Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has approved permits for a 196,000- square-foot commercial and residential development within the Parole Growth Management Area, action some residents say violates a promise she made to hold off on building permits until design standards for the area had been set.
The firm that is building the development - which includes two restaurants, two one-story office buildings, a three-story office building, a bank and 28 townhouses - is MIE Industries, the president of which has been a steadfast adviser and generous supporter of Owens during the past four years.
Edward A. St. John and his wife, Kathleen M. St. John, contributed $4,600 to Owens' successful re-election bid.
County officials said yesterday St. John received building permits for his Riva Road project at the end of last month, within days of the Nov. 5 election.
His crews started work at the 28.6-acre site immediately. Early Wednesday, men in bulldozers moved masses of soggy soil. Stacks of bricks stood near building footprints.
"My understanding was that they were going to try to hold back these permits until the design standards were set," John Fischer, co-chairman of the Parole Growth Management Area committee, said yesterday.
Fischer said his citizens' committee has not met since June and that members have yet to hear back from the county regarding a draft document of design standards for the Parole Growth Management Area, a 1,600-acre swath of land that includes the MIE property, as well as shuttered Parole Plaza.
Council members must approve the standards - action which also has yet to take place.
Owens, who criticized her GOP predecessor for accepting campaign contributions from developers, received about one-fourth of her campaign contributions over the past four years from developers or individuals with development ties.
Chris Swatta, a member of the Parole citizens' committee, which has been meeting off-and-on for a decade, said he wasn't surprised that the Owens administration had backpedaled on a development project.
"I haven't even seen the MIE plans," said Swatta. "The committee asked for the plans and never got them. ... All I can say is that the county's Planning and Zoning Office is on Riva Road, and I hope they choke on the traffic."
He dismissed any connection between his campaign contributions and the permits.
Land Use Officer Robert L. Walker said St. John went through the same channels as other builders. "The mere fact that someone may know someone in county government has no bearing," he said.
Matt Diehl, a spokesman for Owens, said that a written statement released a year ago, when Owens vetoed legislation to set design standards, made clear her intentions.
Owens' November 2001 statement reads: "Any concern that building permits for the Parole Shopping Center will be issued before the final design standards are adopted can be put to rest. ... No building permits will be issued."