BALTIMORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP Newsletter
December 22, 2000

Land Use and Transportation Issues Around the Region
___________________________________

Welcome to the electronic newsletter on smart growth issues in the
Baltimore region.  See the end for more information about the Baltimore
Regional Partnership and this newsletter.

Website: www.balto-region-partners.org

I N   T H I S   I S S U E

1. IN THE REGION:
    *Baltimore-Area State Employees to Get Free Transit Passes
    *Route 32 Panel Struggles With Data, Charge
    *Transportation Opportunities Committee Issues Recommendations
    *Calendar of Events

2. AT THE STATE LEVEL
    *Environmental Community Announces 2001 Legislative Events
    *State House Calendar 2001

3. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY
    *County Officials Working on Parole Phasing Plan
    *Calendar of Events

4. BALTIMORE CITY
    *Calendar of Events

5. BALTIMORE COUNTY
    *Meeting on Owings Mills Development Set for Jan. 18
    *Calendar of Events

6. CARROLL COUNTY
    *Commissioners Approve Comprehensive Plan
    *Calendar of Events

7. HARFORD COUNTY
    *Water Facilities Transfer Sets Stage for Smart Growth Conflict
    *Calendar of Events

8. HOWARD COUNTY
    *Calendar of Events

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1.  I N   T H E  R E G I O N

BALTIMORE-AREA STATE EMPLOYEES TO GET FREE TRANSIT PASSES

Governor  Parris Glendening announced on December 22 that state employees
in the Baltimore area would receive free transit on MTA buses, light rail,
and subway.  The announcement comes as part of a collective bargaining
agreement reached  between the state and five unions representing state
employees. The free pilot phase of the benefit program will be phased in
over the first quarter of 2001, with many employees receiving  passes as
early as January.  If the program is successful, the state government
hopes to extend free transit to employees in other Maryland regions over
the next several years.

The announcement complements state and federal programs designed to reduce
traffic gridlock, improve air quality, and increase the share of commuters
using mass transit. In April, President Clinton signed a similar order
that gives federal employees in the Washington, DC region, including the
Maryland suburbs, free monthly transit  passes. That order and Governor
Glendening's initiative confer benefits on  government workers that are
already heavily promoted for the private sector by recently-enacted state
and federal tax incentives. Maryland's Commuter Choice Benefits program,
initiated this year, builds on similar federal tax incentives and gives
employers who pay for transit passes or van pools for their employees a
state tax credit worth 50 percent of that cost, up to a $30 credit per
employee per month. Additions to the program in 2001 will expand the
benefits to many non-profit organizations and employers offering
cash-in-lieu-of-parking benefits and guaranteed ride home services. The
Baltimore Regional Partnership has strongly supported those programs and
has urged county and municipal governments in the region to offer benefits
similar to those announced for DC-area federal workers in April and for
Baltimore-area state employees today.  The Partnership supports expansion
of the state benefit program to all state employees beyond its initial
pilot phase in a manner that is easily replicable by the private sector.

For more information, contact  Adam Gordon, Baltimore Regional
Partnership, at adam@balto-region-partners.org  or Scot Spencer,
Environmental Defense, at sspencer@environmentaldefense.org.   December 22
Baltimore Sun story available at
www.sunspot.net/content/news/story?section=news-maryland-sun&pagename=story&storyid=1150520216225.  
May 11 Partnership letter urging Baltimore area
promotion of Commuter Choice-type benefits available at
www.balto-region-partners.org/5_11_00_ratcm.htm.


ROUTE 32 PANEL STRUGGLES WITH DATA, CHARGE

At its second meeting December 12, members of a new panel looking at land
use implications of widening Maryland Route 32 in western Howard County
tried to sort through both data presented to them and their
course of action as a panel. Looking at the surrounding area in Howard,
Carroll, Frederick, and Montgomery Counties, staff for the Maryland
Department of Planning presented maps on commute patterns, recent
development, and potential development, both inside and outside of
county-designated smart growth priority funding areas (PFAs).  Some panel
members and county officials expressed confusion about the volume of data
and the fact that much of it ended at 1996.  Panel members also discussed
how they would proceed, both in terms of what form the group's findings
would take and how its work would relate to state smart growth policy.  At
the panel's first meeting in November, State Highway Administration deputy
administrator Neil Pedersen had asserted that the panel was not to address
the consistency of Rt. 32 alternatives with smart growth, but materials
provided to the panel indicate the panel would "Discuss Smart Growth
implications, incentives/disincentives" and "Evaluate consistency of these
(land use) changes with Smart Growth goals and policies contained in local
comprehensive plans."  SHA panel consultant Ed Thomas told the group that
some of that language had been changed and that staff would provide the
panel with the a revised "Purpose and Activities" document.  The panel was
originally slated to wrap up its work at its third meeting on January 16,
but it now seems clear that the group will need more time.

