It's perfect, now change, Columbia residents say

The Baltimore Sun

If the success of a community can be measured by the depth of affection it arouses in residents, then Columbia is near perfect.

Here, people talk in worshipful tones of the Howard County town's developer and founder James W. Rouse, who looked at 14,000 acres of farmland in the early 1960s and saw a busy, diverse city. He was the ultimate visionary, residents say with enormous pride, inevitably throwing out a favorite Rouse quote, perhaps about how the purpose of a city ought to be to "grow people."

To many devotees, Columbia isn't just a place, it's a set of values. The unincorporated town of about 100,000 is all about creativity, tolerance, respect for families and nature, they say. Many moved here because they bought into the whole package, not just good schools, green backyards and miles of bicycle paths - though the town has those, too.

But as Columbia turns 40 this year and residents whoop it up in honor of their grown-up, beloved hometown, even the most hard-core boosters will admit it's time to update the founder's vision. Residents are heatedly debating which of the town's features work and which ones - despite Rouses' best intentions - simply don't.

Just about everyone agrees there should be better pedestrian access downtown and more affordable housing, but how many new residences should be built? Is there a need for restrictions on building heights? How can Columbia's leaders transform Town Center, which is dominated by a hulking, aesthetically uninviting but wildly successful shopping mall, into a lively, pedestrian-friendly urban space? How do they craft a downtown plan that retains what people so love about their city but also turns it into a place that reflects 21st century lifestyles and principles?

"Forty years ago, Rouse didn't have a town of 100,000 to build consensus with," said Matthew D'Amico, an urban planner whose firm facilitated the 2005 community charrette intended to lay the groundwork for Columbia's new master plan.

The process can be challenging because of the city's insistence on inclusiveness, he said. But coming up with a plan to guide development is urgent. "If they don't, they will get bits and pieces," he said. "And 10 years from now we're going to look back and say, 'Boy we blew it.' "

To really understand what's at stake, it is essential to know about the city's past, say villagers who have been marking Columbia's 40th birthday with 40 days of celebrations that will end Sunday evening with a performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Many can - and will - recite Columbia's story, which began in 1963, when Rouse announced his intention to create a city complete with jobs, housing, recreation, schools, culture and health care facilities. His plan called for a town hub with a mall and lake, village centers with shops anchoring nine residential neighborhoods, vast swaths of green and economic and racial diversity.

Rouse defied the image of the rapacious developer by talking about love when philosophizing about urban design, and the town included an array of features to encourage community building, from interfaith centers to clustered mailboxes.

"My wife is white. I'm black. And we lived in areas of the world in the U.S. that were very non-diverse," said George Hunter III, who returned with his family to Columbia, where he was raised, several years ago. "In general, the community is much more accepting than any other place I've lived," including Boise, Idaho; Chicago; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Greensboro, N.C., and Pittsburgh.

"None," he said, "compared favorably."

Rouse's ideas brought a measure of acclaim to the town. In some circles, Columbia was heralded as a model for planned communities, a glowing counter-example to haphazardly plunked-down suburban subdivisions and shopping centers.

"The county has always said the Rouse Company kept its promise that was made 40 years ago," said Robert Tennenbaum, director of real estate development at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and one of Columbia's original planners. "What it brought was a tax base. It brought an incredible number of jobs. ... It brought, obviously, shopping and rational development."

Yet some of Rouse's lofty ideas have not stood the test of time.

"It was built to the best standards of its day, in fairness," said John McIlwain, senior fellow for housing at the Urban Land Institute in Washington. "But by today's standards it would be considered a failed model."

Some critics complain the town is so successful that settling there has become a financial impossibility for many people. Furthermore, Columbia's downtown is a car-dependent flop void of charm, some say. The famously curvy roads are disorienting and drivers' reliance on a few major arteries promotes heavy traffic. Some village centers are anemic.

"Rouse thought that people would walk to the supermarket in each village and the dry cleaners and so on. Well, they don't and quite frankly, I don't think they'll ever do so unless cars are no longer permitted," said Bridget Mugane, a member of the focus group working on Columbia's new master plan.

So now the county, residents and General Growth Properties Inc., which bought the Rouse Co. in 2004, are attempting to address some of those problems, focusing on Town Center. The ring around the mall, the lakefront and roughly 80 acres of undeveloped land are at the heart of discussions.

