At the urging of Ellicott City residents who want to preserve the charm of their neighborhoods, the manager of the Patapsco Valley State Park wants to try to save 71 acres adjacent to the park from development.

But it may be too late. Plans have been drawn to develop 19 acres of the property along College Avenue with 82 houses and 17 townhouses, and the proposal goes before the county Department of Planning on Thursday.

"We're very concerned," said Mike Smith, a College Avenue resident who is spearheading the effort to prevent the site, called Autumn River, from being developed. "It's an idyllic spot, frankly, but all that is going to change."

The Autumn River parcel is part of the largest swath of undeveloped land -- about 400 acres -- left in Ellicott City. All of it is owned by Dr. Bruce Taylor, medical director and chief executive officer of Taylor Manor Hospital in Ellicott City.

Taylor has already developed some of his other extensive holdings in Ellicott City and has plans to develop the rest, according to Joseph W. Rutter Jr., director of the Department of Planning and Zoning.

On Tuesday, Smith -- a consultant who has a master's degree in real estate development -- met with Walter Brown, manager of Patapsco Valley State Park. Smith proposed that the park buy the land, which is predominantly wooded with about one-fourth serving as an active horse farm. There are two streams on the land, large areas of steep slopes, and a small pocket of wetlands.

Brown said Friday that the state might be interested in the property, which the Department of Natural Resources identified as a candidate for acquisition in its 1986 plan for the park. But he said it depends on the price, the amount of money in the state's coffers and the willingness of the owner and developer to negotiate.

Owner willing to consider

Taylor said he'd be willing to consider the idea, if the state would pay him fair market value.

"We certainly would explore it if the park would explore it with us," he said. He declined to assess the value of the property.

Smith met with the developer, Donald L. Reuwer, president of Land Design & Development Inc. in Columbia, on Friday to discuss the idea. Afterward, Reuwer downplayed the 90-minute meeting as "not serious."

'There is no offer'

"There is no offer," Reuwer said. "So I can't say it's serious at all."

Reuwer said he is puzzled by the proposal because, under an agreement with the county Department of Recreation and Parks, about 45 acres of the Autumn River site would be donated to the agency as parkland.

"It's hard to imagine that it would be wise to use public funds to buy the other 30 or so acres," he said.

Sally Bright, an Ellicott City activist who opposes the development, said the zoning wouldn't allow Reuwer to develop those 45 acres.

"They're not really giving it," she said. "They couldn't build on it anyway."

She said the development, even though it will be clustered on a small part of the property, will still crowd College Avenue, a scenic road, and destroy the charm of the surrounding neighborhoods.

"I guess our concerns are the environment and development so close to a scenic road," she said. "I wish they wouldn't build so close to the road."

A 'choice parcel'

Brown, who called the land a "choice parcel," said the state has been interested in acquiring the land -- all 71 acres -- for some time.

"It's nice to be able to add land to the park," he said. "To me the exciting part is when you can get a parcel and know there's additional acreage out there that's being protected from development."

Brown said he did not know how likely it is the park would buy the land.

"There's a chance," Brown said. "I wouldn't say it's likely, but there's a chance."

Smith said he and other citizens intend to ask the planning board at Thursday's meeting for more time to organize.

Rutter said it's up to the board whether to give the citizens more time to prepare.

"If the state is interested in acquiring the land, it would be appropriate for them to contact the owner and see what the response is," he said.

Plans 'too dense'

Smith said he and other critics in the Worthington, Bonnie Branch, Ilchester and College Avenue neighborhoods object to the proposed development for a number of reasons. He said it's "too dense" for the neighborhood and would overcrowd College Avenue.

"College Avenue is a dangerous, narrow, hilly road that cannot safely accommodate additional traffic," he said.

Although he acknowledged that the zoning allows for development, he said it's not right.

"It's not an appropriate use of the neighborhood," he said. "There are responsibilities also with rights."

Mobilizing support

Taylor defended his plans to develop.

"It's always interesting that everybody would like things to be like they were when they first found it," he said. "But if we all did that, we'd be standing still."

Smith said he'll do everything he can between now and Thursday to mobilize citizens to support his plan.

"For crying out loud, it's Christmas time," he said. "If there were a Christmas present for the neighborhood, for the community, it's for the state to come along and buy this property."

Pub Date: 12/14/98