The Howard County Council Monday delayed voting on a redistricting plan that will define the boundaries of the five council districts for the next decade, as well as three proposals to amend the county's zoning regulations.
The redistricting plan before the council was selected by the Councilmanic Redistricting Commission on a 4-3 party-line vote, favoring Democrats. It has drawn criticism from the Wheatfield and Brampton Hills neighborhoods in Ellicott City, which are slated to move from District 1 to District 2.
After a work session on the plan Jan. 23, the council had still not reached consensus on what, if any, changes should be made to the commission's plan. Council Chairwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a Columbia Democrat, council member Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, and council member Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat, all filed amendments to the plan that are in conflict with one another.
At the Feb. 6 meeting, the council unanimously voted to extend the life of the redistricting bill by 30 days, so it could remain on the table until the council's next voting session on March 5.
"I believe that I can speak for all of us when I say we are hoping that we can come up with a plan that we can all agree on, and that is why we are taking the extra time, the extra 30 days," Watson said.
If the council does not approve a plan by March 15, the commission's plan will become law.
On Feb. 6, the council also unanimously voted to table three bills that would change the county's zoning regulations.
Sigaty said the council needed more information on a proposal to remove the zoning requirement that pick-your-own operations in rural conservation districts must have frontage on and direct access to a collector or arterial road, as well as a proposal to change setback requirements for horseback riding academies and stables.
Watson said the council tabled her zoning regulation amendment, which would authorize the county's cash-strapped nonprofit swim clubs to sell their developmental rights for one-time funding, "to take a little more time to make people comfortable with the provisions of this bill."