Another Voice of Reason

I was heartened by this editorial in The Howard County Times this week that questions the wisdom of the legislative effort by Delegates Guy Guzzone and Warren Miller to limit liquor store competition in Howard County.

“The beverage association, of course, has an interest in keeping a lid on the number of licenses. Its members get enough competition from each other and would rather not see more. That's understandable, but hardly a reason to pass legislation.

More competition would benefit consumers of beer, wine and liquor, though, and that's reason enough to be skeptical of this bill.”

When this bipartisan effort was launched by Guzzone and Miller back in November, they tried to spin it as a way to help curb underage drinking. The truth is that the licensed beverage lobby is a powerful political force in this state and it looks like they have Guzzone and Miller in their pockets to help them limit competition.

Airport for Sale

According to this story by PK Semler and Charls Rice in The Financial Times, BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport may be offered for sale. At a cyber security summit at the National Institute of Standards, Governor Martin O’Malley said “the state is still open to acquisition offers for Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI). The state also would consider the possibility of an IPO…”

This isn’t the first time that a sale of the state owned airport has been discussed but it is the first time I’ve heard of the possibility of a public stock offering.

"Maryland could also be interested in taking its stake in the airport public, with the aim of it being sold to a private company, said O’Malley. This strategy has been used with success in Poland, as it allows for a more accurate public valuation of the stake."

This doesn’t seem to make sense. I believe that the airport actually makes money for the state. Why sell off a good performing asset at a time when the state is looking for new sources of revenue?

Whither Ken?

As the Howard County Council moves towards a final vote on the enabling legislation (CB 58 & CB 59) for the redevelopment of Columbia Town Center in just over two weeks from now, some have noted that Ken Ulman, the county executive, has been uncharacteristically silent on the subject.

Though Ken was an early advocate for creating a new master plan to guide the Town Center redevelopment process, he is also on record as having said that 5,500 residential units in Town Center is “ludicrous.”

To be fair, he did say before the completed plan was fully worked out and presented to the county.

But lately he has barely uttered a word of support for the legislation. What’s up with that?

True, he may be showing his respect for the council by staying out of the middle of their deliberations, but on the other hand that never stopped him from cheerleading for Healthy Howard funding or anything else he’s really wanted.

It sure would be nice to know where he stands on this

The Stanford Grill to Open in March

As originally reported here back in August, the former Lone Star restaurant on Stanford Boulevard in Columbia is undergoing a major renovation to transform the establishment from a family steakhouse to a business casual bar and restaurant similar to Houston’s. The Sanford Grill will be a “chef driven” restaurant meant to compete with Clyde’s and Victoria Gastro Pub.

The new restaurant is locally owned by a group of business people who also recently purchased the franchise rights to the Red Rock Canyon Grill. They are in the process of rebranding that chain to the Copper Canyon Grill. My sources tell me that the Columbia location will be a little more upscale than these restaurants.

The Stanford Grill is expected to open in mid March.

Scene This Week In...

It’s been awhile since I changed the scene this week pictures so I figured that it being the New Year and all I really should be getting on with this.

My Ellicott City inspiration came from this handmade poster taped to a street sign. They popped up all over my neighborhood in the past couple of weeks. It occurred to me that school redistricting is probably a hotter local topic than the Columbia Town Center redevelopment plans. People can get pretty emotional about where their kids go to school.
I’m tempted to say it’s all good. According to this story by Liz Bowie in The Sun today, Maryland public schools have been recognized by Education Week magazine as “No. 1 among states in the nation for school achievement and educational policies…”

“Education Week gave Maryland a B-plus, far above the national average of a C. New York ranked second and Massachusetts third in the survey; Nevada, Nebraska and the District of Columbia did particularly poorly. The survey looks at numerous factors, including student achievement on national tests, how well schools are financed, what state policies are in place and the overall chances a child has of success in school while living in a particular state.”

Nicely done.

I took a little editorial license this time around and instead of a Columbia scene I picked an Annapolis Junction scene this week. When I spotted this sign at the intersection of Dorsey Run Road and Guilford Road I knew I had my picture. The visual was just too good.

It is appropriate to focus a little attention on Annapolis Junction once in awhile. This little corner of Howard County has become ground zero in the burgeoning cyber security business.

