Smart Growth

Two Smart Growth Act experts didn't mention the local university center controversy during a debate on the state law at a Hagerstown conference Wednesday. Questioned after the one-hour debate, the speakers said they had heard about Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening's Nov. 30 decision to build the University System of Maryland Hagerstown center in the Baldwin House complex in downtown Hagerstown. But neither brought it up or took a position on his choice. Glendening has said one of the main reasons he chose the downtown site is that it was more consistent with his Smart Growth Act initiative than sites at the Hagerstown Community College and Allegheny Energy's Friendship Technology Park site off Interstate 70. The initiative's goals include discouraging sprawl and revitalizing downtowns.

Following are some of the reactions Wednesday to the governor's decision: Washington County Commissioners President Gregory I. Snook: "We have accomplished our No. 1 goal in getting it here in the county. I wish the city the best of luck. Commissioner John L. Schnebly: "My only hope is that he understands the enormity of the financial task in front of him. It is not just about renovating an old building. There are issues about parking, transportation, security and so forth and most importantly, marketing, that come to play with the selection of this site.

I could have saved Gov. Parris Glendening the cab fare. He came to Washington County two weeks ago, I just discovered, to see how Western Marylanders would like to see increased gun regulations. Where's he going next, the Eastern Shore to see how they'd like a ban on fishhooks? The governor's proposed "Smart Guns" legislation would use technology that may or may not exist to keep pistols from being fired by anyone other than their owner - and most importantly, Glendening says, from being fired by kids.

A group of Hagerstown Community College professors has sent Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening a letter endorsing the HCC campus as the most "logical and efficient location" for the University System of Maryland, Hagerstown center. The community college site on Robinwood Drive is "academic smart growth," said Tom Clemens, a humanities professor at HCC and president of the Washington County Higher Education Association, a 3-year-old group of about 45 full-time faculty members. College President Norman P. Shea said Thursday he backs Allegheny Power's Friendship Technology Park site off Md. 632, which was endorsed in February by the Washington County Steering Committee.

Nice little bombshell Gov. Parris "In the Springtime" Glendening dropped on the Prominent Classes in Hagerstown last week. The governor mentioned in passing that the possibility of placing the University of Maryland branch campus in the downtown Baldwin House still appeals to him, despite the fact that local leaders want the classrooms to be built at Allegheny Energy's Friendship Technology Park off I-70. The Prominent Classes are justifiably stressed by this turn of events.

A downtown location for the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Center is still under consideration, despite recommendations to the contrary by local and university officials. [cont. from front page ] "It isn't as cut and dried as some people think," said Ronald N. Young, deputy director of the Maryland Office of Planning. The news was an aside to Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony for the new Washington County District Court building. Speaking under a tent off West Antietam Street, Gov. Parris Glendening praised the future site of the District Court as a perfect example of his Smart Growth initiative, which seeks to direct public investment toward revitalizing downtown areas.

Like almost every other state, Pennsylvania's state government is caught in a tug-of-war between those citizens who want their own little piece of the country and that reality that if left unchecked, suburban sprawl will be a budget-buster. By failing to go forward with the recommendations of his own commission, Gov. Tom Ridge looks like a man more determined to avoid offending builders than an official trying to solve a problem. The 21st Century Environment Commission spent more than a year studying growth patterns in the state and last fall issued more than 200 recommendations.

For the third time in three years, the Washington County Commissioners held a public hearing on a Clear Spring rezoning Monday night. The county's proposal would reduce the amount of highway interchange zoning around the town, changing most of it to rural-residential and agricultural land. The county twice before tried unsuccessfully to rezone the area, which extends north of town to the south side of Broadfording Road and east to Ashton Road. It reaches west of Big Spring Road and south of Interstate 70. If approved, the rezoning would limit the potential for commercial development at Clear Spring's outskirts.

There's an old saying among lawyers that "hard cases make bad law. " It means that difficult legal cases often result in decisions that aren't in citizens' best interests. That's the danger facing Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening's "Smart Growth" program, which is under fire because it would block six projects, five of which citizens say are needed to relieve traffic congestion in areas across the state. The governor needs to find a way to compromise, or risk seeing opponents overturn the 1997 legislation.

By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. on Friday told the Forvm for Rural Maryland that Maryland's rural legislators have gained clout during the 1990s. Taylor's speech wrapped up the daylong conference at the Best Western Venice Inn. Organizers explained that the "v" in "forvm" is for "voice," as in the voice of rural Maryland. Taylor, an Allegany County Democrat, said that voice was scattered when he arrived in the General Assembly more than 20 years ago. "We were too busy worrying about our parochial turf interests," he said.