* Oct. 15, 2005 - Howard County government officials host a week-long public meeting, called a "charrette," that brings government officials, planners, consultants and residents together to create the beginnings of a plan to redevelop downtown Columbia over the next 30 years. The event draws 300 people.

* Oct. 22, 2005 - County officials release a draft plan of a future downtown, based on the ideas gathered from the charrette. County Council members say they hope they can begin holding public hearings on the plan in early 2006.

* Dec. 14, 2005 - County officials convene a focus group to hear residents' feedback on the draft plan and to advise the planners and consultants who will write a more formal version of the plan that will be submitted to the County Council.

* Feb. 27, 2006 - Officials release a revised draft of the plan that calls for 5,500 residential units and 5.2 million square feet of office space. The focus group eventually rejects the plan as incomplete.

* April 13, 2006 - County officials announce that the plan will not be approved until a new County Council and county executive take office after the Nov. 7, 2006 election.

* Nov. 7, 2006 - Kenneth Ulman is elected county executive. His transition into the job further delays the release of the plan.

* August-September 2007 - Ulman announces that the county will no longer seek to create a master plan for downtown and will turn the job over to officials of General Growth Properties Inc., downtown's primary landowner. Ulman adds that the county will release a "framework" that he expects General Growth to follow in writing the plan. The framework suggests making downtown more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly, preserving open space, improving public transportation and including a wide range of housing, but includes no specific strategies for achieving those goals.

* Oct-Nov. 2007 - The county holds a series of meetings to take feedback on the framework while General Growth officials begin holding private meetings with community groups to share with them initial concepts the company hopes to include in the plan.

* March-April 2008 - General Growth officials conduct a series of meetings in which they introduce to the public the principal architects and consultants the company has hired to draft the plan.

* April 28, 2008 - General Growth releases a draft of the master plan and say they will submit it to county officials this summer for approval.

---

user comments (0)