Attorneys for a group of business owners fighting a proposed Royal Farms gas station on Columbia's Snowden River Parkway are requesting that a series of hearings related to the proposal be put on hold in light of a recent task force report on fueling stations in Howard County.
The report, which was presented to the County Council earlier this month, recommends that new gas stations pass a needs assessment and adhere to a stricter set of health, safety and environmental guidelines before receiving approval. The council is considering the report's recommendations and could take up legislation to change gas station zoning regulations later this year.
In the meantime, say attorneys Katherine Taylor and Andrea LeWinter of the Columbia-based firm Taylor Legal, the Royal Farms hearings should be put on hold. Their clients, a group of business owners along the Snowden River corridor, including the owner of an Exxon station across the street from where the Royal Farms would be located at 9585 Snowden River Parkway, have been denied standing to protest the project and are appealing that decision. They argue a county decision to allow the station direct access to the parkway would worsen traffic along Snowden River, impacting their businesses.
The case is scheduled to be heard by the Board of Appeals, a quasi-judicial group appointed by the County Council that rules on zoning appeals, on Feb. 24.
"As there is a high likelihood that any [zoning regulation amendments] related to gasoline service stations will impact [the site plans] at issue in the instant case, judicial efficiency and equity to the parties will result" if hearings are delayed, the attorneys wrote in a motion late last week.
The county's hearing examiner, the first authority to hear zoning cases, has postponed all hearings on gas station proposals until the council follows up on the task force report, "to promote 'quasi-judicial efficiency' and protect against unecessary 'monies and time spent on lengthy appeals processes by proponents and opponents,'" according to Taylor and LeWinter's motion.
Howard's Planning Board had also been scheduled to review site plans for the project -- which include a Canton Car Wash -- at a March 5 meeting, but the county's Department of Planning and Zoning issued a letter on Feb. 13 removing the hearing from the docket, according to LeWinter.
LeWinter said the letter was "straightforward" and did not specify whether the hearing would be rescheduled for a later date.
DPZ Director Marsha McLaughlin said a decision to reschedule was still "up in the air" and that the department would wait and see what happens at the Board of Appeals hearing Feb. 24 before proceeding.