For more information, contact Adam Gordon, Baltimore Regional Partnership,
at adam@balto-region-partners.org.  December 13 Sun story available at
www.sunspot.net/content/cover/story?section=cover&pagename=story&storyid=1150520211105


TRANSPORTATION OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE ISSUES RECOMMENDATIONS

A committee commissioned by the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board
and charged with identifying regional transportation priorities presented
its recommendations to the transportation board at its November monthly
meeting.  The panel was chaired by former transportation secretary William
Hellmann, and included representatives of the Greater Baltimore Committee,
BWI Business Partnership, Citizens Planning and Housing Association, 1000
Friends of Maryland, and each of the region's jurisdictions.  The
committee also received input from Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Baltimore
Regional Partnership staff. 

The panel's broadest recommendations included timely initiation of the
transportation board's announced Vision 2030 effort, a structured regional
process to maximize opportunities to integrate land use and transportation
planning in concert with state smart growth policy, and a new regional
transportation management association (TMA).  The TMA would focus its
efforts on maximizing the use of Maryland Commuter Choice tax incentives
in the private sector and promoting government benefits, such as those
announced for federal DC-area workers in April and Baltimore-area state
employees December 22.  The committee also specifically urged aggressive
implementation of measures to achieve the state's goal of doubling transit
ridership by 2020.  Transit recommendations included calls for greater
investment to improve the region's bus system; initiation of studies for
potential new rail corridors; improved connections for pedestrians,
transit riders, and BWI Airport travelers; establishment of a Baltimore
Regional Transit Advisory Committee to advise the Mass Transit
Administration; and elimination of the state's 40% farebox recovery
requirement.  The committee also identified three highway priorities,
including the Baltimore beltway, and it recommended development of a
strategic plan for the I-695 that would explore variable pricing and other
measures to maximize the efficient use of that corridor.  The panel urged
early collaboration among the region's chief elected officials to set
regional transportation priorities each year and the establishment of a
coalition to promote the region's transportation priorities to the
Maryland Department of Transportation and General Assembly.  The coalition
would be chaired by the Greater Baltimore Committee and would include
civic, business, environmental, smart growth, and other groups.

Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, who announced
formation of the committee in April, praised the report when it was
presented at the Baltimore Region Transportation Board's November 20
meeting.  At the board's December 19 meeting the designated
representatives of the region's executives discussed the report's
recommendations, but the board has not yet taken formal action on them.

For more information contact Dan Pontious, Baltimore Regional Partnership,
at danp@balto-region-partners.org, or Jamie Kendrick, CPHA, at
JamieK@CPHAbaltimore.org.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

January 3, 2001
*Bicycle & Pedestrian Work Group meeting.  9:30 AM, Maryland Department of
the Environment, 2500 Broening Highway, Dundalk (NOTE: This is a
correction from 12/10/00 newsletter).  For directions and more
information, contact Barry Bergman, BMC, at bbergman@baltometro.org.

January 4
*Emissions Mitigation Strategies Subcommittee.  10:00 AM, Baltimore
Metropolitan Council offices, 2700 Lighthouse Point East, Suite 310,
Baltimore (on Boston St. near O'Donnell St., in Canton).  For more
information, contact Dan Pontious, Baltimore Regional Partnership and
chair of the subcommittee, at danp@balto-region-partners.org, or Earl
Long, BMC, at elong@baltometro.org.

January 15
*7th Annual Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit.  2:00 - 5:00 PM,
Legislative Services Building Joint Hearing Room, 90 State Circle,
Annapolis. Elected officials, citizens and community leaders from across
Maryland to outline the important environmental legislative priorities for
the 2001 Maryland General Assembly, including transportation and smart
growth issues.  Registration begins at 1:30 pm.  RSVP by  January 8 to Dan
Burger, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, at dburger@mdlcv.org.

January 16
*MD 32 Land Use Expert Panel meeting.  4:00 PM - 6:00 PM. The Gateway
Building, 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia.  For more information,
contact Adam Gordon, Baltimore Regional Partnership, at
adam@balto-region-partners.org.

January 23
*Baltimore Regional Transportation Board monthly meeting.  9:00 AM,
Baltimore Metropolitan Council offices, 2700 Lighthouse Point East, Suite
310, Baltimore (on Boston St. near O'Donnell St., in
Canton).  For more information, contact Joan Gorsuch, BMC, at
jgorsuch@baltometro.org.

