters, according to Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws, an advocacy organization. Dozens of social media and e-mail groups have sprung up.” And even though a majority of the senators on the health committee considering the measure support it, the committee chair, Senator Joan Carter Conway, doesn’t and has successfully kept it from moving forward.

Why this disconnect between what the voters wants and what our state legislators want?

I’m not exactly sure but it could have something to do with the fact that the liquor lobby isn’t keen about any changes in the status quo of the Free States archaic liquor laws.

“The liquor lobby that protects the system is one of the top campaign contributors, giving to more than 80 percent of the 188 General Assembly members - all of whom are up for election this fall.”

Your friendly neighborhood liquor store is friendlier with the politicians than the consumers.

Three Things

One, the news that Cardinal Gibbons High School is closing really hit home. For years many young men from Howard County have made the trek down I-95 to the campus in Baltimore. I have high school friends who went there and my older brother went to Gibbons back in the sixties when the school first opened.

Among the hierarchy of Catholic high schools in Baltimore, Cardinal Gibbons lacked the same cachet as Loyola Blakefield or Calvert Hall but its proximity and relatively easy access to Howard County made it an attractive private school option for many HoCo parents. A group of parents and alumni are fighting to save the school so perhaps the last chapter for the Crusaders has yet to be written.

Two, the current plan for the proposed Doughoreghan Manor development that calls for a single access point on Frederick Road is just plain nuts. The most logical thing to do is provide a secondary access into the new community from Burnside Drive but no one is even suggesting this. Burnside Drive is one of those roads built about 20 years ago that dead ends into a farm, not a cul-de-sac. The road simply stops as if it was someday intended to continue through the farm if the farm was ever developed, like now. The problem is that the people who live on Burnside Drive have gotten used to the fact that road stops where it does and that has made Burnside Drive the third rail of the proposed development.

Three, it occurred to me that if General Growth Properties spins off the master plan communities into a new company, that new company would presumably need a new home. Considering that the company already owns a pretty nice headquarters building in Columbia, I think Columbia would be the perfect choice.

HoCo Third Richest in U.S.

Once again Forbes magazine has published a list of the twenty five richest counties in the U.S. and Howard County came in at number three.

“Howard County, Md., a suburb of Baltimore, has a standout school system with standardized test scores that consistently beat out the national average, and median household incomes of $101,710.”

We’re moving up. This past December, The Huffington Post ranked HoCo as the fifth richest and they used a higher median income number.

Go figure.

According to Forbes the richest county in America is Loudon County in Virginia.

The Straight Poop

As a dog owner I am sensitive to the complaints about people who don’t pick up after their dogs. It only takes one recalcitrant dog owner to smear the rest of us who take our dog dooty seriously. When someone sees poop in their yard and they don’t own a dog, they cast a judgmental eye towards every dog owner in the hood.

Not surprisingly, some dog owners actually think its okay not to pick up after their pooch. In his column in The Washington Post today, John Kelly wrote about “an air of defiance among those who responded to my request that they explain why they don't pick up their dog's messes.”

“I never have [picked up poop] and here's why. I live in a D.C. suburb with plenty of woods around. My dog has been trained to go off the trail in the woods to do her business, where rain and bacteria and bugs dispose of this natural product in an ecologically sound manner. Where do people think all those plastic bags go? Into our environment, to virtually never decay.”

Not so fast. John points out that recent testing of Accotink Creek by the U.S. Geological Survey revealed “dog waste accounted for 15 percent of the E. coli in the stream.”

And the plastic bags?

There are biodegradable poop bags a pet owner can purchase for as little as three cents a bag.

No more excuses.

HoCo Broadband in Top 25

Howard County ranks 25 in the list of the 25 fastest broadband counties in the US. According to this story by Rich Karpinski in Connected Planet, “Howard County in Maryland, had speeds of 10.7 megabits down and 2.8 megabits up, according to Craig Settles, a broadband consultant who works with local communities on broadband projects and who is a business partner with ID Insight on the Broadband Scout project”

The top county, Nassau County, NY, had “a median download speed of 15.0 megabits per second and a median upload speed of 4.4 megabits per second.”

Howard County wasn’t the fastest county in Maryland either. Calvert County in Southern Maryland was ranked 15.

This was likely one of the reasons we didn’t make the cut for the federal broadband stimulus grant. It can’t help our chances for attracting Google’s fiber test either.

Whip Smart

I generally try and tune into Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR if I’m in my car in the late afternoon. I got in the habit after I started picking Peanut up from school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The show comes on at 3:00 PM and school lets out about 3:10 PM. We listen in on the way home.

