What started as a simple, universally praised idea to replace a vacant lot at the edge of the Oakland Mills Village Center with an office condominium building is getting more and more complicated - and there's a political subtext.

County Executive Ken Ulman is trying to ensure construction by using $4 million in county money to buy one of the building's four floors. The Metroventures project on Stevens Forest Road is considered vital to revitalization efforts in Oakland Mills, part of Ulman's Democratic political base in Columbia. Without the county's purchase, the developers can't secure construction financing. County Councilman Calvin Ball, an east Columbia Democrat who represents Oakland Mills and also strongly supports the building, is pushing hard for approval of the county's investment.

Meanwhile, Councilman Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, and Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a west Columbia Democrat, raised questions last week at a council work session about parking at the Meridian Square building.

Everyone has remained polite and focused on the issues, but the case could test the council's nonpartisan approach.

Ulman has said that he will withdraw his funding request at tomorrow night's council meeting and resubmit it in April as part of the fiscal 2009 capital budget.

Fox contended that the number of parking spaces required by the county is at least 36 below the minimum because of a claim that 12,142 square feet of the 60,000-square-foot building was counted as storage, which requires no parking. Devoting that much space to storage seems unlikely, he argued. He also questioned whether plans to have some of the building's parking spaces along public streets would cause safety problems and force people to park too far from the building.

"I want to get answers," Fox said the next day. "It's great if they can get a building there that fits on that site. It should still have to have some semblance of meeting the regulations."

Ball, a former revitalization coordinator for Oakland Mills, objected, saying, "I don't see what this has to do with a budget amendment that's being withdrawn." But that didn't stop Fox, who came prepared with charts and research.

Fox said he's worried about "buying into a building that has serious concerns."

Sigaty said she's troubled by the idea of using public streets for parking since county regulations require parking to be on site.

"This is a public policy decision I think is important," she said.

Ball noted that the Oakland Mills community is strongly in favor of the building and has the support of local businesses.

County Planning Director Marsha McLaughlin said: "This project was considered a special project. Our regulations don't deal with redevelopment." She said the county could be flexible, depending on the situation.

The alternative, she noted, "is to continue to leave this a derelict site."

Sigaty said she's worried about setting a precedent on parking that other developers might want to copy.

Meanwhile, the groundbreaking for the building has been pushed back - from late November to summer at the earliest - if the council approves the county purchase. The capital budget takes effect July 1.

Young voters

A state Senate bill designed to ask Maryland voters to modify the state constitution to ensure 17-year-olds can vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 before the next general election has drawn bipartisan support from 16 General Assembly members, including two Howard County state senators.

"When I was 17 in 1976, I was able to register and vote in the primary of the presidential election," said Howard Republican state Sen. Allan H. Kittleman, one of the co-sponsors. "To me, that makes sense. I wanted to be involved."

State Sen. James N. Robey, a Howard Democrat, also is a co-sponsor.

"I think it's important," Robey said. "We want to encourage young people to vote."

The issue was a morass of confusion over the past year after a lawsuit sought to stop 17-year olds from voting in primaries.

Last summer, state elections officials notified 3,600 teens that they would not be able to vote in the primary. After a new interpretation of the law in December, the 17-year olds were told they can vote next month after all. In January, officials said those younger than 18 could vote only in the two major party primaries.

If voters agreed, the bill would place into the state constitution the right of 17-year-olds to vote in a primary provided they would reach age 18 before the next general election.

"It's good legislation," said Grace Kubofcik, co-president of the county League of Women Voters.

larry.carson@baltsun.com