Less than 48 hours after Howard County voters elected a new county executive, Planning Director Joseph W. Rutter Jr. received a call from his counterpart in Anne Arundel County, Steven Cover, whose own boss was turned out of office.

"He said to me, 'Are we going to pass each other on [Route] 32?' " Rutter recalls, chuckling at the idea of trading places with Cover.

A seemingly innocent joke, the question has taken on a serious tone amid rumors about the future of Rutter, a man who many believe has aided the growth explosion of a county that has nearly doubled in population since 1980.

As County Executive Charles I. Ecker begins to make way for his successor, James N. Robey, one of the first questions the former police chief will have to answer is whether to retain Rutter as director of the Department of Planning and Zoning.

Robey isn't saying much, but as he suggests, there are plenty of opinions -- pro and con -- about Rutter.

"I know the development community loves him and the residential community hates him," Robey says. "I'm not going to move too quickly."

One of Rutter's supporters is Richard Story, executive director of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

"I've dealt with lots of planning directors and Joe by far has been the best to work with," Story says. "I have been absolutely comfortable since Day Two that I can hand off things to Joe and he will recognize the importance of what I'm giving him and that he will get things done."

Counters Peter J. Oswald, one of dozens of homeowners leading a fight against a proposed mixed-use mega-complex in Fulton: "Personally, he seems like a nice guy, but I think it's time for a change in that position. I think Joe and that department have become staunch advocates for developers rather than for the county."

Rutter says he would like to keep his job.

"This is a fantastic staff that works their butts off," he says. "I would miss this place."

Howard County is caught in the middle of a classic battle between those who see a need -- and a market -- for new houses and those who want to preserve the area's attractions.

Homeowners argue that growth could jeopardize a county recognized as offering one of the best public school systems and one of the lowest crime rates in the state.

But those factors and Howard's equidistant location between Baltimore and Washington also are attracting new residents at a rate of 5,641 a year since 1992.

According to the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, an umbrella group of local and state planners, the county is expected to reach build-out stage, with space available for development used up, by 2015.

Rutter's supporters contend that no one person can be blamed for such rapid growth. But County Councilman Darrel Drown, an Ellicott City Republican, notes that Rutter is in a position where the spotlight is always on.

"He's the point man, and he gets it [the scrutiny]," Drown says. "The job is an extension of the [county] executive, but it is also a part of his beliefs."

Rutter, who will be 52 next month, is the eldest of three boys born to Joseph and Marge Rutter. Raised in Kensington in Baltimore County until the family moved in 1954 to what eventually became Columbia, Rutter graduated from Howard High School in 1964 and got a job working for the State Highway Administration.

In 1966, Rutter was hired by the then-Office of Planning and Zoning for Howard County to help design the South Hanover Extension over the railroad near the Howard-Anne Arundel border in Elkridge.

For 20 years, Rutter climbed the career ladder, serving as an engineer technician, a planner, and chief of research until he became chief of the zoning division in 1986.

That year, Elizabeth Bobo became county executive and named Uri Avin her planning director. For the deputy planning director position, Bobo promoted Rutter.

Avin and Rutter were polar opposites. By most accounts, Avin was a brilliant visionary who wore expensive suits and despised working with residents. Rutter, who rolls up his sleeves before sitting down with visitors in his office, graduated from Howard Community College and never sought a bachelor's degree in land-use planning or engineering.

Rutter's open-door policy endears him to several civic groups, including the Greater Elkridge Community Association, which applauded his decision in August to subject a Baltimore company to public hearings after the firm built a recycling transfer station in the community without obtaining permission.

"His integrity is unquestioned," says association vice president Kevin Doyle. "I don't think that in any time we have dealt with him, that we felt that we had been misled."

Avin, who did not return several calls seeking an interview, and Rutter were instrumental in slowing growth under the Bobo administration, including placing a cap on building permits during the late 1980s. But after Ecker upset Bobo in her 1990 bid for re-election, he fired Avin and promoted Rutter.

Rutter helped draft the 1992 Adequate Public Facilities ordinance, which limits building to the ability of schools and roads to accommodate it and is roundly lauded as a cap on unbridled development.

The 1990 General Plan, a blueprint for the growth of the county, won the 1991 American Planning Association Award for Outstanding Comprehensive Planning.

Rutter's office has also been credited with preserving more than acres of parkland and open space and 17,000 acres in the county's agricultural preservation program.

The Rev. John Wright, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Guilford, says Rutter helped revitalize Guilford as a residential community by securing land for Guilford Park and turning away an effort to industrialize the area.

"He envisioned what this community could be, and out of that vision came a reality," Wright says. "I see him as a plus."

Those who have worked with Rutter have said he is a fair yet demanding director who holds developers accountable for sloppy plans, erroneous calculations and cookie-cutter concepts.

"Joe can be a bad developer's worst nightmare," says Donald Reuwer, president of Land Design & Development Inc. "He will tear it apart. He's an enforcer."

David A. Carney, a prominent land-use attorney, says Rutter can always be counted on to do what is right for the county.

"He will make the unpopular, the unfavorable decisions sometimes because that is the way he believes," Carney says. "But he does it because he thinks that is the right thing to do."

But those accomplishments have been marred by what many say are inconsistent policies. When Reuwer successfully obtained an exception in May to build a 116-unit condominium complex on 50 acres near Cattail Creek in Glenwood, opponents bitterly protested the department's endorsement as another example of sprawl.

When Rutter's office approved a plan last year to build 98 houses on 290 acres owned by Dayton farmer Charles Sharp, a community association sued the county and state for permitting the construction of homes less than 2,500 feet from the $l Triadelphia Watershed.

And when the department backed three mixed-use projects totaling more than 2,500 new houses in a five-mile section of the southeastern corner of the county, dozens of community leaders blasted the agency for approving too much too soon.

Those examples are just a few that lead local activists like John Taylor to call for a change.

"Joe's a nice guy, but the wrong man to be director of planning and zoning," says Taylor, who was president of the now-disbanded Howard Countians for Responsible Growth. "He just doesn't have the kind of conservative land-use planning that this county needs."

Bobo, Rutter's former boss, says she is disheartened by the ease and enthusiasm with which Rutter has embraced the developer-friendly growth policies of the Ecker administration.

"I understand you have to do what the executive wants you to do. It's just difficult to see people whom you placed in positions of authority undo the things that you worked so hard for," Bobo says. "It's been sad to see."

In his defense, Rutter argues that his office must follow the "letter of the law," which includes granting waivers and approving unpopular projects as long as they meet the standard criteria for such plans.

"Our job is to implement the law, not to substitute our own judgments for what's nice or not nice," Rutter says. "The same people that will criticize us for approving in-fill projects will also support the governor's Smart Growth initiative."

Rutter points out that he has several bosses, including the development and residential communities. He declines to attack his critics, especially his former boss.

"I have never spoken ill of Liz, and I'm not going to start now," he says.

Rutter's job has been in question before. When Susan Gray challenged Ecker in 1994, she said she would fire Rutter if elected.

Asked to comment on Gray's campaign promise, Rutter reportedly replied, "I wouldn't work for her anyway."

Rutter acknowledges he would have been replaced quickly had Republican County Councilman Dennis R. Schrader defeated Robey, a Democrat, this month. Rutter says Schrader challenged his office's recommendations and decisions.

If he leaves, Rutter says, he likely would join a private firm specializing in industrial development.

But he says he would look forward to serving under Robey.

"It's Jim's choice," Rutter says. "I think it would be exciting to work with him."

Pub Date: 11/15/98