The detailed, often thorny issues involved in crafting an urban sign code for the redeveloped downtown Columbia pushed the Howard County Council late Tuesday to extend a work session discussion into this coming week, raising the possibility that a final vote could be postponed until March.
Discussions of new zoning rules for beehives and design guidelines for the Columbia project seemed to move smoothly, but questions about downtown signs seemed to grow.
Councilwoman Courtney Watson said she's worried that allowing more signs in downtown Columbia could pose a problem, given that visual clutter has worsened along U.S. 40 in her district even under the county's more restrictive sign code.
"If you drive up and down Route 40, it doesn't look very suburban. Do we really want more?" asked the Ellicott City Democrat.
But county planners said the redeveloped downtown Columbia would have buildings facing in different directions that would need multiple signs to help people find their way.
Brian Spencer, a consultant for the developer, the Howard Hughes Corp., noted that some buildings might have retail facilities on one level, topped by a gym, with entrances to residential and office floors as well.
Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a West Columbia Democrat, said buildings might face motorists on one side and pedestrians on another.
The council delved into such details as signs under overhangs, formulas for determining the size of signs, how many signs a building of 10 stories or more should have, and whether video boards or electronic message signs should be allowed and how they might be regulated.
"This is the big issue that we heard about," Sigaty said.
Watson said she favors allowing the electronic signs as a variance that the Planning Board would have to approve. "The thing that gives me pause is that we have none of these," she said.
One thing she is determined to ban, Watson said, are inflatable "flappy guy" signs. "The guy waving at you. I think we ought to get rid of those in the whole county."
The discussion is to continue at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, with a vote scheduled for Feb. 7, though Sigaty said the bill could be delayed a month if necessary.
The new design guidelines would regulate a proposed three-decade-long redevelopment project that could see up to 5,500 new housing units, 1.25 million square feet of retail space and 4.3 million square feet of office and commercial space built around The Mall in Columbia and the Merriweather Post Pavilion,
None of that work can begin until the guidelines and regulations governing signs are approved. Some groups are wary of electronic sign boards proposed in the sign legislation, and Columbia Association board members are opposed to illustrations in the measure that show roads and bridges on CA land.
The project's developer, the Howard Hughes Corp., has pledged in writing to replace and environmentally enhance any CA land needed for the right of way for a road to run parallel to Broken Land Parkway that would serve new buildings that would be built on current Merriweather parking areas.
Sigaty said the concerns are "very important" and that drawings that suggest such things as a new U.S. 29 interchange, a swimming pool at Lake Kittamaqundi and the road through Columbia Association property should be removed or corrected, though they have no legal force.
Deputy County Solicitor Paul Johnson told the council that the illustrations in the legislation are just suggestions. "It's impossible to know where [exactly] a road may go until it's implemented" and the county approves specific plans, he said.
Watson said she would offer an amendment to the beehive bill sponsored by Sigaty and Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, that would ease the distance requirement to 25 feet, or 10 feet with a 6-foot fence or hedge.
Watson's amendment — like a 2007 Baltimore law — would prohibit beehives from "unreasonably interfering with the property of others or the comfort of the public." That would protect residents against a nuisance beekeeper, she said, though Jennifer Terrasa, a King's Contrivance Democrat, wondered whether keeping beehives at least 15 feet from a neighbor's yard with a fence or hedge instead of 10 feet might not be a good idea.
"I think this is a great bill," Terrasa said, and "absolutely necessary." But she said she is worried about people in townhouses who might feel they are living too close to beehives.
Sigaty noted that a 15-foot minimum distance to adjoining properties would eliminate townhouses from legal beekeeping since their backyards are less than 30 feet wide, although private covenants might now have that effect in much of Columbia.
Most council members favor easing the current zoning rules on beehives, which treat the insects the same as farm animals, requiring that hives be at least 200 feet from adjoining properties.
An Ulman administration request for authority to sell bonds to buy the 160,000-square-foot Ascend One building at 8930 Stanford Blvd. is the newest issue before the council, but came up only at a public hearing after the work session. County public works director James Irvin called it "a unique opportunity" that would save the county money and enable the eventual sale of the much-smaller Gateway building, allowing county offices to consolidate.
Fox agreed that "at first blush, this appears to make sense."
The building purchase will be discussed further at next week's work session.