The draft master plan that emerged from the charrette envisioned up to 5,000 new housing units in Town Center, office buildings with ground-floor cafes and entertainment venues and a grand park carved out of Symphony Woods, which surrounds Merriweather Post Pavilion. With help from the focus group, the county has been refining that plan and a new version will likely be released by early fall after a consultant completes a traffic study, said Marsha McLaughlin, director of the county's Department of Planning and Zoning. Then it will go to Howard County Council for approval.

McLaughlin likes to emphasize that residents agree on many major issues. They want a walkable, less auto-centric, downtown with shops, restaurants, sidewalk cafes, handsome landscaping and "vibrancy" - a frequently invoked word. They want arts venues, diversity, more public transit and affordable housing and they don't want to lose the greenery they love.

"It's important to remember Rouse's intent," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, who was born in Columbia. "He wanted people to be out meeting their neighbors and friends and spending time together and that just doesn't happen the way it should in Town Center." Ulman hopes that under the new plan, a certain percentage of new housing downtown will have to be affordable to low- and middle-income families.

Mugane would like to see welcoming buildings replace the boxy office towers she says are so sterile that even "austere" is too grand a word for them. She believes constructing housing and offices to support activity downtown is essential, but she worries about overdoing it, given the current traffic situation.

That's the looming question that has been a major point of contention: How much development is appropriate?

A sticking point has been a Florida developer's plan to build a 23-story condominium tower with a name that highlights its luxury ambitions: The Plaza Residences. The tower, as designed, would have ground-floor retail and units ranging in price from $565,000 to $2 million, according to the company Web site.

The tower was not discussed at the charrette because the developer had already obtained building permits and county officials believed it was unfair to backtrack so late in the process. Some residents, who consider the proposed building unmanageably tall, were furious.

"It's going to block my view. It's going to not give me sun. It's going to cause traffic and create parking problems," said Joel Broida, who lives next door and filed a lawsuit to stop the project. "It's just out of place."

In the lawsuit, Broida says the planning board violated policy in approving the building. Currently, the parties are waiting for the County Circuit Court to determine if Broida has the legal standing to pursue the case.

WCI Communities Inc, the developer, is waiting for a resolution or a compromise before starting to build, said William Rowe, a company vice president. He defended the tower, saying it will bring in pedestrians, include gathering places and generate less traffic than an office.

"Our building is an example of smart growth," he said. "And it sets the bar at a new height for architectural design and building quality."

And so, the debate carries on, underscoring the obvious: It's hard to look out over the decades, as Rouse did, and imagine a place set in an unknown future. As they slog through plans and seemingly endless meetings, some residents find consolation in Rouse's belief that thriving cities are never finished.

On June 21, 1967, at a dedication marking Columbia's opening, Rouse invited visitors to look around the mostly empty town.

"I'm sure you'll have a sense of sharing with us in the gradual unfolding of this city and you'll have no sense that you've arrived at a completed place," he said. "It will be a long time being completed. Maybe never. We hope never."

rona.marech@baltsun.com

Columbia timeline

1963: The Rouse Co., headed by James W. Rouse, announces it has acquired more than 14,000 acres in Howard County - one tenth of the county's land - to build a city.

1964: The plan for Columbia's development is presented to Howard County government, along with a request for zoning that would permit greater flexibility in mixing land uses.

1965: Howard County passes the New Town District zoning ordinance, which leads to the acceptance of Columbia's Preliminary Development Plan.

1965: Columbia Parks and Recreation, now known as the Columbia Association, is formed. The mega-community association provides recreational services and oversees open space in Columbia.

1966: Construction of Columbia begins. Two lakes, a visitors' center, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Wilde Lake Village Center and Bryant Gardens apartments are among the earliest projects.

1967: The dedication of Wilde Lake marks the opening of Columbia.

1971: The Mall at Columbia opens.

1979: James W. Rouse retires as CEO of the Rouse Co.

1991: Construction begins on River Hill, Columbia's ninth and final residential village.

1996: James W. Rouse dies at age 81.

2004: General Growth Properties Inc. buys the Rouse Co.

2005: The public is invited to participate in a community charrette to lay the groundwork for a new master plan.

2007: Columbia celebrates its 40th birthday with a 40-day celebration in June and July.

[Source: Columbia Association]

An article in Tuesday's editions included incorrect information about a residential tower that a Florida developer plans to build in downtown Columbia. The developer obtained building permits for the project after a 2005 community planning charrette took place, not before.The Sun regrets the error.
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