Today, I was thankful that Peanut wasn’t with me. Terry’s guest was Melissa Febo, who has just written a memoir of her four years as a professional dominatrix at a club called The Dungeon in Manhattan. The book is called Whip Smart.

To be fair, WAMU advised listeners that today’s show contained “adult subject matter” and that it “may not be appropriate for all listeners.”

I imagine some regular listeners may have missed that message though and maybe were a bit surprised at finding this type of discussion going on the radio in the after school hours. Volumes are suddenly lowered, channels quickly changed…, “so how was your day honey?” …and so on.

The host and guest weren’t holding much back either. At one point Melissa talks about an interview where she was asked if she had a favorite place to shop for her “accessories”.

“Home Depot,” she quipped.

I just about drove off the road.

Going Gaga for Google

This is starting to get a little “over the top.” Towns are renaming themselves Google, flash mobs are being generated to show support for the broadband effort and now Duluth, Minnesota has decreed that “henceforth all firstborn males in the City of Duluth shall be named Google Fiber.”

Sheesh.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Second Sunday Season Two

The Second Sunday Market in Ellicott City will return for a second season on Sunday April 11th. Actually, the return of the popular outdoor market will be part of a weekend long “Blossoms of Hope” celebration in the historic district that will include the aforementioned 5K race on Saturday, April 10th.

Just mentioning an outdoor event brings a smile to my face. Stay tuned for more details.

Trail Trainspotting

After finishing our science project investigation of Bloede Dam, the girls wanted to go to the tunnel next. The tunnel they were referring to is actually a culvert under the rail tracks just a little further down the trail.

As we got close I could hear the distant rumble of a train. This would be the third train we had seen in less than an hour. A few yards away from me stood a man holding what was presumably his son. They had stopped to listen to the approaching behemoth as well.

Before long the massive blue CSX engines appeared through the trees up on top of an embankment above the trail and the river. It rumbled by slowly pulling a line of tankers, coal cars and freight cars and overpowering the sound of the swollen Patapsco River. Before long the engineer blew his diesel horn as he approached the Ilchester Tunnel below Buzzard Rock. The trains typically move slowly through this winding stretch of track. These rails, known as the old main line subdivision has been in operation since 1830. The keystone on the culvert “tunnel” is stamped with the year 1869.

There sure is a lot stuff going on in this little slice of the Patapsco Valley State Park.

The Ice is Slowly Melting

A commenter on a recent post asked “Are you going to post something about the spring weather coming our way?”

Yes, right now in fact.

Yesterday I took Peanut and her buddy Sar Sar for a walk down the Grist Mill Trail to the Bloede Dam. Peanut is working on a hydroelectric project for her sixth grade science project and I thought a trip to the “worlds first underwater hydroelectric plant” might be instructive. In it’s hey day the Bloede dam provided power to homes in Ellicott City, Catonsville, and Elkridge.

It was also a “dam” good excuse to get outside and enjoy the nicest Saturday we’ve had in awhile.

The first thing I noticed as we crossed the swinging bridge in Ilchester was how fast the river was running thanks to the snow melt. The mist from the water flowing over the now decommissioned dam drifted all the way up to the path.

And speaking of dams, a little further up the river towards Ellicott City lies Simkins Dam. This is one of two dams that are slated to be removed in order to improve the flow of the river. Work on the dam is scheduled to begin sometime in late summer or early fall.

Welcome Back

General Growth Properties stock was traded once again on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, less than a year after being delisted when the company sought protection of the bankruptcy courts.

In first day trading the stock rose 2.3% and closed at $14.01 a 1,234% increase over their 52 week low.

That’s a nice way to reenter the big board.

The Definition of Giveaway

Russ Swatek doesn’t seem to mind having taxpayers fund his HOA park. That must not be a giveaway in his book.

Russ supports the state bond request for $250,000 to help defray the cost of redeveloping the privately owned Symphony Woods. On the other hand he objects to the development project that would have likely funded it without state dollars if he and the rest of the Columbia Council cabal hadn’t isolated the homeowners association from the conversation.

Taxpayers against Giveaways indeed.

Myopic View of Development

Recently, while checking out Anthony Jordan’s website, I became curious about the following statement: “Developing for the sake of development does not serve any social or economic goals and does little more than pad the pockets of disinterested out-of-county businesses.”

Anthony is the Republican challenger for the District 2 county council seat currently held by Calvin Ball.

I sent him an email asking “What are the social and economic goals that you would like to see achieved in Columbia Town Center and how does the plan approved by the council fail to meet them?”

Anthony responded “that my post was drafted on January 12, 2010, almost a month before the legislation reached its final form.”

He then proceeded to clarify his position on the Columbia Town Center redevelopment.

