The Baltimore County Board of Appeals has sided with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. over vocal neighborhood residents in allowing the utility to proceed with a massive expansion of an electrical substation in the north county.
Residents immediately said they would appeal the decision. An appeal would go to Circuit Court first.
In a public session Wednesday, the three-member administrative appeals board unanimously agreed that BGE had offered substantial proof that the expansion of Ivy Hill Substation at Joel Court and Ridge Road near Falls Road is needed to meet an increased power demand. The new substation would be more than 12 times larger than the current one. The board rejected residents' arguments offered in a series of hearings that the expanded substation would have a severe impact on their neighborhood. The oral decision will become official when the board issues a written opinion.
The existing facility covers 1,500 fenced-in square feet, including transformer and equipment. The proposed substation would occupy 19,125 square feet.
Angry and bitter over what they believed was a cavalier rejection of their issues, residents vowed to take appeals "to the highest court."
"We may have lost this battle, but in the end, we will win the war," said Carol Rytter, spokeswoman for Friends of the Ridge, which was formed to fight the expansion.
Rosemary Hanley, who lives across the street from what would become the entrance to the new substation, said she was crushed by the decision and by the way the board dealt with the residents' concerns.
"They didn't even want to hear what we had to say or what our expert witnesses had to say about such issues as real estate values or the health risks of electromagnetic fields," Mrs. Hanley said. "The board dismissed our concerns as almost frivolous."
BGE hailed the decision as a re-affirmation of its position that use of the land for the large substation is justified.
The board affirmed a decision last June by the county zoning commissioner granting BGE a special exception to build the larger substation in a rural residential zone. The zoning commissioner also granted BGE some setback variances it needed.
BGE plans to build the new substation on 2.9 acres on three lots, one it has owned since 1956 on which the existing substation was built, one it acquired in 1988 and a third it bought in September. The latest purchase originally was part of the Fox Ridge Estates development plan.
Residents argued that use of the third lot constitutes a major change in the plan and requires approval by the Planning Board.
J. Carroll Holzer, attorney for Friends of the Ridge, said the case came down to land use. The expanded substation is too large a use for the neighborhood, he said.
The immediate area served by Ivy Hill has grown by an average of 75 houses a year for 10 years, said BGE spokeswoman Nancy Hooper Caplan. The new substation would increase electrical capacity by 400 percent, Mrs. Caplan said. She said the substation is 20 percent over capacity and the extra load must be handled by an Owings Mills substation.
The site is to be screened with 160 8- foot to 10-foot evergreen trees.
Two board members had strong words for BGE concerning the screening and landscaping plans.
"Screening and landscaping is vital, as far as this board is concerned, and I can't emphasize this enough," said Chairman William T. Hackett.
Mr. Hackett said if the utility doesn't follow through, the board could "take away your special exception. And without the special exception there is no substation."
Mrs. Rytter said all 26 substations in residential areas studied by Friends of the Ridge had inadequate or poorly maintained screening.
Mrs. Caplan said the company is reviewing its screening plans for its substations. She said BGE is committed to properly screening the new Ivy Hill substation.