The Howard County Board of Appeals is short one member and stands to lose another in the coming weeks, and the County Council is pressed with filling one vacancy immediately.
“We have some cases already before the board [that] are controversial and complex in nature,” said County Council Chairman Calvin Ball, D-District 2, in an interview.
The five-member board, appointed by the council, decides zoning cases on requests for conditional land uses and variances to the zoning regulations.
At the council?s meeting Monday, members decided against advertising the position and opted to alert their contact lists and get the word out through a job notice.
This would allow the council to interview candidates at the end of the month, and the person could start the job as soon as February.
The term of Board Member James Pfefferkorn ends at the end of the month, but he may stay on until another member is chosen. Four people serve on the board, Ball said.
Former Board Member James Patterson moved from the county and had to step down effective immediately.
One major case before the board is that of Joel Broida, of Town Center, and three other appellants, who said the planning board illegally changed the zoning of the land on which the Plaza Residences will be built.
Broida said the changes on the board likely wouldn?t affect his case, which started last week, but it could take time to bring a new member up to speed.
“It?s unfortunate that things midstream are changing,” he said.
Another consideration is a diverse geographic representation on the board. Although the council doesn?t have to appoint a member from each district, it has historically represented the districts.
The two vacating members were from District 1 and District 5, but the council stopped short of requiring candidates for the immediate vacancy to represent these districts.
“I do think geographic balance is important,” Council Member Courtney Watson, D-District 1, said at the meeting.