*Federal Recertification Public Participation Opportunity.
Afternoon/evening (exact time to be determined), BMC offices.  Federal
transportation agencies must certify every three years that each
metropolitan planning organization (MPO) meets requirements of federal
transportation law.  In past reviews the Baltimore Regional Partnership
has highlighted participation by local elected officials and the public as
key shortcomings of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board relative
to federal law.  By initiating this process in January, the Federal
Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration are beginning
their 2001 review of the BRTB early.  For more information, contact Dan
Pontious, Baltimore Regional Partnership, at
danp@balto-region-partners.org.

February 7
*Public Meeting on Public Involvement Plan for Baltimore Regional
Transportation Board.  5:30 PM, BMC offices.  The Transportation Board
will be releasing a draft Public Involvement Plan for comment on December
26.  The draft plan will be available at www.baltometro.org.  Written
comments are due by February 20.  For more information, contact Lisa
Minnick, BMC, at lminnick@baltometro.org.

February 20
*Baltimore Regional Transportation Board monthly meeting, with elected
officials. 8:00 AM, BMC offices.  This will be the local officials'
opportunity to comment on the federal transportation agency
recertification process begun in January. For more information, contact
Joan Gorsuch, BMC, at jgorsuch@baltometro.org.

March 15
*The Natural Step -- A Framework for Sustainability Workshop, at Ten Oaks,
Howard County.  A workshop on sustainable development for business,
government, and community leaders, as well as architects,
designers, and planners.  The Natural Step is a science-based approach
designed to enhance strategic planning and bottom-line benefits. For more
information contact Mare Cromwell, Cirque Sustainability, at
mcromwell@toad.net.

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2.  A T  T H E  S T A T E  L E V E L

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY ANNOUNCES 2001 LEGISLATIVE EVENTS

Maryland's coalition of environmental groups has announced its annual
series of events designed to educate citizens about issues that will face
the 2001 Maryland General Assembly.  The events include a statewide
Environmental Legislative Summit in Annapolis on January 15 and local
issue forums held around the state. This year, as in past years,
transportation and smart growth issues will play a prominent role on the
environmental community's agenda.  Governor Parris N. Glendening and
Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend will outline their
administration's initiatives, including their new transit and "community
legacy" proposals.  The summit, traditionally held on the afternoon of
Martin Luther King Day, features briefings from community leaders,
environmental groups, and elected officials and previews the schedule and
issues of the just-begun state legislative session. County-by-county issue
forums provide a more local opportunity for citizens to learn about the
environmental issues that will loom large in Annapolis.  See the regional
Calendar of Events, above, for more information on the January 15 summit.
See county sections of this newsletter below for information on local
issue forums.

For more information, contact Dru Schmidt-Perkins, 1000 Friends of
Maryland, at dru@friendsofmd.org.


STATE HOUSE CALENDAR 2001

January 10
*General Assembly convenes, noon, State House, Annapolis.

January 15
*7th Annual Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit.  See regional
calendar above for details.

January 17
*Governor Glendening's State of the State Address

February 2
*Senate bills must be introduced to guarantee hearing

February 9
*House bills must be introduced to guarantee hearing

April 9
*Adjournment at midnight "Sine Die"

_____________________________________

3.  A N N E  A R U N D E L  C O U N T Y

COUNTY OFFICIALS WORKING ON PAROLE PHASING PLAN

Anne Arundel County is working on a plan to help ensure that proposed
development at Parole Plaza will conform to the principles set forth in
the 1994 Parole Growth Management Area plan, county officials said.  In
media coverage of the Baltimore Regional Partnership's December 6 letter
to County Planning and Zoning Officer Dennis Canavan, county spokesman
John Morris said that the County is working on a phasing plan for the site
along the lines of what the Partnership had suggested.  Parole Plaza's
owner, Freedman & Company Real Estate, has proposed a multi-phase, 25-year
plan for revitalizing the site as a walkable town center.  The
Partnership's letter, however, expressed concern over how little the
proposed first phase of this plan, a single-story, auto-oriented Wal-Mart,
contributes towards the broader town center concept.  The Partnership
urged that permits for the first phase not be issued unless it requires
some basic infrastructure for a town center environment to be constructed
on the site.  Final adoption of any agreement between the developer and
Anne Arundel County is not likely to take place before spring 2001. The
Partnership plans to stay in contact with county officials as this
agreement takes shape.