I’m not sure how to interpret this sign though. I think I’ll leave that up to reader.

Arbitron CEO Ousted for Lying

The president and chief executive officer of Columbia based Arbitron, Inc. has resigned after lying to Congress. According to this story by Darrell A. Hughes and Joann S. Lublin in the Wall Street Journal, Michael Skarzynski stepped down after admitting to making a “false statement made in his testimony before a U.S. congressional committee last month…”

Don’t feel too bad for Mr. Skarzynski though. He still walks away with a pretty sweet severance package.

“In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Arbitron disclosed an exit package for Mr. Skarzynski that includes $750,000 cash and forgiveness of about $125,000 in relocation costs that he otherwise would have had to repay.”

Not bad after only being in the job for a year.

Rocky Run to Wild Wings

The word on the street is that Buffalo Wild Wings is negotiating to take over the former Rocky Run restaurant space on Dobbin Road. Rocky Run has been closed since August of 2008.

The source of this rumor is the same source who once told me that Potbelly would take over the former Atlanta Bread Company space on McGaw Road. I wondered what had happened to that deal. It turns out that Atlanta Bread Company is still paying rent on the vacated store and still has a few years of lease term remaining so the landlord isn’t exactly motivated to replace them with just any retailer. They have the luxury of waiting for “the right deal,” whatever that is.

Tales in 2009 Top Ten

The political blog, Maryland Politics Watch, put up a post yesterday about the increasing popularity of local blogs in Maryland in 2009. “The 41 state and local blogs that release statistics reported a combined 50% increase in traffic.”

“The dominant blogdom trend of 2009 is the rapid growth of liberal and local blogs compared to the stagnation of conservative blogs. That is an oversimplification since some blogs in the former two categories died, while PG Politics reported strong growth and Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack broke into the top five from a December 2008 start. Still, the lack of growth from the right wing blogosphere despite the rise of the Tea Party movement should be disheartening to Maryland conservatives.”

I wasn’t really all that surprised that Tales of Two Cities ended the year in the top ten. Back in May of last year we were already made it on to the MPW local blog radar.

Thanks to all the readers and visitors who contributed to that growth.

Where’s the Fire?

There’s an old joke about a policeman who pulls over a guy for speeding. The cop asks the driver “Where’s the fire buddy?”

The driver replies, “In your eyes officer.”

I thought of that joke when I came across a new Howard County Blog called Howard Fire, the unofficial Howard County fire blog.

I’m not sure who’s behind it but they do seem to be in the know on the activities of our local firefighters. Whoever they are they could easily be the hottest blogger in the county.

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. In any event, welcome.

Update: 1:53 PM: Thanks to an anonymous commenter I now realize that I missed the blog authors name when I wrote the initial post. Welcome Doug!

Colonial Real Estate Deal

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The proposed Oxford Square development in Elkridge would make use of an easement extending O’Connor Drive that was granted in 1749 in order to connect the property to the Dorsey MARC station on the opposite side of MD Route 100 from the project.

That’s right 1749.

There is actually quite a bit of history in this little corner of Howard and Anne Arundel counties. About five years ago I was working with a client who was considering purchasing a parcel of land across from the Timbuktu restaurant. When we walked the property the seller informed us that the site was once a quarry and foundry that made bullets during the Revolutionary War.

The Density Deal Part Two

As I previously wrote in this post, the proposed increase in residential density in Columbia Town Center would be significantly less than the residential density being encouraged in the Route 1 corridor. In this story by Larry Carson in The Sun today, Alan Klein, the spokesperson for CoFoCoDo, argues that the higher density for the Route 1 corridor makes perfect sense.

"It makes sense. Those areas are closer to transit," Klein said.”

Really?

Route 1 is a four lane road with signaled controlled intersections. Columbia Town Center is bordered by a four lane divided highway with grade separated interchanges to the north and south. While it is true that there are two MARC rail stations in the Route 1 corridor there isn’t much in the way of offices and retail stores compared to Columbia Town Center. People don’t use MARC trains to go to the store or the doctors office. The number of commuters using the trains isn’t statistically significant either. Howard County has actually seen a decrease in the net outflow of commuters in recent years as more jobs have been created locally. This substantially reduces the significance of the MARC stations in any density debate and once again points to the lack of substance in CoFoCoDo’s case against General Growth Properties proposed redevelopment for Columbia’s Town Center.