“I feel that the reliance on "walkable communities" and mass transportation bears assumptions that I am not willing to make. I am the father of two little girls, and I can't imagine what a trip to the library or the mall would have been like if we had to rely on the means of transportation that seem to be required by this plan. I feel that many other Columbians will feel the same, and that while this development progresses, the parking lots and highways will bear the weight. I have yet to read an article or a bill that has explained who, other than the taxpayer, will bear these costs.”

I appreciate his timely response, but I remain concerned about his seemingly myopic views on development.

I don’t know of any developer who “develops for the sake of developing.” While that may make a catchy sound bite, it lacks any foundation in reality. Developers develop in response to a need. People need houses, developers build houses. Companies need space to house their business, developers build offices and warehouses. People need stores and restaurants, developers build retail. If there is no need there is no development.

Admittedly that is an over simplification of the process but it does reflect the core truth of development; no need, no development. Yes, there are times when “perceived need” outpaces actual need. When that occurs things can get temporarily out of balance but over time the equilibrium usually returns. Like any business, the business of matching needs is not an exact science.

The second part of his statement about padding the pockets of supposed disinterested out-of-county businesses is actually more misleading. It suggests a rather jingoistic view of our county. For example, my partners and I are developing an office building in Howard County. In order to do this we needed to borrow $25 million. There wasn’t a Howard County bank with the wherewithal to swing a loan like that. In the end, Susquehanna Bank, headquartered in Lititz, PA, ended up providing the financing for our project. I can assure you that they are not disinterested in the health and welfare of Howard County.

Anthony seems like a nice guy. His timely response to my inquiry suggests that he may be approachable on development issues despite his use of language that strikes me as crafted to appease those unhappy with the plans for the redevelopment Columbia Town Center.

The Other “M” Month

Previously, in a post about The Stanford Grill I apparently got my “m” months mixed up. I could swear that I had been told that that the new restaurant in Columbia was going to open in mid March.

Then again I probably shouldn’t swear. I’ve now been informed that it will open in May, the other “m” month.

I’m not all that surprised actually. The owners are doing quite a bit of work on the former Lone Star Steakhouse. Not only is the interior of the former Texas roadhouse themed chain under going a million dollar renovation, the outside is getting a makeover as well with a new patio complete with the now fashionable outdoor fireplace. The new locally owned establishment is aiming to attract the same business casual crowd, a little more upscale than Houlihans for example.

Sounds like a nice setting for a fall or spring happy hour.

I’m actually kind of glad it’s been delayed a couple of months. I’m still working on snagging an invite to the opening party.

In This Months Business Monthly

One year ago I joined Facebook and subsequently wrote about the experience in my March 2009 column. One year later Facebook provided me with inspiration once more when it assigned me the title “creator” for setting up a page promoting Howard County as potential test site for Google’s fiber project.

That has to be the best title I’ve ever been given.

True, the hurdle is pretty low for becoming a creator on Facebook. It probably isn’t even fair to call it hurdle. Still, the notion that someone could be labeled a creator started me thinking.

Creators are truly a special breed.

In my mind creators tend to be optimists. They are seldom content with the status quo and seek to make things better.

I suppose you could also make the argument that Russ Swatek is a creator. He did create Taxpayers against Giveaways. On the other hand, his group isn’t really creating something; they are attempting to undo something. That’s not real creator stuff in my book.

You can read this month’s column here.

They’ll Gladly Take Four

General Growth Properties went before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper today to request a six month extension to exclusively file their plan for reorganizing and exiting bankruptcy. The judge gave them four months. According to this story by Tiffany Kary in BuisinessWeek, the judge “said the company can have until July 15, which should be enough time to file a so-called disclosure statement outlining a reorganization.”

This can still be seen as victory for GGP.

“He rejected creditors’ request to limit General Growth’s control to just 45 days, and said the control wouldn’t stop the company from evaluating bids from Simon Property or other interested parties.”

This extension gives GGP time to work out the complexities of the deal with Brookfield Asset Management that will result in the company splitting in two.

“The judge’s decision to limit exclusivity to four months is “an expected outcome,” said Jim Sullivan, an analyst with Green Street Advisors in Newport Beach, California. “It’s giving them enough time to work the process, but he’s not giving them the six months because he doesn’t think they need it.”

Simon is not out of the running yet though. They could also use this time to up the ante and perhaps bring in another partner in their effort to acquire GGP.

In other GGP news today, the company also applied to have their shares relisted on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock was delisted by the NYSE a year ago went the company sought protection of the bankruptcy courts. The stock has been traded on the over the counter since then under the symbol GGWPQ. Today the shares closed at $13.49.

Taco Talk of the Town

I first heard about this place from HowChow and I was intrigued. Today I finally checked it out and I’m happy to report that R&R Deli lived up to its blog hype. The tacos were fabulous.

