A highly anticipated decision on whether four Town Center residents can challenge a planned high-rise in downtown Columbia has been delayed until next month when two new Board of Appeals members are named.
After a 2-2 vote Monday, the board decided to continue deliberations until Feb. 12, said E. Alexander Adams, attorney for the appellants. The board is determining whether appellants Joel Broida, Lloyd Knowles, Stephen Meskin and Jo Ann Stolley have a legal right to oppose the 275-foot Plaza Residences.
The five-member board is short one member, and another member?s last night on the board was Monday. The Howard County Council has selected and will vote next month on two new members.
The new members will review the testimony and then have another vote on the issue, Adams said.
Adams called the move “highly improper and wrong,” because attorneys for developer Renaissance Centro Columbia LLC failed to get the necessary three votes to grant the motion. He said they should move on the merits of the case.
The appellants have argued their legal standing in the case, saying the high-rise would result in lower property values, increased traffic near their houses and less parking.
The board denied a motion to use an earlier decision by Hearing Examiner Thomas Carbo that the appellants lack the legal standing to appeal the development.
An attorney for Renaissance Centro Columbia LLC has repeatedly declined to comment on the case.