If they were truly honest with themselves, the so called Coalition for Columbia’s Downtown should change their name to Coalition against Columbia’s Downtown.

Licensed Beverage Dealers vs Their Customers

The licensed beverage dealers are really on the warpath against their customers. Don’t get me wrong here. I am no teetotaler. I regularly patronize our local bars and liquor stores. Lately though, they just haven’t been returning the favor.

First there was the initiative to limit the number of liquor store licenses in the county. With Delegates Guy Guzzone and Warren Miller in their pockets, the local liquor store owners are trying to sell the idea that this will help curb underage drinking. Nice try. The only thing that this law will do is limit consumer choice by protecting the existing liquor stores from future competition. Anyone who believes that this will actually curb underage drinking is completely delusional.

To add insult to injury, the licensed beverage dealers are also unwilling to bear a fair share of the state tax burden. Maryland liquor stores, bars and restaurants enjoy one on the lowest liquor excise taxes in the United States. The U.S. median liquor excise tax is $3.75 per gallon. In Maryland it’s $1.50 per gallon. If the state would increase this tax by just a dime it would still be among the lowest in the country yet it would raise $214 million in much needed state revenue. Our Delegates who seem to care so much about underage drinking don’t support this idea though.

The bars and restaurants that we all support claim that this dime increase would hurt their businesses in these trying economic times. I seem to recall that they made the same claim about the smoking ban a few years back and that doesn’t seem to have had an overly adverse effect on the bars and restaurants I frequent.

So far the only local state lawmaker to come out in support of increasing the liquor tax is Liz Bobo. It’s ironic that she is the only one who so far has the balls to stand up against the powerful liquor lobby in Maryland.

Bad News on Good Ribs

Mama Wordbones and I like the baby back ribs from Outback Steakhouse in Ellicott City. As far as we are concerned they are the best restaurant ribs in our area. I realize that this isn’t the healthiest dish but I didn’t realize just how unhealthy these tasty ribs were. According to this article by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding in the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine, “Outback's ribs have more calories than 15 Krispy Kreme Original doughnuts and more saturated fat than you should consume in 4 days. We've declared the dish one of the worst foods in America.”

Ouch!

Seeing as I already have a bit of a health issue there will be no more Outback baby back ribs for this old dog. The good news is that the article included a recipe for preparing your own delicious ribs at home.

It’s a Wrap

Paul Skalny and I finished up our fifth installment of “And Then There’s That” this afternoon. Our guest this week was Gary Arthur, the Director of Howard County’s Department of Recreation and Parks.

Gary and his department have been in the news quite a bit lately with the opening of the Meadowbrook Athletic Center in Meadowbrook Park in Ellicott City, the debate over the Centennial Park Skate Spot and the planned tennis complex in Troy Hill Park. We thought it might be interesting to get his perspective on these and other issues on a county department that touches so much of our lives.

He was a great guest and it was fun to get back to Lakeside where we left off before the holidays.

Our next show will be on January 22nd and our guest will be Senator Allan Kittleman, the minority leader in the Maryland General Assembly.

You can listen to the latest podcast here.

A Misinterpreted Gesture?

In a letter to the editor in the Columbia Flier this week, former Columbia Council Representative and an outspoken opponent of any change in Columbia, Babs Russell, wrote that while sitting in her car at The Mall this past holiday season that “My thoughts were interrupted by the honking horn of a car whose driver thought I was getting ready to leave my parking space. The hand gesture I received from that driver as I exited my car was not at all in the holiday spirit.”

A friend of mine pointed out that maybe the hand gesture wasn’t really about a parking space.

The Density Deal Part One

An argument is being made that General Growth Properties would be granted an exceptional amount of residential density in their proposed redevelopment plans for Columbia Town Center. Some argue that this bonus should be paid for by providing a larger share of affordable housing than what is required under the county’s Moderate Income Housing Unit Program (MIHU) which ranges from 10% to 15% of a residential development.

The truth is that the density that GGP is requesting is actually lower than the density the county is promoting along the Route 1 corridor in the newly created Transit Oriented Development Districts (TOD) and Corridor Activity Center (CAC) Districts. Both of these districts allow for a density of 25 residential units per acre while the 5,500 proposed residential units for Columbia Town Center works out to only15.8 residential units per acre.

