Tuesday, February 5, 2013
A decision released Tuesday said the opponents of zoning issues in two council districts had enough signatures but ruled the petitions were legally deficient.
UPDATED (9:23 p.m.)—The Baltimore County Board of Elections ruled that petitions to referendum zoning decisions in two council districts will not be placed on the 2014 ballot. Baltimore County Elections Director Katie Brown wrote in a decision issued Tuesday afternoon that while opponents had collected the required number of signatures, the petitions were legally deficient. Andrew Bailey, an attorney for the county Board of Elections, reviewed five challenges to the petition filed by attorneys representing Greenberg Gibbons, the developer of the proposed Foundry Row project on the grounds of the old Solo Cup factory. "I believe that the form of the petition, as circulated to potential signers, was insufficient to alert them to what exactly…
Friday, October 5, 2012
Community leaders claim referendum on zoning decisions would "render the work of communities and the council vote meaningless."
A loosely formed group of community associations said Friday that it has formed a coalition to fight developers attempting to force two county zoning bills to referendum. The Don't Sign It! Coalition plans to begin a public education campaign to oppose a group calling itself the Coalition for Zoning Integrity, which is backed by David S. Brown Enterprises and The Cordish Companies. Cheryl Aaron, zoning chair for the Greater Greenspring Association and an organizer of the Don't Sign It! Coalition, said the attempt to overturn zoning decisions made by the County Council in August is bad for communities. "Communities don't have the resources to file referendums and hire lawyers and organizers to go out and collect signatures," Aaron said. "It…
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Councilman Ken Oliver chastises Chairwoman Vicki Almond for late introduction of amendments to his bill affecting the Metro Centre at Owings Mills.
A disagreement Monday night over amendments to a bill impacting an Owings Mills development led Baltimore County Councilman Ken Oliver to publicly accuse two of his colleagues of working for attorneys of a rival development. A clearly irritated Oliver questioned the motives of Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond and Councilwoman Cathy Bevins after several amendments were introduced immediately prior to the vote. Bevins, an Oliver Beach Democrat who represents Essex, Middle River and Parkville, co-sponsored three sets of amendments that affect the Owings Mills area, split by Oliver and Almond. "How are you going to put an amendment on my bill at the last minute without asking me," Oliver said to Almond. "Is this how were going to legislate in …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Bill highlights access development lawyers have and community activists say they wish they had.
A law firm that raised thousands of dollars for two freshman Baltimore County council members wrote "significant portions" of a bill that could benefit a client seeking to develop a contested Bowleys Quarters marina. The proposed legislation was introduced last month by Councilman David Marks and had a hearing before the full council on Tuesday. One of its provisions allows for developments to be built in rural areas of the county if any portion of the property has water and sewer service. The proposed 36-unit condominium project on Galloway Creek in Bowleys Quarters is such a project. Its developers are represented by the Towson law firm of Smith, Gildea and Schmidt. In an interview, Marks said the politically-connected firm wrote “…
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Chesapeake Gateway Chamber of Commerce and the Baltimore County Marine Trades Association honored the former county executive with a luncheon.
Former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith was born and raised in Reisterstown but while Smith’s roots are from the western part of the county, many Essex-Middle River residents consider him one of their own. From the expansion of Route 43 to the opening of new communities, Smith oversaw a radical redevelopment of eastern Baltimore County during his eight years as county executive from 2002-2010. Members of the Chesapeake Gateway Chamber of Commerce and the Baltimore County Marine Trades Association recognized Smith’s contribution to the community and honored him with a luncheon recently at The River Watch Restaurant in Essex. “Jim was one of those who came from the west side but quickly learned what the eastside was all about,” said Bob …
Monday, September 12, 2011
Proponents vow to undo the vote. The task force will not produce report by the Oct. 1 deadline.
A task force reviewing how Baltimore County school board members are selected will not recommend a move to an elected or partially elected board. Six commission members approved a series of deft motions offered by former County Executive Jim Smith. The first motion eliminated any form of elected school board from discussion. A second, offered immediately after the first was approved, refocused the task force's attention on modifying the current system, which requires the governor to appoint members. The governor currently gets recommendations on county school board appointments from the county executive. "We haven't had the input that justifies [an elected school board]," Smith said, adding that momentum was needed for the group to meet an…
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Portrait hung in Old Courthouse joins those of 10 previous county executives and an uncle who was a circuit court judge.
For eight years Jim Smith served as county executive in an office on the mezzanine of the Old Courthouse in Towson. Now his portrait will hang in the hallway outside that office along with those of the 10 previous executives from the man known as "Iron Mike" Birmingham, the county's first executive, to Dutch Ruppersberger, Smith's predecessor and current congressman. Current County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and former County Executives Ted Venetoulis, Donald Hutchinson, Dennis Rasmussen, Roger Hayden and Ruppersberger lunched with Smith before a ceremonial unveiling of the photograph. The tradition of hanging the portraits was started 20 years ago by Hayden, one of two Republicans to hold the office. The photo of Smith was taken six months …
Monday, January 10, 2011
New county executive takes announcement show on the road for the first time in at least two decades.
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is expected to announce his legislative priorities for what will be the first General Assembly session of his new administration during a morning news conference Tuesday in Annapolis. That's right—Annapolis. This is the first time in 16 years, and possibly longer, that a Baltimore County executive has announced his agenda outside of the county. Previously, under County Executives Jim Smith and Dutch Ruppersberger, such announcements were affairs held in Towson at the Old Courthouse—a serving of legislative meat and potatoes along with sausage, eggs and coffee for the county's state lawmakers in attendance. The meetings were as much a social gathering as they were the county executive's attempt to get …
Monday, December 27, 2010
Oliver Beach Democrat Cathy Bevins, a Dundalk High grad, used to sit in the back at community meetings. Now she's in the spotlight.
Cathy Bevins frequently attended community and civic meetings, but she used to sit in the back. As former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith's constituent services coordinator for the eastside of the county, Bevins was supposed to work behind the scenes. But now, as the new Baltimore County Council member representing District 6, which includes Middle River, Overlea and Fullerton, the 51-year-old Bevins is in the spotlight. "It's a little surreal standing in the front of the room," says Bevins, an Oliver Beach Democrat and Dundalk native. Take the recent "Issues and Eggs breakfast," an annual "must" political event sponsored by the Marine Trades Association of Baltimore County and the Essex-Middle River-White Marsh Chamber of Commerce…
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Bankruptcy trustee accuses John Vontran of ‘gross mismanagement’ and providing ‘inaccurate and incomplete information.’ Effect on ambitious Dundalk development project remains uncertain, though work continues, a published report says.
John Vontran, who bought the onetime site of the troubled Yorkway apartment complex in Dundalk promising to build 66 upscale homes, has consented to Chapter 7 liquidation of assets, a Baltimore newspaper has reported. Baltimore's City Paper reported Wednesday the consent to liquidate came Oct. 25 after a U.S. bankruptcy trustee accused Vontran and his wife, Kelly, of "gross mismanagement" and providing "inaccurate and incomplete information" to creditors about Yorkway LLC, the project's developer, and a related company. The City Paper also reported John Vontran's former video-poker machine company, Amusement Vending Inc., had forfeited more than $50,000 in illegal gambling proceeds to the federal government earlier this year. What effect …
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