Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Howard County hearing: developer and DPZ dispute nature-trail alignment for Simpson Oaks; neighbors say they weren’t notified
Summary
Simpson Oaks CRP 3 LLC and Howard County planners clashed Aug. 19 over where a neighborhood nature trail required by earlier zoning approvals should end: the developer and its engineer said the zoning board adopted sketch plan S15007 in 2016 showing the trail terminating at Grace Drive, while the Department of Planning and Zoning sought a path alignment that would cross Cedar Lane and connect to Robinson Nature Center.
Simpson Oaks CRP 3 LLC continued an administrative appeal on Aug. 19 in front of the Howard County hearing examiner over the alignment of a neighborhood nature trail required under prior community enhancement floating-zone approvals for the development at 7600 Grace Drive (SDP 19-025).
The developer’s counsel and engineering witness told the hearing the zoning board adopted sketch plan S15007 in a Nov. 10, 2016 decision order as the controlling design concept plan and that the sketch plan depicts the trail terminating at Grace Drive and tying into an existing bike lane rather than continuing across Cedar Lane toward Robinson Nature Center. ‘‘I wouldn't even put my seal on a pedestrian pathway going adjacent to a floodplain river,’’ said Robert Vogel, the engineering consultant for the petitioner, describing why he judged DPZ’s requested alignment to be unsafe and impractical.
The dispute traces to two zoning-board orders. An initial…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
