Oakland Mills 'Green' Building Under Scrutiny

By Susan Kim, STAFF WRITER

Some Howard County Council members are seeing red over the proposed "green" building in Oakland Mills Village Center.
Work on Meridian Square, a four-story green office building, has been delayed as some Howard County Council members push for more details on the public decision-making process and parking regulations.
Developer MetroVentures was scheduled to break ground in February on Meridian Square, a $12.8 million project that will feature a ground floor with service or retail businesses and upper floors with Class A office space.
But now, groundbreaking has been postponed until July, said MetroVentures President Olusola Seriki.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman would like the county to buy one of the floors of the building for $4 million - a core of funding that would likely ensure construction financing for the developer. But Ulman has withdrawn his request for funding and plans to resubmit it in April as part of the fiscal 2009 capital budget, said county spokespeson Kevin Enright.

Council's Questions
County Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a west Columbia Democrat, said she has concerns over whether the county needs the space. "I have seen no indication the county needs the space. I have no idea whether this is a responsible purchase."
Sigaty said she understands that the building, which is widely supported as a revitalization effort by local Oakland Mills leaders, could be a positive step for Oakland Mills.
"The question is, where is the public discussion about where we will put revitalization and redevelopment funding? This is a discussion that we haven't had as a community," she said. "It's really a question of how we determine where we spend our public dollars."
Councilman Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, was searching for answers on how the developer was able to obtain exceptions to the county's parking regulations. The parking spaces allotted in the project's plan are 25% to 30% less than the county's current parking regulations allow, Fox said.
In addition, the building's plan includes parking across the street in the overall parking space count. "None of our regulations allow, under any circumstances, counting parking across the street."
"They made up their own set of rules for this piece of property," he added. "That process was never really publicly vetted."
Fox said the process is not fair to other developers. "How often are some of these exceptions going around?" he asked. "When you see something like this, where every rule has been bent and broken, that's what is bothersome in this process. All developers want is a level playing field and a predictable playing field."

Developer Looks Forward
Meanwhile, developer Seriki expressed disappointment in the delays. "It certainly is a disappointment that we're not able to start it when we planned," he said, adding that he obtained approval for the project and that the approval process included parking issues.
"Parking for the project was addressed in the summer of last year," Seriki said. "The project went through a necessary approval process, and parking was a part of the approvals. This is really the equivalent of intellectual debate."
Both Seriki and County Councilman Calvin Ball said that the Oakland Mills community has shown infallible support for the new building.
"I'm hopeful this project will continue," said Ball. "I think the community has shown an incredible commitment to revitalizing the neighborhood. It's a great model when you're looking at revitalizing older neighborhoods."
And Seraki is committed to moving forward. "We have tremendous community support," he said. "The plan is fully adjusted. We'd like to keep the optimism out there. We cannot let doubt start to expand its space."