Driving by the Howard County Off Leash Park on Hillsborough Road in Ellicott City today I spotted these colorful piles of trash. Being the curious type and it being a lovely day I decided to check it out.
There were three or four loosely scattered piles of what are often referred to as “bandit” signs. Bandit signs are temporary real estate signs. I believe they are only allowed to be used over the weekends and that the owners are responsible for seeing to it that the signs are removed by sometime on Monday.
It looks to me as if somebody was policing that policy today.
It looks to me as if somebody was policing that policy today.
From the dog park I scooted down 29 to the Wilde Lake Village Center. I needed to stop in at that particular branch of the Columbia Bank. At 2:30 in the afternoon the village center was a ghost town.Tonight the Wilde Lake Village Board will meet at 7:00 PM. One the guests will be Kevin Allen from Kimco. He will presumably be there to discuss the proposed revitalization of the village center. A number of people are opposed to the plans which include adding 500 residential units to the property. Kimcos plan will also greatly reduce the amount of retail space in the center. This of course, upsets those Wilde Lake residents who stubbornly cling to the notion that another grocery store will come if only Kimco would just try a little harder.
Ahem.
I know Kevin Allen. He’s a nice guy. I think he’s going to have a rough time tonight.
Is there talk about closing of the retail at Wilde Lake?
ReplyDeleteSorry -- the question should have been "Is there talk about closing some of the retail at Wilde Lake?"
ReplyDeletehowchow,
ReplyDeleteKimco would like to reduce the retail component of the village center from 75,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet and add 500 market rate apartments in four new buildings.
The hardest thing for the community to accept is that the plan does not include a new grocery store.
-wb
I understand the heartache, but there has to be flexibility from the idea that every center has one Giant, one cleaner, one pizza restaurant, one salon, one Chinese place, etc. Ironically, David's and the fish market make Wilde Lake one of the centers that I drive a distance to visit.
ReplyDeleteWhich part of the retail gets knocked down in Kimco's plan? (If they have said.)
howchow,
ReplyDeleteThe plan calls for the original village center buildings, including the vacant grocery space to be scraped and replaced with four new apartment buildings.
A new row of retail would be added along Lynx Lane facing the existing Lynx Lane retail building which would presumably be renovated.
I am trying to get my hands on a copy of the plan so I can post it here. Stay tuned.
-wb
People in Columbia seem to fear change because of what worked well in the past. It's not always working now however. The Village Center concept needs some tweaking. Take a look at places like Landsdowne in VA, Kentlands in GA, Maple Lawn Farms, and this is the new town concept that is drawing crowds and keeping things lively.
ReplyDeleteI'm an OM resident who has been driving two kids to the Arts Camp at Slayton House. The other day as I dropped off I had a vision of the Wilde Lake Village Center as a kids birthday party paradise--an inflatables place, a kids haircut place like Kartoon Kuts, perhaps a kids toystore/bookstore, and a drugstore like CVS that carried some basic food items. What if it were "the" place to go with kids? The CA facility already there would fit into that nicely. Just a thought...
ReplyDelete