Ken Ulman, the Democratic candidate for Howard County executive, unveiled a plan Friday for downtown Columbia that would impose a 14-story height limit on buildings and mandate affordable housing options.
“The community?s voice has been loud and clear that a 22-story building has no place in our town center,” Ulman said.
He said he has kept his vision for downtown Columbia under wraps until now because he wanted community input to dictate the redevelopment.
“Unfortunately I have grown very dissatisfied and disappointed with the process,” he said, citing the Department of Planning and Zoning?s proposal to build about 5,500 residential units downtown.
If elected, Ulman said he would keep the amount of residential units closer to 1,600.
His proposal also includes plans to:
» Mandate green development for downtown buildings.
» Convert Merriweather Post Pavilion to a year-round indoor/outdoor venue.
» Establish a conservation commission that would review all redevelopment plans for their environmental impact.
“I think it?s exciting,” said Town Center resident and Ulman supporter Helen Ruther. Ruther said the 14-story height restriction was the best feature of the plan.
“If you look around here, you want to keep it [building height] somewhat in scale,” she said.
But other candidates for Howard County executive said Ulman?s plan was too little, too late.
“I think the future of Town Center should be developed with citizen input over the course of the next year, not on the last weekend of a campaign,” said Republican candidate Christopher Merdon in a statement. “Setting an arbitrary number on height and residential units without the benefit of community input is premature.”
C. Stephen Wallis, the independent candidate, said the proposal is “too late to be plausible.”
“Both parties conduct these type of press conference because they attract attention,” he said. “These positions are seen as disingenuous, empty promises.”
