The Columbia Association voted behind closed doors to support a county bill that altered the distance between certain offices and open space, an act that is not in violation of its bylaws or state law.
“They chose a convenient way of doing this, out of the public eye. It?s a terrible precedent,” said Alex Hekimian, president of Association for a Better Columbia, a group that has filed complaints about the association?s closed meetings at the Maryland Attorney General?s Office.
Hekimian said he may add the behind-the-scenes vote ? which occurred over the phone ? to his list of complaints at the Attorney General?s office.
The board did not have time to hold a public meeting before the Howard County Council voted on the bill Monday afternoon, said Columbia Association President Maggie Brown.
The Columbia Association was responding to legislation proposed by Developer Ronald Brasher of Columbia-based Brasher Design.
Brasher first proposed to reduce the distance between open space and certain office buildings from 30 feet to zero feet.
Open space can include parkland, but not all parks are devoted to open space.
He asked for the reduction so he could build a 74,000-square-foot office building adjacent to Woodlawn Slave Quarter, a deteriorating historic structure. His proposal avoided a referendum when the State Court of Appeals granted his and 37 other land-use changes in the county last week.
But Monday, the County Council decided to pass an amended bill, which made the distance 10 feet.
The amendment was filed about five hours before the association?s Thursday open meeting.
The board was notified about the amendment Friday and scrambled Monday to draft a letter of support for it, Brown said. Brown called the members to ask if they supported the letter.
“When you are making decisions as a board, you are supposed to be making them in the public eye,” Columbia Association Board Member Cynthia Coyle said.
The Columbia Association complies with state code for homeowners? associations, said Robert Zarnoch, assistant attorney general and counsel to the Maryland General Assembly.
As long as the association makes the phone calls in succession and not over a conference call, the act is legal, he said.