If the CAC and TOD districts are only being held to the 15% moderate housing allocation why do affordable housing advocates think that Town Center, with it’s lower density allowance, think GGP is getting some kind of bonus?

One Dog Down

The senior member of our Old Dogs Club passed on yesterday. It was a very sad day in our home. Lucky turned 14 this month. There is a hole in our hearts. She will be missed.

Winter can be pretty rough on old people and old dogs.

In This Months Business Monthly

My column in the latest issue of The Business Monthly is actually an expansion of this post I wrote back in October. The current debate over what a redeveloped village center in Columbia should look like seems to have stirred a longing in some for the Columbia days of yore.

Those days were special but they are also over, way over. Columbia in 1969 was a community of less than 10,000 people that was largely composed of young families. Columbia of 2010 is almost ten times larger, with a broader demographic spectrum.

Trying to go back and recreate what existed forty years ago may be nostalgic but it isn’t a good business strategy for moving forward.

You can read this month’s column here.

Baby It’s Cold Outside

I know, its January and that's what we get in January around here. Still, coming off a fairly mild winter last year, the cold this year just seems a bit extreme. I don’t mind the snow so much but the persistent chill is really getting to me.

It’s not going to let up anytime soon either. According to this story by Frank D. Roylance in The Sun yesterday, “there is plenty more bitter cold weather ahead, putting more pressure on heating bills and on the city's cold-weather shelters.”

"The real big story this week is going to be the cold," said Steve Zubrick, science and operations officer for the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. "We really don't lose this cold air any time soon. I see it through a week from now. And I think in the 8- to 14-day forecast we're still below normal."

At our house the dogs don’t even want to go out in this cold air.

The only thing I take some comfort in is the fact that the arctic chill extends to Florida. Friends who head south for the winter months and in past winters have relished telling us how warm it is down there are strangely silent right now. Two of my colleagues are currently in Key Largo where the temperature isn’t expected to go above 60 today. That’s a little to chilly for lounging by the pool.

The Competitive Landscape

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I had lunch with Tim Sosinski yesterday to talk about his push for “full spectrum” housing in Columbia Town Center. Tim believes that the affordable housing component of General Growths Town Center redevelopment plans does not go far enough to address the real housing needs in Howard County. He would like to see the company do more.

I like Tim. He is smart and passionate about his cause. I also agree with him that the need exists to provide housing for all segments of our population. We just disagree on how to get there.

The redevelopment program for Columbia Town Center will face some formidable competition from other area mixed used developments that are not being asked to do what he’d like GGP to do. In my opinion, if the county forces GGP to increase the proportion of affordable housing in Town Center beyond what is proposed, it will put the project at a competitive disadvantage. This project does not exist in a vacuum.

What exactly does the competitive landscape look like?

Here’s a quick summary:

Aerotropolis at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport: A 10 million square foot development that includes Merritt Properties, Heffner Weber, Liberty Property Trust and Archon that is underway in the Stony Run area west of the airport. It will include office, retail, hotels and multifamily housing.

Arundel Preserve: A 268 mixed used development by Somerset Construction that includes 2 million square feet of office space, 250,000 square feet of retail space, 47 single family homes, 390 townhomes and 738 apartments. It is located along the Baltimore Washington Parkway near Arundel Mills mall.

Buckingham: A 32 acre mixed use development by Merritt Properties at Route 100 and Telegraph Road.

Arundel Gateway: A 300 acre mixed use development by Ribera Development and Greenberg Gibbons Commercial on Route 198 just outside Fort Meade.

Odenton Town Center: A 1,600 acre mixed used development on the east side of Fort Meade that includes office development by Capital CREAG and residential development by the Halle Companies and Stonebridge Carras.

Konterra Town Center: A 741 acre mixed use development in Laurel by Konterra Realty. This project will include 1,500,000 square feet of retail, 3,800,000 square feet of office space, and 4,500 residential units.

Maple Lawn: A 600 acre mixed use development by Greenebaum & Rose at the intersection of Route 29 and Route 216. The project will include 1,300 homes and 1.8 million square feet of commercial space.