While I waited for my tacos “al pastor”, I chatted up the amiable owner Rodrigo. He told me that he had only been open for about six months but that business had been pretty good so far despite the fact that he hadn’t done much promotion.

“You’re popular on the internet,” I told him.

“I heard that,” he replied.

If you like authentic Mexican food you won’t be disappointed at Rodrigo’s place. The tacos were el más excelente.

Retail Retraction

Last September I reported that REI had leased but not occupied a store at Gateway Overlook in Columbia. A anonymous commenter on that particular post wrote “as an employee at the College Park REI I'm pretty sure this is bupkus. There were lots of rumors swirling around this space when it first opened, but we do not have a lease. You may be thinking of HTO; that was the last rumor I heard.”

Well Anon 5:33 PM it turns out that you were right. The story that REI had leased the space is bupkus.

It also turns out that you were on the right track about Hudson Trail Outfitters. HTO was actually considering opening a store in this location but backed out of the deal before signing a lease.

After HTO backed out it looked like Fresh Market might take the space. Fresh Market is a North Carolina based specialty grocer. Interestingly they are opening their second Maryland store today in Annapolis at the Annapolis Harbour Center. Their first Maryland store opened in July 2007 in Quarry Lake at Greenspring in Baltimore County.

In the end Fresh Market opted to take a pass on the Gateway Overlook space too.

It is also interesting to note that typical Fresh Market stores are almost the same size as the vacant grocery store space in Wilde Lake. Memo to Kimco: Call Fresh Market.

After failing to find a retailer to take the entire 20,000 square foot space, General Growth Properties has now decided to subdivide the space. They have since signed leases with Richmond American Homes for a home “gallery” and with Today’s Pet which is expanding and relocating from its location store in The Mall.

That will leave approximately 4,000 square feet available at Gateway Overlook.

Slow Fade into Irrelevance

Another phone book arrived on our lawn yesterday. This one was from Yourcommunity.com and it was the second one we’ve received in two weeks. We also received new phone books at work last week. All three of these phone books are different but they still shared the same fate. Each one went directly into the recycling bin without so much as being taken out of the plastic bag it came in.

I’ll admit that I don’t know much about what it costs to place an ad in the phone book these days. We don’t advertise our business in the phone book and haven’t for years yet apparently there is still enough business out there to warrant the printing and distribution of multiple books.

I suppose it took awhile for buggy whips to go out of fashion as well.

Taxpayers against Giveaways

The group that has come together for a petition drive to subject the Columbia Town Center redevelopment enabling legislation to a referendum this fall is called Taxpayers against Giveaways. Up until today, the only person I knew in the organization was Russ Swatek, the Columbia Council representative for the Village of Long Reach. According to a recent post on Columbia 2.0, he also likes to refer to himself as a “professional pest.” I always wondered what he did for a living.

Anyway…

After reading Brian’s post I now know that my former high school classmate Frank “Marty” Martin is also involved. That should be very helpful to Russ. Marty has a lot of experience with petition campaigns in Howard County. He’ll be a valuable asset to the effort. Brian didn’t say who else was there but I suspect there were some familiar faces from CoFoCoDo and HCCA.

It may surprise some readers here to know that I am actually of two minds about this petition drive. If successful it could theoretically settle, once and for all, whether the community at large is truly behind this plan or not.

Theoretically.

The problem is that if the effort to overturn the legislation is defeated by a close margin, the opponents will likely cry foul. A lawsuit challenging the outcome is almost guaranteed. If the vote is lopsided, and the voters resoundingly back the Town Center plan, the opponents will likely say it was due to big money spent by the developer and its business backers to defend the plan. The little man never had a chance they’ll moan.

The point I’m trying to make here is that for the core group of Taxpayers against Giveaways, this will never be over.

So what if Taxpayers against Giveaways prevails?

It could happen. If it does I’d be surprised, but it could happen.

What then?

Columbia will still limp along for a few years. The decline would be gradual at first, almost imperceptible. Over time, say within the next ten years, you’d start to notice that the Mall isn’t as busy as it once was. Wilde Lake still won’t have a grocery store or much else besides a massage parlor, a Chinese takeout and a nail salon. Merriweather Post Pavilion will close, eventually. You’ll notice that you really spend more time on the fringes of Columbia than the Town Center.

The opportunity for Town Center would pass.

Two Feet of Snow

Just another way of looking at it…with apologies to Mr. Foot.

District 4 Reunion Tour

It appears that the county council race in District 4 this year will look at lot like it did four years ago. Four years ago Town Center redevelopment was a hot issue. Four years later, though the physical appearance of Columbia’s downtown is pretty much the same, the groundwork has been finally laid for its extreme makeover.

