The County Council last night was urged to delay for at least a month its vote on a bill intended to bring the county's zoning procedures in line with a charter amendment approved by voters in the November election.
In urging the delay, Susan B. Gray, the chief architect of the charter amendment, said the council bill does not do what it's supposed to do.
She disagreed with an interpretation by Deputy County Solicitor Paul T. Johnson that special zoning uses, such as those that allow businesses in rural areas, are not covered by the charter amendment. The amendment, called Question B on the ballot, changes the method by which the county conducts its comprehensive rezoning.
In the past, comprehensive rezoning was done by the County Council sitting as the Zoning Board. It was not subject to voter referendum or the county executive's veto. But as of Dec. 8 -- the date the charter change took effect -- comprehensive rezoning must be done by the County Council in legislative session. As such, it is subject to referendum and a veto.
Ms. Gray contends that special zoning involving matters such as rural businesses are also subject to voter referendum and executive veto.
Mr. Johnson says they are not. He says they are "quasi-judicial decisions" that must be made administratively in a trial-like atmosphere subject to judicial review.
Stuart Kohn, a Laurel resident who voted for Question B, warned the council it has no right to approve legislation that would alter the intent of the charter amendment. "So get on with the program," he told council members, and postpone the decision "till people have the opportunity to hear the changes you want to make."
Councilman C. Vernon Gray pressed Mr. Kohn for specifics about how he believed the council bill would change the spirit of the charter amendment. Mr. Kohn said he had not had a chance to study the bill. He said he all zoning should be subject to referendum and executive veto.
Bill Waff, president of the Howard County Citizens' Association, praised the bill to implement the charter amendment, especially a section guaranteeing multiple public hearings in advance of council action on proposed zoning changes. However, Mr. Waff and Laurel resident Bob Solem expressed concern that under the charter amendment, council members can now meet privately with developers as well as constituents to talk about comprehensive rezoning issues. Previously, council members could not talk about zoning cases other than in public hearings.
Mr. Waff and Mr. Solem suggested that the council require its members to report all private conversations on zoning matters. Councilman Gray said that would be "an onerous requirement" because council members "often talk with hundreds of people" about legislative matters. Keeping track of those conversations would be difficult, he said.
The council is scheduled to vote on the legislation Jan. 3.