Analysis of Gas Prices in Howard County, Maryland
Examples of Gas Station Approvals and Denials in Howard County
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- 4.3 Number and Location of Gas Stations
4.2 Examples of Gas Station Approvals and Denials in Howard CountyGas stations require a CUP in the majority of permitted districts in Howard County. As a result, there are many documented cases of gas station approvals and denials in Howard County in the past ten years. According to an analysis conducted by Tony Redman, AICP, testifying against the development of a gas station at Waverly Woods Village, there have been thirteen sites subject to Board of Appeals cases for conditional use applications for gas stations in Howard County during this period. The most notable cases include the multiyear process to develop a gas station in Waverly Woods Village, a master planned community in northwestern Howard County. Beginning in 2007, Convenience Retailing, LLC, sought a rezoning of a one-acre property from B-1 to Planned Employment Center (PEC) and approval of a documented site plan for a gas station with a convenience store and car wash at the intersection of Warwick Way and Birmingham Way. The Planning Board unanimously recommended that the parcel adjacent to Waverly Woods Village Center be rezoned; however, the Zoning Board rejected the plan after appeals in 2007 and 2008, citing that there had not been a substantial change in the character of the neighborhood or a mistake in the original zoning.23 In 2009, after the unsuccessful attempt to rezone for the siting of the gas station in the Village, Convenience Retailing, LLC, petitioned for the development of a gas station in combination with a convenience store and car wash in the PEC zoning in the eastern portion of the Waverly Woods Village Center.24 Opponents of the proposal cited traffic and safety concerns in the residential neighborhood that may result from the development of a gas station.25 Through a minority decision, the petitioner was granted a CUP, with the dissent expressing traffic concerns. The gas station was constructed in November 2010 at 10781 Birmingham Way.26 Another gas station in Waverly Woods Village proposed by the Waverly Woods Development Corporation at the corner of Marriottsville Road and Barnsley Way also met opposition. In November 2010, the Howard County Board of Appeals Hearing Examiner denied the CUP petition. A Department of Planning and Zoning technical staff report noted that a gas station and convenience store already exist nearby at the Waverly Woods Village Center, “so a second gasoline station and convenience store is unnecessary for the Waverly Woods neighborhood, and would likely mainly serve pass-through traffic, including traffic using I-70.”27 The County’s technical report also indicated potential problems with the proposed gas station’s access points.28 Following a series of public hearings by the Howard County Board of Appeals, Weis Markets successfully petitioned for a conditional use for a gasoline station in a B-2 Zoning District on the site of an existing Weis Market on a 12.24-acre parcel in April 2008. Two individuals who testified against the station claimed that the additional gas station would be detrimental to existing gasoline stations along Route 1 in Laurel, referencing Howard County’s General Plan, which recommends that gas stations and auto-oriented retail uses be directed away from Route 1 and from residential areas. Currently, Giant of Maryland, LLC, is in the middle of an appeals process for a conditional use for a gas station in a B-2 zone located in the northeastern portion of the property in the Columbia Palace shopping center, which is anchored by a Giant Food Store, located at 8805 Centre Park Drive. The Department of Planning and Zoning recommended approval of the CUP request in 2012. The case was heard by the Hearing Examiner and appealed to the Board. According to the Assistant to the Hearing Examiner and Board of Appeals, there have been over 10 hearings on this particular case over the past two years.29 The previously described cases are exemplary of the trend in decisions of the regulation of gas stations in rapidly growing areas of Howard County. Although the above examples are from Howard County, gas stations are regulated through a public process throughout the state. A list of links to news coverage of notable zoning and conditional use approval decisions within the region and their associated findings is included in Appendix C. 4.3 Number and Location of Gas StationsAs part of the land planning analysis, RESI performed a zoning diagnostic for each of the eight study area jurisdictions. Individual zoning codes were reviewed for relevant regulations involving the siting and location of gas stations. What follows is a summary of the way Howard County regulates gas stations within its borders. The relevant sections from each municipality’s zoning code can be found in Appendix B. As part of the analysis, RESI examined the number of gas stations per zone in Howard County, both in terms of quantity and area. Howard County’s Zoning Code outlines special considerations for 59 conditional uses, including gas stations, in Section 131.N.25. The full section is included in Appendix B. Figure 6 below depicts the density, or concentration, of gas stations by district in Howard County. For each district where gas stations are located, the number of gas stations found in that district is listed in the far right column. Gas stations are either permitted outright, conditionally, or through special exception, or exist as nonconforming uses, depending on the zoning in Howard County. Gas stations are most commonly located in zoning districts where they are permitted conditionally or through special exception, with the majority located in General Business (B-2) and New Town/Columbia (NT). Figure : Gas Station Density in Howard County, 2012
