Symphony Woods Renewal Gains Traction as Columbia Plan Accelerates

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

A series of presentations last month afforded Howard County Council members an up-to-date look at the plan for revitalizing downtown Columbia before their official role in the process begins.
For two nights, the legislators heard testimony from development and economic experts, but they also got something long awaited in the bargain: confirmation of the Columbia Association's (CA) readiness to revitalize Symphony Woods as a family-oriented park and cultural center.
As it now stands, the downtown revitalization plan crafted by General Growth Properties (GGP) at the behest of the county administration calls for 1.25 million square feet of new retail space, 4.3 million square feet of new office space and up to 5,500 new housing units spread among six neighborhood districts.
Cultural amenities, hotels, public gathering spaces and environmental restoration efforts are also part of the vision for Columbia. Development would occur in three separate phases during the next 30 years.

Need for Speed
Two pieces of legislation introduced to the council last month contain the summation of five years of ideation and community discussion focused on Town Center. Barring delay, a vote on Council Bills 58 and 59 could bring consequent changes to the county's General Plan and zoning regulations as early as December. A special council hearing on these bills is planned for Nov. 14.
Greg Hamm, regional vice president and general manager of Columbia for GGP, acknowledged that some residents think the legislative schedule is too short to allow the council to make an informed decision, despite years of planning and discussion and the exhaustive public input, ranging from the charrette to public forums that have been included in the process.
"There's a concern that somebody's going to go to bed Monday night and wake up Tuesday morning and see trees going down and Manhattan going up," Hamm said. "That's not possible," he said, owing to market forces as well as the community's inherent controls that have kept growth in check for the past 40 years.
Considering the checks and balances that have already been added to the proposed plan since its initial draft, "the brakes are not the problem," he said. "There today needs to be an accelerator in some things we can look toward to generate business activity and re-instill confidence in the business community."

Affordable Alternatives
Affordable housing certainly will be one of the topics receiving the most attention from the council. An alternate approach included in GGP's plan involves the use of financial instruments, tax credits and other tactics to achieve affordability "rather than building a unit that is forever designated as affordable, which then can create issues of liquidity," Hamm said.
Designated units shouldn't be the only way to achieve affordability, he said. "I hate to put all your eggs in one federally available, currently vogue approach. One could be left quite disappointed ... and I think we can do better."
Hamm's presentation included videotaped support from three consultants: Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO of the Sage Policy Group; Ann Forsyth, a professor of urban planning and development at Cornell University; and Roger Lewis, founder of the University of Maryland's School of Architecture and an urban design columnist for the Washington Post.

Measured Impact
In a separate presentation to the council, the Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA) quantified its support for downtown redevelopment through an economic study conducted by Bay Area Economics of Emeryville, Ca.
The study measured the economic impact of the plan as presented by GGP on Oct. 13 at full implementation 30 years from now, in comparison with a Status Quo Scenario based on build-out of the downtown's development potential under existing zoning and current development intensity. (The Status Quo Scenario used in the study equates to roughly 332,000 square feet of new office space, 250,000 square feet of new retail space, 424 residential units and no new hotels.)
According to HCEDA CEO Dick Story, the study indicates a conservative total construction impact of $4.8 billion under the Downtown Plan, as compared with only $438 million under the Status Quo Scenario.
"[T]he annual operating impact 30 years out shows $5.7 billion in Howard County economic activity each year ... in 2009 dollars," Story said, as compared to only $458 million under the Status Quo Scenario.
The study also indicates that annual government revenues generated under the Downtown Plan at build-out could amount to an estimated $264 million for the state, $47.5 million for the county and $10.7 million for the CA through its lien revenues. Under the Status Quo Scenario, the figures are $22.8 million for the state, $3.75 million for the county and just more than $1 million for the CA.
"In the state, there will be about 35,000 new jobs created at full build-out and an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion" as a result of the plan, Story said, with approximately 30,000 of those jobs and nearly $5.7 billion of the economic output occurring within Howard County.
"HCEDA is not here to advocate for the plan [GGP submitted]," he said. "We would like to see economic development occur in whatever form this plan emerges."
During the presentation, Council Member Calvin Ball (D-Dist. 2) raised concern that much of the cost associated with GGP's plan could be shouldered by taxpayers.
Story acknowledged that the county Department of Planning & Zoning is preparing a corresponding fiscal impact study. "The cost to the taxpayer is the next question to be answered in this sequence of meetings," he said.

Tivoli in Columbia
Amid all the talk of redevelopment, CA announced that it has created its own concept plan for bringing revitalization to Symphony Woods.
Chick Rhodehamel, the CA's vice president for open space management, told council members that the plan would cost an estimated $5.5 million and could be completed in phases over three to four fiscal years.
Work on the project could begin "within our next fiscal year," he said.
Planners would like to include a cafŽ with outdoor seating, wide pathways around a circular woodland garden setting, additional parking, an interactive water fountain and possibly a sculpture garden that could serve as a children's play area.
Cy Paumier, an urban planner who worked closely with Columbia founder Jim Rouse during the early days of the town's genesis, said CA would be working with GGP and Sasaki Associates landscape architect Alan Ward during the next few months to design a space that would work in the best interests of the community, drawing inspiration from the Danish Tivoli Gardens concept.
Renovation of Merriweather Post Pavilion would be part of that design. "I would like to see the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Columbia Orchestra playing there," Paumier said.