Four years ago Tom D’Asto faced off against Mary Kay Sigaty for the seat being vacated by Ken Ulman. Four years ago, Tom campaigned against increased density in Town Center, believed that lakefront should be preserved as it is, and argued for a protective easement of Symphony Woods. After winning the seat Mary Kay sponsored the legislation that will increase the density, preserve the watershed, renovate and improve Merriweather Post Pavilion, create an innovative multi million dollar housing fund for full spectrum housing, and create a walkable downtown.

Now it looks like Tom is going to take another run at it. Presumably he will reprise his old Town Center development platform and attempt to pander to those who are against it.

To be fair, Tom hasn’t made an official announcement but he has registered a web domain. If he does decide to run he will first need to get by former Democrat now Republican Jeff Underwood. Jeff was around four years too when Mary Kay had to get by Jeff and Josh Feldmark in the Democratic primary.

It’s déjà vu all over again.

Playing Ball with Calvin

If you Google “Calvin Ball” the first result is a link to the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes, a syndicated comic strip by Bill Watterson that ran in newspapers for about 10 years. The main character, Calvin, invented a game called Calvinball in which the only consistent rule is that the game may never be played by the same rules twice.

Last Friday, in our latest podcast of “and then there’s that…” on HoCoMoJo, my co-host Paul Skalny quipped that Calvinball was a lot like politics. Our guest for the show was Dr. Calvin Ball, the county councilperson for District 2. His name came up second in the Google search.

Calvin is good guy and he rolled right along with the banter.

Getting It Right

Previously in Tales of Two Cities, I’ve pointed out the Columbia Town Center does not exist in a vacuum. All around us communities are rethinking how they manage growth and looking for ways to maintain their individual identities. In this story by Katherine Shaver and Miranda S. Spivack in The Washington Post today the reporters examine both the successes and challenges of creating “walkable” communities.

“The nation's two largest groups -- baby boomers shedding their houses as they become empty nesters and millennials reaching their 30s and moving into their own homes -- largely prefer densely populated, walkable communities, experts say.

Urban planners project that 86 percent of the growth in new households will be single people or couples without children at home -- and neither group wants to live in remote suburbs or in houses surrounded by big lawns.”

The line between success and failure hinges on getting the formula right.

“Developers still must persuade people accustomed to driving to keep their cars parked, and town centers have to provide the right mix of retail, residential and office space to compete in a crowded marketplace.”

Do the plans for Columbia Town Center have the right mix?

Possibly. There is already a strong retail core with the Mall. The office sector is currently struggling but connecting the existing buildings more closely with residences and stores will help differentiate office space in Town Center from the more typical suburban office parks like Columbia Gateway.

The real question, in my mind is whether the proposed 5,500 housing units will be enough to insure that we get it right.

A CA Board Perspective

HoCoMoJo has an excellent interview with Tom O’Connor about his perspective of the Columbia Association Board of Directors. Tom served on the board for eight years, including a few stints as board chair.

Tom offers an insider’s take on what is wrong with the board and what can be done to fix it.

Good stuff.

Ethics Complaint Filed Against Swatek

Five Columbia residents have filed a formal ethics complaint against Russell Swatek, the Columbia Council representative from the Village of Long Reach. The complaint, contained in a letter to the Columbia Council board chair, alleges that “his appointment as Spokesperson for Taxpayers Against Giveaways (TAG), has become involved in a private activity that has already and will continue to conflict with his objectivity in protecting and promoting the interests of the Columbia Association and the Long Reach Village Association.”

At a recent Columbia Association board meeting Mr. Swatek was actively gathering signatures for his petition to subject the Columbia Town Center redevelopment legislation to referendum.

The letter, signed by Jud Malone, Phil Engelke, Lin Eagan, Linda Odum and Patrick Von Schlag, cites the boards’ ethics policy which states that board members “must act in the interest of the whole community of Columbia and not simply as a representative of a particular village or constituency. Once all constituent perspectives are established and acknowledged, they must be considered in relation to the perspective of the entire community of Columbia.”

“We are believe that it would be in the best interest of the community of Columbia for Mr. Swatek to voluntarily resign his position as CA Board Member. Should he choose not to take that action we are hereby requesting that this report alleging misconduct by Mr. Swatek be considered as serious and be promptly addressed and fully investigated according to procedures established in CA Code of Ethics documents.”

It will be interesting to see how the board responds.

Scene This Week In…

The legacy of the one two punch Big Kahuna snowstorm is one big mess. Everywhere you look you see broken curbs, broken limbs and dangling downspouts. We got beat up pretty bad.

I spotted this toppled fire hydrant on Oakland Mills Road in Columbia. I’ve seen others like it in Ellicott City too. It appears that they were decapitated by a snow plow blade.