*Gas stations permitted as part of Final Development Plan in New Town Zoning District and are subject to Sections 125 and the requirements in the Downtown Columbia Plan Sources: Howard County, OPIS, RESI As shown in Figure 6, Howard County had a total of 72 gas stations in 2012. Of that total, only two stations (3 percent of the total) were located within zones that permit the use of gas stations as a matter of right. Alternatively, over 61 percent of the County’s gas stations are located in districts that only allow gas stations through a conditional use permit or as part of a Final Development Plan in the New Town Zoning District. The remaining 36 percent of gas stations in Howard County are located in residential, rural, and corridor districts as nonconforming uses. Figure 7, Howard County Gas Station Locations Map, portrays the information in Figure 6 geographically. Gas stations are concentrated in the New Town District in Columbia, northwest of I-95, and along major roadways, including US Routes 1, 29, and 40, in the central and eastern portions of the County. Several are located in and around Ellicott City. Districts where nonconforming gas stations are located are primarily residential and rural areas, which comprise the western and north-central portions of the County. Figure : Howard County Gas Station Locations 
Sources: Howard County Planning Office, OPIS, RESI Howard County’s land use pattern also dictates where gas stations are located. The urban growth boundary creates a division between zones identified for development in the eastern third of the county and those reserved for the preservation of agricultural land in the western two-thirds. Maryland’s Smart Growth initiative requires counties to designate “Priority Funding Areas” (PFAs) that are eligible for future State financial assistance for growth, which correspond with areas to the east of the County’s Suburban-Rural Demarcation Line. Howard County is also home to Columbia—the second most populous community in Maryland after Baltimore—an unincorporated, planned community comprised of ten self-contained villages.31 Each of these villages includes a “center” containing services and amenities, which is often not visible from the main road. The land use pattern in the villages is largely driven by the Downtown Columbia Plan and individual projects are overseen by the development review process. The New Town (NT) Zoning District was created in 1965 and is the zoning classification for Columbia. In 1971, following shortly after the establishment of Columbia, a researcher interested in examining the influence of social goals on master planned communities found that the New Town zoning was a key element in establishing and guiding development of Columbia.32 The remaining land in Howard County uses standard zoning districts such as M-1, M-2, B-1, B-2, R-20, R-12, etc. Gas stations in the New Town Zoning District are subject to requirements in Sections 125 of the Howard County zoning code and must conform to the Downtown Columbia Plan. Development in the New Town zoning designation is subject to approval of a Final Development Plan.33 Gas stations are typically included as part of the proposed development, which must meet the criteria specified in the Final Development Plan, the primary source of zoning requirements for any specific property in the New Town District. Approval is at the discretion of the Planning Board, which is made up of five County citizens, and includes approval of a Preliminary Development Plan, a Comprehensive Sketch Plan, a Final Development Plan, and the Site Development Plan. Elsewhere in the county, Planning Board decisions serve as recommendations for the County Council, an elected body that also serves as the Zoning Board, which often makes the final decisions on many zoning and development issues. At each stage of the New Town District development process, public meetings are held. According to another journal article published in 1967 in the Journal of the American Institute of Planners in (reprinted in Journal of the American Planning Association in 2007), decisions involving the size and location of activity centers based on the overall community structure dictated the size of amenities such as schools, shopping, and entertainment.34 Columbia continues to experience the tension between the original goals of a post-industrial society and the forces of the open economic market and competition. However, attempts to revise the zoning requirements for the New Town District in Howard County have been unsuccessful to date. Future analysis could evaluate the amount of “developable” land remaining for gas stations in Howard County, and whether it has an impact on gas prices. Such an analysis would entail examining zoning, the size of parcels, the assessed value of land and improvements, and the existing land use in order to determine the amount of land suitable for gas stations. Directory: Media Media -> Applications to Drill Media -> Unicef voices of Youth Chat Theme: Children and aids nigeria and Zimbabwe 13 October 2006 Background Media -> Tsunami Terror Alert: Voices of Youth Media -> Biblical Eschatology Presentation by: D. Paul Beck May 4, 2016 Ground Rules Media -> Guide to completing the collection using the Omnibus system Media -> The milk carton kids Media -> Events Date and Location Media -> The Gilded Age: The First Generation of Historians by H. Wayne Morgan University of Oklahoma, April 18, 1997 Media -> Analysis of Law in the United Kingdom pertaining to Cross-Border Disaster Relief Prepared by: For the 30 June 2010 Foreword Media -> Cuba fieldcourse 2010 Download 0.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
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