For more information, contact Adam Gordon, Baltimore Regional Partnership,
at adam@balto-region-partners.org, or George Maurer, Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, at gmaurer@cbf.org.  December 13 Sun story on letter available
at
www.sunspot.net/content/news/story?section=news-maryland-sun&pagename=story&storyid=1150520210746.  December 13 Annapolis Capital story available at
www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/live/12_13-04/TOP.  December 17 Sun
story on County Executive Janet Owens that mentions Parole Plaza and
Partnership letter available at
www.sunspot.net/content/cover/story?section=cover&pagename=story&storyid=1150520213416
Full text of the Partnership's December 6 letter is available at
www.balto-region-partners.org/canavan_letter.htm.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 1
*Environmental Issues Forum.  7:30 PM, C-1 Tawes State Office Building (at
the corner of Rowe Blvd and Taylor Ave).  Information on environmental
issues facing the 2001 Maryland General Assembly and opportunities for
citizen involvement.  For more information, contact Joan Willey at
herbals@erols.com.

_____________________________________

4.  B A L T I M O R E  C I T Y

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

January 17
*Environmental Issues Forum.  7:30 PM, Govans Presbyterian Church, 5820
York Road (across from Staples Office Supply and next to Senator Theater).
Information on environmental issues facing the 2001 Maryland General
Assembly and opportunities for citizen involvement.  For more information,
contact Dru Schmidt-Perkins at dru@friendsofmd.org.

_____________________________________

5.  B A L T I M O R E  C O U N T Y

MEETING ON OWINGS MILLS DEVELOPMENT SET FOR JANUARY 18

An area civic coalition and business group have teamed up to host a
January 18 town meeting on the town center development at the Owings Mills
Metro stop being proposed by Baltimore County and the Mass Transit
Administration.  At 7:00 PM at the Owings Mills High School, citizens will
have the chance to hear a presentation from the developer, Berwyn,
PA-based LCOR Inc., and county and state officials.  Citizens will then
have the opportunity to ask questions in the large group or an information
booths set up around the meeting space.  The event follows three focus
groups held this past fall by LCOR that explored issues of concern to the
communities.  The development, which would occur on what is now a 46-acre
parking lot, is slated to include about $200 million worth of residential,
commercial, office, and civic space, along with new parking garages to
replace the current surface lot.  Civic elements of the project include a
library, education center, an open-air "town square" where community
events and fairs could be held, and indoor event space in a 150-room hotel
on the site. Local civic leaders are generally supportive of the plan, but
some have been concerned about its impacts on local traffic, schools, and
nearby existing retail businesses along Reisterstown Road.  The January 18
event is sponsored by the Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon (ROG)
Coordinating Council and the Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon Chamber of
Commerce.  Snow date is January 24.

For more information, contact Calvin Reter, ROG Coordinating Council, at
CReter1523@aol.com, or Dan Pontious, Baltimore Regional Partnership, at
danp@balto-region-partners.org.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

January 9
*Environmental Issues Forum.  7:00 PM, Oregon Ridge Park.  Information on
environmental issues facing the 2001 Maryland General Assembly and
opportunities for citizen involvement.   For more information, contact
Erica Parker at Gbsierr@CS.COM

January 18
*Town Meeting on Proposed Owings Mills Town Center Development.  7:00 PM.
Owings Mills High School.  Snow date January 24.  For more information,
contact Calvin Reter at CReter1523@aol.com.

_____________________________________

6.  C A R R O L L  C O U N T Y

COMMISSIONERS APPROVE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

After a five year, often contentious process, Carroll County has adopted
its first new Master Plan since 1964.  In a unanimous December 18 vote,
the County Commissioners adopted a document which attempts to guide future
growth in Carroll County towards existing town centers.  Due to objections
from county commissioners to an earlier draft of the plan, however, the
new plan's guidelines are explicitly labeled "recommendations," rather
than the more forceful term "strategies."  The county planning commission
also made other changes at the behest of Commissioners Donald Dell and
Robin Bartlett Frazier but over the objections of third commissioner Julia
Gouge.  Those changes included deleting plan language that recommended
hiring a historic preservation planner, deleting plans to identify scenic
roads in the County, and inserting language recommending against signing
the current regional Reservoir Watershed Management Agreement.  Those
changes all overrode wording devised by both four citizens' committees who
worked with county planners to draft the plan, wording originally approved
by the county planning commission. The county commissioners also adopted a
revised zoning map concurrently with the plan, including the controversial
rezoning of the Rash Farm in Woodbine to allow for a golf course community
on the site. Still outstanding are a series of requests for rezoning of
agricultural land to industrial use in the Finksburg and Freedom areas.
Many of the requests are for agricultural land within the Liberty
Reservoir watershed, changes that would specifically violate the regional
Reservoir Watershed Management Agreement.

