Some critics of the downtown Columbia redevelopment plan approved unanimously Monday night by the County Council are girding for a possible petition campaign to place the issue on the November ballot as a referendum.
"I'm pretty sure we're going to do a petition campaign," said Mike Berla, a Columbia resident who added that about a dozen people are organizing for the attempt. The law requires at least 2,500 valid signatures within 60 days and another 2,500 within 30 additional days for a referendum to appear on the ballot. The two bills were signed by County Executive Ken Ulman late Wednesday. Strict rules for signatures under a December 2008 ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals would make the job more daunting, but Berla said he's not discouraged.
Although the group is small now, Berla said it will grow substantially and quickly.
"It's going to be done with hundreds of people," he said.
Alan Klein, spokesman for the Coalition for Columbia's Downtown, said he would personally support the petition drive.
"Overall, the council failed the county and left way too much to be decided later," he said. "While the bills are better than where they started, they are not ready for prime time," he said, praising only council member Jen Terrasa, a King's Contrivance Democrat, for pushing for more affordable housing and a maximum height limit lower than the 20 stories approved.
The final two bills were so crammed with amendments that the council meeting began 40 minutes late to allow final details to be ironed out. Council members and affordable-housing advocates had worked the preceding weekend to create a new housing amendment with a $43.5 million fund to provide units for all families of all income levels. That plan replaced an earlier one that required that 15 percent of new units be reserved for people earning less than $80,000 a year.
Bridget Mugane, president of the Howard County Citizens Association, said her group hasn't discussed a petition drive, but she too is "very disappointed. The program is too big for the infrastructure," she said, adding that the county's sewer capacity won't be able to handle the new load. "Only one-third will fit right now," she said, adding that she believes the new roads, interchanges and other improvements needed will cost taxpayers $1 billion.
The plan calls for up to 5,500 new homes, 4.3 million square feet of commercial office space, 1.25 million square feet of retail, hotels, public plazas, and major environmental and transit improvements.
But critics' worries that the General Growth Properties plan will overwhelm county roads and sewer plants, not to mention taxpayers' ability to pay for infrastructure, aren't bothering fans of the plan.
They applauded and cheered the council's final 5-0 votes Monday night on each of the two bills - the General Plan Amendment that lays out the plan, and the Zoning Regulation Amendment that will enforce it. They gathered Tuesday morning at the Lakefront statues of James W. Rouse and his brother Willard to celebrate and praise the council's efforts.
"Members of Bring Back the Vision are just as happy as we can be today," said Emily Lincoln, the group's founder. "This is the process that's going to put Columbia back on the cutting edge."
Another supporter of the plan, Jud Malone of Columbia Tomorrow, put it differently.
"This is a warm day, despite how your toes may feel."
He warned those attending the gathering that "we can't stop. We don't have a downtown yet. We have an opportunity for a downtown."
After the voting on 92 amendments and amendments to amendments plus the bills themselves at about 11:30 p.m. Monday night, council members and County Executive Ken Ulman expressed their feelings.
"Tonight's unanimous vote is the end of an extensive planning process, but just the beginning of a dynamic 30-year plan," he said. "Working together, we have created a comprehensive master plan for the revitalization which will bring jobs and vitality to downtown Columbia."
"I thought about writing a speech for today, but I was up until 7 o'clock this morning working on writing amendments," Terrasa said. She also thanked Ulman for his behind-the-scenes support and counsel throughout.
Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a west Columbia Democrat, said she was most impressed that the Town Center Village Board voted to support the plan. "They live in this project," she said.
Greg Fox, the council's only Republican, said he was pleased, too.
"In the end, I think we balanced the needs of the community, the county, and those that will be investing in redevelopment. Everything helped shape this very historic bill."
Calvin Ball, an east Columbia Democrat, called it a series of "great next steps to the future of downtown Columbia."
Council Chairwoman Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat, said the effort to draft the new housing amendment made a big difference to her.
"I was skeptical about this plan when it was first presented," she said, but the council's hard work to change it has made it a good plan. "The housing amendment really rounds it out for being the community's plan," she said. Housing advocates had pushed hard for a way to help lower-income families afford apartments in the new downtown.
One week before the final votes, they despaired that would not happen, but the council, GGP and Ulman's administration made it a reality.
"I think that's marvelous," said Sherman Howell, vice president of the African American Coalition of Howard County and a charter member of the Full Spectrum Housing Coaltion, the group advocating for housing lower-income people can afford.
"Unlike Washington, they can govern on major issues," he said about the county government.
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