Courthouse zoning changes gain
Planning board allows developers more flexibility in proposals for site
HOWARD DIGESTPlans for a new county courthouse took a step forward last week when the county’s planning board approved zoning amendments for the proposed location on Bendix Road in Columbia.
The zoning amendments identified the courthouse as a permitted use for the property’s zoning type, “employment center-industrial.”
The amendments are necessary to move forward with the proposed development of a new courthouse on the property, according to staff in the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning.
Amendments to the zoning will allow potential developers more flexibility when submitting proposals for the site, said Pete Stone, an architect with the consulting firm Pennoni Associates, said during an Aug. 17 meeting.
The nearly 30-acre, county-owned property on Bendix Road now includes a one-story building that houses government agencies and the land records office, as well as a 9.5-acre parking lot.
Proposed plans for a courthouse to replace the 174-year-old building in old Ellicott City have been talked about on and off for decades, but finally began moving forward late last year with a push from County Executive Allan H. Kittleman.
The new building would include 227,000 feet of space for eight courtrooms and a 600-space parking garage, with a projected completion date of 2021.
Officials put out an “expression of interest” in July to the business community for proposal submissions to be part of the private consortium of consultants who will handle design, construction and maintenance of the courthouse, according to Daryl Paunil, chief of facilities in the Department of Public Works.
Submissions are due to the county by Sept. 20. The county will review and choose the top three submissions before moving into the request for development round, Paunil said.
The county hopes to have chosen the private consultants, including an architect, construction contractor, financier and operation and maintenance group, in approximately a year.
Route upgrades, service Residents got their first look at proposed changes to the region’s transit system this past Monday at a public meeting for the CentralMarylandTransitDevelopmentPlan.
The meeting was the first of four the Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland and the Maryland Transit Administration are hosting to gather public input on a plan that is meant to improve service to riders in Howard and Anne Arundel counties and parts of Prince George’s County.
Monday’s meeting began the second set of public meetings officials have held on transit issues in the region.
The development plan will be executed in two phases, according to Howard County Office of Transportation Administrator Clive Graham. Top features of the first phase of the plan, to be implemented over the next three to five years, include redrawing routes to cut down the time it takes to reach major county locations, such as Howard County Community College and Howard County General Hospital, and increasing weekend service.
To create more direct county routes, Graham said, the plan is to shorten the existing nine routes and break them up into 14. This would significantly cut down on the time it takes it to complete each route, Graham said.
Weekend service would be increased during the first phase of the plan. Saturday service would begin two hours earlier at 6 a.m. and run an hour later, until 11 p.m.; and Sunday service would run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Buses would also run twice as frequently on a one-hour basis instead of two hours.
Graham said the first phase of the plan requires that the county add three more buses to its fleet to serve the additional number and frequency of routes.
The buses take approximately a year to be delivered once they are ordered, and cost roughly $360,000 each. Because of the extensive delivery time and cost of new buses, Graham said, replacing all the outdated buses would take several years.
The plan does not including changing bus fares, according to Graham. A one-way fare costs $2.
Graham said Howard County’s buses need to serve those who most need them — riders coming to and from work. Eighty-five percent of riders do not own their own cars, and almost half make $20,000 or less annually, according to a 2017 transit report.
The second phase of the development plan includes adding routes in four key areas in Howard: Elkridge, River Hill, Maple Lawn and Turf Valley. Graham said the second phase is expected to be implemented over the next 15 to 20 years, as funding becomes available.
Graham said despite a light turnout at Monday’s meeting, attendees were interested in the plan, particularly in the future of the county’s bus fleet and proposed service changes. He said some attendees didn’t believe the plan did enough to take a “visionary” approach.
The next public meeting is Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the county’s nonprofit center in Columbia.
— Kate Magill, Baltimore Sun Media Group
The zoning amendments identified the courthouse as a permitted use for the property’s zoning type, “employment center-industrial.”
The amendments are necessary to move forward with the proposed development of a new courthouse on the property, according to staff in the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning.
Amendments to the zoning will allow potential developers more flexibility when submitting proposals for the site, said Pete Stone, an architect with the consulting firm Pennoni Associates, said during an Aug. 17 meeting.
The nearly 30-acre, county-owned property on Bendix Road now includes a one-story building that houses government agencies and the land records office, as well as a 9.5-acre parking lot.
Proposed plans for a courthouse to replace the 174-year-old building in old Ellicott City have been talked about on and off for decades, but finally began moving forward late last year with a push from County Executive Allan H. Kittleman.
The new building would include 227,000 feet of space for eight courtrooms and a 600-space parking garage, with a projected completion date of 2021.
Officials put out an “expression of interest” in July to the business community for proposal submissions to be part of the private consortium of consultants who will handle design, construction and maintenance of the courthouse, according to Daryl Paunil, chief of facilities in the Department of Public Works.
Submissions are due to the county by Sept. 20. The county will review and choose the top three submissions before moving into the request for development round, Paunil said.
The county hopes to have chosen the private consultants, including an architect, construction contractor, financier and operation and maintenance group, in approximately a year.
Route upgrades, service Residents got their first look at proposed changes to the region’s transit system this past Monday at a public meeting for the CentralMarylandTransitDevelopmentPlan.
The meeting was the first of four the Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland and the Maryland Transit Administration are hosting to gather public input on a plan that is meant to improve service to riders in Howard and Anne Arundel counties and parts of Prince George’s County.
Monday’s meeting began the second set of public meetings officials have held on transit issues in the region.
The development plan will be executed in two phases, according to Howard County Office of Transportation Administrator Clive Graham. Top features of the first phase of the plan, to be implemented over the next three to five years, include redrawing routes to cut down the time it takes to reach major county locations, such as Howard County Community College and Howard County General Hospital, and increasing weekend service.
To create more direct county routes, Graham said, the plan is to shorten the existing nine routes and break them up into 14. This would significantly cut down on the time it takes it to complete each route, Graham said.
Weekend service would be increased during the first phase of the plan. Saturday service would begin two hours earlier at 6 a.m. and run an hour later, until 11 p.m.; and Sunday service would run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Buses would also run twice as frequently on a one-hour basis instead of two hours.
Graham said the first phase of the plan requires that the county add three more buses to its fleet to serve the additional number and frequency of routes.
The buses take approximately a year to be delivered once they are ordered, and cost roughly $360,000 each. Because of the extensive delivery time and cost of new buses, Graham said, replacing all the outdated buses would take several years.
The plan does not including changing bus fares, according to Graham. A one-way fare costs $2.
Graham said Howard County’s buses need to serve those who most need them — riders coming to and from work. Eighty-five percent of riders do not own their own cars, and almost half make $20,000 or less annually, according to a 2017 transit report.
The second phase of the development plan includes adding routes in four key areas in Howard: Elkridge, River Hill, Maple Lawn and Turf Valley. Graham said the second phase is expected to be implemented over the next 15 to 20 years, as funding becomes available.
Graham said despite a light turnout at Monday’s meeting, attendees were interested in the plan, particularly in the future of the county’s bus fleet and proposed service changes. He said some attendees didn’t believe the plan did enough to take a “visionary” approach.
The next public meeting is Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the county’s nonprofit center in Columbia.
— Kate Magill, Baltimore Sun Media Group
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