For more information, Adam Gordon, Baltimore Regional Partnership, at
adam@balto-region-partners.org.  December 19 Baltimore Sun article on the
plan available at
www.sunspot.net/content/news/story?section=news-maryland-sun&pagename=story&storyid=1150520214175.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 8
*Environmental Issues Forum.  7:30 PM, call or email for location.
Information on environmental issues facing the 2001 Maryland General
Assembly and opportunities for citizen involvement.  For more
information, contact Greg Becker, (410)-876-2182 or (410)-386-4490 ext.
714 or gregb@ccpl.carr.org

___________________________________

7.  H A R F O R D  C O U N T Y

WATER FACILITIES TRANSFER SETS STAGE FOR SMART GROWTH CONFLICT

Despite a requested delay in a November 11 letter from the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation and the Deer Creek Watershed Association, the Aberdeen Proving
Grounds has formally transferred ownership of its water and sewage
treatment facilities to the City of Aberdeen.  The city, in turn, has
applied to the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) for a water
withdrawal permit in order to make use of its newly-acquired water.  The
transfer of water facilities, which may include up to six million gallons
per day in water rights, could enable the the city to expand considerably
more than anticipated into areas of Harford county not targeted for
growth.  In their November 11 letter, CBF and the watershed association
had asked APG commander, Major General John C. Doesburg, to delay the
transfer of facilities until significant smart growth issues related to
the transfer could be resolved.

The water facilities transfer could become an important test case for what
many see as a loophole between Maryland smart growth policy and state
water and sewer planning requirements.  Although the state's smart growth
law defines the limits of county priority funding areas (PFAs) in part by
the availability of public water and sewer service, state water and sewer
planning requirements do not limit the expansion of water and sewer
service to the land area needed to accomodate expected population growth.
Thus, inflated water and sewer service expansion plans can lead to
excessively large smart growth areas, or PFAs, weakening the intent of
state smart growth law.  In this case, Harford County has so far attempted
to restrict any worsening of that dynamic with respect to Aberdeen. The
county already rejected a request from the City of Aberdeen for
significant expansion of public water and sewer service and city
boundaries into the county because it would allow growth to occur in areas
outside of county-designated smart growth areas.  The city's newly
acquired water facilities, however, and its pending application to MDE for
a water withdrawal permit now leaves the issue in the state environmental
agency's court.

For more information, contact George Maurer, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, at
gmaurer@cbf.org, or Rich Norling, Deer Creek Watershed Association, at
norlingr@aol.com.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 8
*Environmental Issues Forum.  7:30 PM, Isaac Walton League Chapter House,
Woodsdale Rd.  Information on environmental issues facing the 2001
Maryland General Assembly and opportunities for citizen involvement.  For
more information, contact Terry Cummings at tcummings@cbf.org, or Gary
Nordman at (410)-569-0227.

_____________________________________

8.  H O W A R D  C O U N T Y

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 14
*Environmental Issues Forum.  7:30 PM, County Police conference room,
Route 216/29 in Public Service complex behind Cherry Tree Plaza.
Information on environmental issues facing the 2001 Maryland General
Assembly and opportunities for citizen involvement.  For more information,
contact Dennis Luck at  drl1@erols.com or Nancy Davis at nancyld@erols.com

_____________________________________

ABOUT THE BALTIMORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP AND NEWSLETTER

The Baltimore Regional Partnership is an alliance of five civic,
environmental, and anti-sprawl groups: 1000 Friends of Maryland
(www.friendsofmd.org), Baltimore Urban League (www.bul.org), Chesapeake
Bay Foundation (www.savethebay.cbf.org), Citizens Planning and Housing
Association (www.CPHARegionalCampaign.org), and Environmental Defense
(www.environmentaldefense.org).

This newsletter explores current issues, recent and upcoming events, and
ongoing deliberations that affect the region's quality of life through
transportation, economic development, and land use policy and planning.

We hope to link citizens in the region who are working to fight sprawl,
promote clean and efficient transportation, protect valuable farm and
forest lands, and revitalize urban areas, older suburbs, and historic
towns.

Has this newsletter been forwarded to you, and you would like to receive
it yourself?  Visit our web site at
www.balto-region-partners.org/news.htm to sign up and to view past issues.

Send us information, too.  Let us know about your work on land use and
transportation decisions that are affecting the Baltimore region.

Email information to Adam Gordon at adam@balto-region-partners.org.  Visit
the Baltimore Regional Partnership website at:
www.balto-region-partners.org.