Nearby I noticed these pieces of wood sticking up through a bank of dirty snow. It looks like the remains of a picnic table.

The evergreens have taken it particularly hard. Along Dobbin Road there is a quarter mile stretch of road lined with piles of pine branches.

In Town Center near the lake, this tall spruce was cut off at the knees like Phil Nelson.

The cleanup from our snowmegeddon winter will be long and expensive. It should be a busy spring for the landscapers and the garden centers.

In Ellicott City I found a hopeful sign. Pushing up through a cleared path in the snow was a single daffodil. It was a nice reminder that the first day of spring is only twenty four days away.

It can’t come soon enough for me. I am so done with this winter.

I Haven’t Cried…Yet

The only saving grace during this miserable month of February has been watching the Vancouver Olympic Games. It has given us something besides the weather to talk about.

For some it has also been emotionally draining. According to this column by Lisa de Moraes in The Washington Post today, “Twenty-five percent of men who have watched the Vancouver Winter Olympics have cried.”

I wonder if that includes guys who are crying because they are being made to watch ice dancing with their significant others.

Reversal of Fortune

Last night, in yet another straw vote, the Columbia Association Board of Directors reversed a decision made on Tuesday night and restored full funding for the 2010 Columbia Festival of the Arts. The $95,000 contribution represents 14% of the total festival budget and is largely used to fund the free three day LakeFest in Town Center.

Why the sudden turn around?

I wish I knew that answer. This board, like many CA boards of the past few years, can’t seem to come together on anything of significance unless it reaches crisis mode. Shit, they can’t even agree on insignificant things either. Take the whole gym towel thing for example.

From my perspective there appears to be four members who have difficulty playing well with the others. They are Cynthia Coyle of Harpers Choice and Phil Kirsch of Wilde Lake, Alex Hekimian of Oakland Mills and Russell Swatek of Long Reach. I’m not going to get into any name calling or questioning of any individuals motives here. I just happen to think that they are profoundly ineffectual board members.

The one thing these four do appear to have in common is a tendency to see well established community organizations like the Columbia Foundation, the Columbia Festival of the Arts, and Leadership Howard County as somehow being elitist. They seem to see these organizations as somehow being a threat to what they call Columbia’s “vision”. Ironically, these organizations all have solid boards that consistently produce positive outcomes, whether it be staging a world class summer arts festival or providing grants and support to meet specific community needs.

For now, the arts festival has been spared and that’s a good thing. It also indicates that perhaps those other six board members may have found that, though they may not always agree on everything, at least they know how to play together.

UPDATE: From The Sun website:

"An article in Wednesday's editions on the Columbia Association's budget deliberations incorrectly described preliminary cuts to a $260,000 community grants budget. While the Columbia Festival of the Arts has received annual grants from the community fund, no decisions have been made on what the festival will receive this year. The association has discussed reducing the overall community fund, but decisions on individual recipients are to be made by the association president."

Stay tuned.

Simon Out Brookfield In

If the board of directors and management of General Growth Properties gets its way the master planned communities group, which includes Columbia, would be spun off into a new company called General Growth Opportunities. The company reached an agreement today with a Toronto based asset management firm that would split the company in two. According to this story by Alex Veiga in The Chicago Tribune today, the new company “would essentially hold assets the company concedes aren't producing much income currently, including the company's master planned communities and some large retail hubs, such as the South Street Seaport in New York.”

As I speculated in an earlier post, General Growth Properties has turned to Brookfield Asset Management as their White Knight to avoid a hostile takeover by the Simon Property Group. Last week Simon made an unsolicited bid to acquire the company for $10 a share. The deal that GGP’s board made today significantly ups the ante.

“The pact with Brookfield would allow General Growth to raise the money it needs to pay off some $7 billion in debt and interest to its creditors. Stockholders would get $15 a share.”

Brookfield is putting some skin in the game too.

“Brookfield would invest $2.6 billion in cash in exchange for General Growth shares. That would give Brookfield a roughly 30 percent stake in General Growth and the right to nominate three directors to the board.”

The timing of this deal was critical. Next Wednesday GGP is due back in bankruptcy court. Prior to today it had been widely assumed that the company would ask for an extension to submit their final plan. Obviously Simon would have strongly objected to any further delay.

Does this mean it’s over?

Not yet.

Big Box Land Rush

Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending a great deal of time focusing on the retail environment just outside the Washington beltway in both Virginia and Maryland. We are tasked with finding strong retail sites for Bob’s Discount Furniture, a New England based home furniture chain that is expanding into the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. market. Our prime candidates are empty big box stores (30,000 square feet plus).

