A Carroll County Circuit Court judge halted county plans yesterday to auction the old Hampstead Elementary School, leaving an opening for town leaders to pursue their development plans for the building.

Commissioners Donald I. Dell and Robin Bartlett Frazier had ordered the auction, which was scheduled for this morning, but the 10-day restraining order takes the decision away from the two, who leave office Dec. 3. The three incoming commissioners have said they probably will defer to town leaders' desires and cancel the auction.

Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. said he ordered the temporary restraining order because he thought the public good would be damaged if the county sold the school before the town had a chance to present its full argument against the auction in court.

Burns called the decision a "no-brainer" but did not comment on the fact that his decision put the school's fate in the hands of a new trio of commissioners.

Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin said he was thrilled with the decision and eager to present his plans for the school to the next board.

Hampstead leaders see the property as a potential centerpiece for a downtown revitalization.

"I want to talk to the new board of commissioners and see if we can quickly put this behind us on a positive note," he said. "I think we can do that."

Nevin said he wants to continue working with a development team that would transform the aging building into a senior housing center. In ordering the auction, Dell and Frazier said they were tired of waiting for the development team to secure financing for the project.

Dell said yesterday that he didn't want to discuss the school anymore.

"I gave it my best shot, and I think I was right, but now I guess the decision is up to the next board," he said.

The dispute between town and county over the fate of the school still could end up in court, if the new commissioners don't act swiftly.

Hampstead and county attorneys said they will proceed as if the legal dispute over the school, based on a lawsuit filed this month by the town, remains alive.

Town and county leaders have debated the best use for the 91-year-old building off Main Street for almost a decade.

Tentative agreement

Nevin thought he had found a solution last year when the commissioners agreed to let a town-selected development team put low-cost senior housing on the property. Under the tentative agreement, the county would have sold the property to the town, which then would have given it to the developers.

But Dell and Frazier withdrew their support for that project last month after the development team failed to obtain state tax credits needed for financing.

Nevin said he believed the decision was an act of political retribution because he had written in the town newsletter that he hoped neither Dell nor Frazier would be re-elected. Town leaders said that by auctioning the property, the commissioners would unfairly limit the town's control over its most important building.

Neither side would budge going into yesterday's court hearing in which Timothy C. Burke, a county attorney, argued against the injunction, saying the commissioners had never broken the law in scheduling the sale.

"What you have to look for is ... illegal action on the part of the county commissioners," Burke said. "And it's not there."

But the town's lawyer, J. Brooks Leahy, said precedent suggests a court should halt a sale of public property when two governments are at an impasse in deciding the best use for that property.

"You'd be hard-pressed to show a detriment to ordering an injunction against this rather hasty auction," Leahy said.

Burns, the judge, quickly agreed.

Burke said after the hearing, "I believe the next board will now have to decide if it wants to proceed with the auction."

Incumbent Julia Walsh Gouge consistently opposed Dell and Frazier on the auction, and said the development team deserved another shot at winning state tax credits for the senior housing project.

New commissioners

Incoming Commissioners Perry L. Jones Jr. and Dean L. Minnich said they wouldn't impose their will on a project that seems so important to Hampstead leaders.

"I think the town should work with this more than the county," Minnich said. "The school is right there. It's most important to them."

Several representatives for the original development team attended the hearing and said they were happy they might get another chance. They were prepared to bid for the property in the scheduled auction but preferred not to.

The developers, who include Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse of Baltimore and Interfaith Housing of Western Maryland, have met with the state officials who rejected their bid for tax credits and said they were encouraged to apply again. Their bid will be viewed more favorably if the town has firm control of the property, they said.

"We're ready for another go in February," said Jerry Bucey, spokesman for Interfaith Housing. "We're feeling very positive."