Submitted by admin on Thu, 2005-10-06 20:00. ::
Rejecting the pleas of preservationists, the Baltimore County Board of Appeals gave the go-ahead for the demolition of the Elizabeth Gardner House, which has stood since the late 19th century in Hunt Valley.
The three-member board ruled Sept. 28 that then-Zoning Commissioner William Wiseman III did not err in March when he authorized issuance of a permit to raze the structure at 11330 York Road to York & Shawan LLP, which plans to replace it with an office for Branch Banking and Trust Co., the Winston-Salem, N.C.- based bank. Members of the Baltimore County Historic Trust maintain that the house has historic importance and should not be demolished.
The Gardner House, now vacant, is a two-story Queen Anne-style structure - built around 1870 - that stands out among the modern commercial buildings that surround it.
In reaching its decision, members of the appeals board struggled with apparent inconsistencies in the county code - for instance, whether the property owners were required to submit a development plan for the site before being issued a demolition permit.
York & Shawan did not include such a plan, which could have alerted county officials to the presence of a historic structure, in its request for a permit.
"That's a glitch. Certain sections (in the code) don't jibe with others," board chairman Lawrence Stahl said at one point in the deliberations.
Patricia Bentz, the trust's executive director, said she didn't know whether her group will appeal the decision in Circuit Court, but noted that county officials typically wait 30 days before actually issuing a razing permit when there is a possibility a court appeal will be filed.
The trust could use that time to ask the county Landmarks Preservation Commission to add the Gardner House to its temporary list of landmark properties, which could protect the Gardner House for another 30 days, she said.
She noted, however, that the county is not required to wait before reissuing the demolition permit and expressed concern that York & Shawan would proceed immediately.
Bentz also voiced disappointment in the county Landmarks Preservation Commission, which previously voted not to add the Gardner House to its landmarks list, despite its inclusion in a similar, statewide list.
"When the dust settles from the demolition of yet another (historic) structure, the weight of this loss will be borne by them and those who appointed them - County Executive Smith and the Baltimore County Council members," she said.
When considering land-use proposals, county officials are required to consider the historic value of properties on the local list. Whether inclusion on the state list provides any protection is a subject of debate.
In an Aug. 3 hearing, appeals board members said they were not in a position to second-guess the preservation commission's decision (by a 5-3 vote in March) not to grant historic status to the property.
But Bentz and the trust's lawyer, John Murphy, made the landmarks commission decision a central issue in their appeal. In particular, they complained that members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission's professional staff were not given an opportunity to offer an evaluation of the Gardner House's historic significance before the commission voted.
The commission usually relies on such evaluations in reaching its decisions, Bentz and Murphy said. In this case, they heard from Jeff Long, the deputy director of the county's Office of Planning, instead.
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