As I previously posted, we have limited choices and some real competition. Hhgregg has already leased virtually every vacant Circuit City store in Northern Virginia. They recently leased the former Circuit City store at Arundel Mills and I expect they’ll soon pop up in Columbia too. They’ve had a few months jump on us.

There are other new furniture chains out there as well. Room and Board, a Minneapolis based chain recently leased distribution space in the Troy Hill Commerce Center to support new stores in the region. Their first store will be at 14th and T Street in downtown DC.

The hottest retail development around the Beltway is Woodmore Town Centre at Glenarden. The 245 acre mixed use development with almost 800,000 square feet of retail including Wegmans, Costco, Best Buy, and JC Penney. There are no other big box spaces available.

In Columbia, a portion of the former Expo Design Center at Columbia Crossing II has been leased to Baby’s R Us, and there are a couple of large tenants circling the former Comp USA space in Columbia Crossing across the street.

That retail corridor along 175 between Snowden River Parkway and Dobbin Road still has my vote for one of the most ill designed shopping areas in the region.

It’s On

Mr. Foot says it’s on. Aided by his 9th grade forecasting team from Baltimore County Public Schools Crossroads Center his “spot on” forecast for the Baltimore Washington corridor is calling for eight or more inches of snow beginning tomorrow evening and ending Friday evening.

And that’s not all folks…

This Big Kahuna Lite snowstorm will also pack some “winds near tropical force” according to the Foot forecasters.

Batten down the hatches boys and girls, March is about to come in like a lion.

Like Watching Bowling in Slow Motion

At lunch today TW and I were talking about the Vancouver Winter Games. On the TV screens surrounding us in The Green Turtle were images of a curling match between the United States and China.

“It’s kind of like watching bowling in slow motion” TW quipped.

CA Board Second Guessing Nelson

After taking great pains to select a strong president to lead the Columbia Association, the homeowners’ association board of directors is cutting him off at the knees and setting him up for failure while advancing their own personal agendas.

According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun today, in a budget committee meeting last night, the committee members took a straw vote that “reversed several of CA president Philip Nelson's recommendations, including a decision to keep a part-time community organizer in Oakland Mills and adding another one for Wilde Lake, and to hire a full-time watershed manager to push Columbia's environmental agenda.”

"Board member Russell Swatek of Long Reach said at the meeting that he particularly wanted to cut the grant to the county's Economic Development Authority because he often personally disagrees with its positions on public issues.”

It’s really a shame. From all appearances Phillip Nelson is a highly capable manager but unless the board stops micro managing and lets the man do his job they are just wasting the lien payers’ money. They should have just hired a monkey.

Happy Birthday George

The summer before I set off to Cleveland for college I received my first and only fake ID. It was a real Maryland driver’s license. It just wasn’t my drivers’ license. It belonged to a guy named George John Hipple. He was four years older than me which meant that in Ohio Mr. Hipple could legally purchase adult beverages. Back then an eighteen year old could at least purchase beer and wine in Maryland. I needed a fake ID before I headed north.

I acquired Mr. Hipple’s drivers license from a buddy who worked for CA at the Lake Kittamaqundi boat docks. In order to rent a boat a person needed to leave his or her drivers license until they returned with the boat. Many a young couple returned to the docks a little distracted after a day on the calm waters of the lake whose name means meeting place. They often forgot to ask for their license back. By late summer there was a good selection to pick from.

In this ancient time a Maryland drivers’ license did not carry a photo. George John Hipple was simply described as, white, 5’10”, 170 lbs, blue eyes. Close enough.

You still had to be careful though. Every once in awhile, a suspicious clerk might try and trip you up with a question like “when’s your birthday” while holding the illicit identification away from view. Over thirty years later I still remember the guy’s birthday. It’s the same day as that other George.

Happy Birthday Mr. Hipple, wherever you are.

The Biggest and the Greenest

That’s how Ken Ulman described the new Howard County Library Charles E. Miller Branch and Historical Center. The groundbreaking for the new building was held this morning in the parking lot of the existing library in Ellicott City. The new building will be roughly three times larger than the current branch.

This being an election year several local pols turned out to mark the occasion. Since it was about 40 degrees and damp they kept their speeches relatively short. In addition to Ken there was Congressman Elijah Cummings, Senator Jim Robey, Delegates Guy Guzzone, Gail Bates and Warren Miller and Council Chair Courtney Watson.

In the audience were Councilperson Mary Kay Sigaty, Clerk of the Court Marge Rappaport, Board of Education members Frank Aquino, Ellen Flynn Giles, Larry Cohen and Pat Gordon and Maryann Maher, a Democratic challenger for one of the District 9A House of Delegates seats.

