by Lia Nigro
Freelance Writer based in Columbia, Maryland
County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball arrived at Oakland Mills High School June 11 with an entourage of 14 top county officials: fire and police chiefs, budget office and zoning office directors, and many more. He’d been asked to the Howard County Citizens Association (HCCA) annual meeting to answer questions from a broad range of community organizations, and he’d brought expert support. And while some officials left unconsulted, the meeting did indeed cover a multitude of topics, from the county’s brand-new start on a General Plan update to the environment, education, traffic, and more—including a testimonial to the charms of Savage, Maryland.
Ed Montgomery, chairman of the Savage Community Association, asked Ball about possible improvements to the town’s trails, and for support preserving its Targeted Ecological Area (TEA; see discussion of this issue by the Sierra Club) and in pursuing National Historic District status for the area between the Guilford and Savage bridge sites.
“One thing I’ve noticed over the years,” responded Ball, “….is that Savage often doesn’t get enough love.” Contrasting the attention given in past years to Ellicott City, Columbia and the western part of the county, he continued, “the focus…is definitely not what it should be.”
Ball remarked on positive recent changes in Savage such as the success of Savage Fest and investment to improve Carroll Baldwin Hall as well as effective lobbying by District 3 Council representative Christiana Rigby who “beats me up appropriately.” Val Lazdins, Director of the Department of Planning and Zoning then spoke specifically to Montgomery’s question, describing the upcoming county General Plan update as “perfect” for close review of concerns such as the TEA. “Simplistically,” he said, “what the General Plan process looks at is what areas we can preserve, what areas we can enhance, what areas we can transform.”
Montgomery said he wanted to be part of the process. “You’re going to be!” Ball said with emphasis, drawing laughter from the audience.
The General Plan update was announced the same day the HCCA meeting was held. Originally the plan had not been due for update until 2022. Acceleration was spurred by over 700 public comments received as the county explored zoning reform in 2017-18, with many comments relating to policy concerns rather than zoning specifics, according to discussion of the General Plan on the county website.
During the HCCA meeting, Ball responded to questions on updating the zoning code by stressing that regulation changes would be decided following completion of the General Plan update, a process expected to take between eighteen months and two years. “You have a General Plan, which then guides comprehensive zoning,” he explained. Ball pointed out that if the county undertook zoning at the comprehensive level needed, by the time it was completed it would be time to update the General Plan, which in turn would then lead to a zoning review. “Given limited resources, it was decided to accelerate the plan.”
Infrastructure will be one major focus for the Plan. Asked by HCCA if infrastructure is keeping up with development, Ball replied “No, I don’t think infrastructure and public facilities are keeping pace with our development. We are a very good county, but I see certain quality of life issues are eroding, have been eroding. Not any one person’s fault or any one factor. But when you know better you do better…..I commit as County Executive to work to do much better.”
Transportation plans as discussed at the HCCA meeting by Ball need to be “multi-pronged: improve wellness, improve service, and get cars off the road.” Ball described the current state of affairs as “unacceptable and unbearable.” In addition to continuing to seek opportunities to improve traffic flow (better signalization is “high on the list” for the Beltway and Routes 70, 29, 132, and 175, according to Ball’s transportation administrator Bruce Gartner), Ball plans to look at ways to improve public transportation, such as the expansion of RTA bus routes and times already underway and BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) “on the horizon” being explored with Montgomery County.
In the area of education, Ball discussed the need to focus in on “our greatest challenges, our greatest needs” since “we can’t fund everything everybody wants in one year.” He asked Carl Lorenzo, director of policy and programs for the county, to spotlight the HoCo STRIVES program. Lorenzo described the program as designed “to answer what role we can play in the academic and educational well-being of students when they are not in the classroom.” HoCo STRIVES is providing support in a range of areas from a summer meal program to after-school and summer enrichment programs, juvenile services reform, behavioral interventions, work training, and more.
Asked about support for minority students, Ball expressed determination to “go beyond diversity, to inclusion.” Asked whether the county would take advantage of a new state law allowing county education surcharges, he said yes. “Developers will pay their fair share.”
Throughout the meeting, Ball emphasized his commitment to the environment in ways as simple as planting trees or restoring meadows and as far-reaching as endorsing the Paris Climate Agreement. On one issue, solar power, he went further than the agriculturally focused groups in attendance wanted to see. A representative from the Concerned Citizens of Western Howard County, while praising Ball’s opposition to large-scale mulching operations on Agricultural Land Preservation Programs (AgPres) farms asked him to further regulate commercial solar operations on these farms. He explained that the solar panels in some cases took up so much land as to “extinguish” the possibility of use for agricultural purposes. In response, Ball said that in terms of supporting solar and alternative energy, “…frankly we should be doing more in Howard County.” He did promise to maintain “open dialogue” on the subject, however.
Later in the evening, toward the end of the meeting, Ball framed environmental commitment as a matter of good governance. “When I went up to New York to meet with our bond-rating agencies some of the things they asked related to climate change,” he said. “At first I was taken aback. Why were these fiscal hulks and financial people interested in climate change? I was the environmentalist in the room.”
“But what I recognized was that in their minds, if we were using bond funding, if we were using capital dollars, to build things, and we were building in a way that wasn’t sustainable, and we weren’t taking care of our money, then this wasn’t the investment it could be.”
It was the 59th annual meeting for HCCA, a membership organization dedicated to allowing Howard County citizens to be heard by their elected and appointed officials regarding important issues. They had hoped to have time for individual audience members to question Ball but their success in attracting eleven “co-host” organizations and the in-depth responses to questions from those organizations prevented that from happening. Still the sizeable audience seemed content upon departing; certainly the major issues likely to have arisen with individual participation had been addressed.
Officials on the panel with Ball at the HCCA event included Val Lazdins, Director, Department of Planning and Zoning; Amy Gowan, Deputy Director, Department of Planning and Zoning; Jim Irvin, Director, Office of Public Works; Mark Deluca, Deputy Director, Office of Public Works; Dr. Holly Sun, Director, Budget Office; Raul Delerme, Chief, Capital Projects, Park Planning and Construction, Department of Recreation and Parks; Joshua Feldmark, Director, Office of Community Sustainability; Lisa Myers, Chief, Howard County Police Department; Christine Ulham, Director, Fire and Rescue Services; John Jerome, Deputy Director, Deputy Chief, Fire and Rescue Services; Elizabeth Meadows, Chief, Community Planning and Grants, Department of Housing and Community Development; Bruce Gartner, Administrator, Office of Transportation; Gary Kuc, County Solicitor, Office of Law; and Carl Lorenzo, Director of Policy and Programs.
Community organizations who submitted questions as co-hosts of the HCCA meeting included the Chinese American Parent Association; Concerned Citizens of Western Howard County; Dayton Rural Preservation Society, LLC; Greater Highlands Crossroads Association; Howard County Association for Responsible Planning; Indivisible HoCo MD; Mobilize HoCo Schools; The People’s Voice, LLC; PTA Council Howard County; Savage Community Association; and the Sierra Club Howard County.