A few random observations:

Despite the cold Warren Miller wore no overcoat and spoke the fewest words. I didn’t see him smile once. Maybe it’s because he was cold.

Congressman Cummings drove himself to the event in his black Mercury Mountaineer.

While all the other dignitaries were given spades to “break the ground”, Ken Ulman was given a snow shovel.

The ground that was broken was actually a little mound of dirt on the sidewalk surrounded by mulch that was created just for the photo op. Since there was no sediment control fence in place on the site it will likely be awhile before the ground for the new building is truly broken.

Courtney Watson likes to wear the color red.

And speaking of Courtney…she noted that the current Miller library was built in 1962…the same year she was born.

The new library is planned for completion in December 2011.

Food for Thought

While waiting for my coffee at the Little French Market in Ellicott City yesterday I spotted this plaque on the wall.

I like the sentiment but I think it’s easier said than done. I’m just not that easily frightened.

Doughoregan Detractors Dealt Defeat

Last Thursday the Howard County Planning Board unanimously approved the Carroll family plans to develop 325 single family homes on 200 acres of the 892 acre historic Doughoregan Manor estate. A key element of those plans is the extension of the county public water and sewer area to service the new homes According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun, the Planning Board “found that moving the utilities is consistent with the county's General Plan. And recommending the zoning change seemed almost automatic if the utilities are extended, board members said.”

Some of the Carroll’s neighbors are not at all happy about this decision.

"They completely ignored all our advice about a million-gallon [wastewater] treatment plant. This is a major imposition on our environment," said Charles Staples, who lives near the estate's eastern boundary.

Opponents also have complained that the Carroll development project would increase traffic in the area and would require millions of dollars in public services while the public remains barred from the county's only National Historic Landmark.”

This has the potential to be a hot button issue in the District 1 council race. Current council chair Courtney Watson is facing an expected challenge from Bob Flanagan and, knowing Howard County, development projects have a way of stirring the electorate. The final decision on both the extension of public water and sewer and the requisite zoning change will be made by the county council, presumably before the election.

This could prove to be a tricky issue. If they support the development they risk having the anti development forces mobilize against them. If they oppose the development they could face the outcry of the environmentalists. While this may not be Smart Growth, as Planning Board member Paul Yelder pointed out, it is still preferable to what the Carroll family could do with the property under existing zoning.

“The Carrolls have the right under current zoning to build about 400 homes on large lots using wells and septic systems throughout their property. Instead, they want the county to allow public utilities so they can push the new homes together on a rezoned section of about 200 acres in the northeast corner of the estate.”

Considering how long the Planning Board dithered on the Columbia Town Center redevelopment plans, I am amazed at the speed in which they reached this decision.

Federal Lawsuit Update 8

The latest attempt to overturn zoning decisions on the Columbia Wegmans, the Turf Valley Harris Teeter, the Thunder Hill Walgreens and fifteen years of other county zoning decisions was dealt yet another setback last week, this time in the state courts.

When U.S. District Judge J. Fredrick. Motz originally dismissed the lawsuit filed by Susan Baker Gray on behalf of Paul F. Kendall, Frank Martin, Carvel Mays, Jr. and Phillip Rousseau, the judge indicated that this was a matter for the state courts to settle not the federal courts. So, backed by their union buddies, Ms Baker and her merry band of plaintiffs took their case to the state courts.

Howard County, the defendant in the case, subsequently filed a motion to dismiss.

According to Lotsabogeys, a regular reader and commenter here, last week the courts granted the motion to dismiss.

Perhaps these guys should get themselves another lawyer.

My Latest Hang Up

I’m canceling the landline telephone in my home. Mama Wordbones actually suggested that I do this four years ago. “It’s a waste” she said.

I kept it anyway. Having a real honest to god wired home phone just seemed like the normal thing to do. Forget the fact that we hardly ever use the thing. Everyone in our household has their own mobile phone. For the most part the only calls we get on the home phone are from telemarketers.

I’m actually kind of late to this game. According to this article by Daniel Gross in Slate Magazine, “the number of land lines has fallen somewhere between 4 and 6 percent in every year since 2000.”

“The growth and convenience of wireless have played a role, and so, too, have the rise in broadband Internet access and the availability of phone service from cable companies and outfits such as Vonage and Skype.”

The tipping point for me came during The Big Kahuna snow event. Somewhere between the first and second act of the blizzard we lost service on the home phone. We weren’t sure when it actually occurred and we didn’t miss it all. I didn’t even bother calling for a repairman until earlier this week.

Last night, as we sat at dinner at Café du Paris in Columbia, we calculated that the monthly cost of having a home phone is roughly the equivalent of a decent bottle of wine.

Once I thought about it in those terms the decision was fairly easy.