The Tower is a Go!

Last Friday, I noticed an excavator and a wheel loader on the site of the proposed Plaza Tower. Today, the Sun reports (HT to David Keelan’s blog) that construction is set to begin on the 23 story building. As far as I am concerned, it is about time. The developer followed all the rules and jumped through all the hoops to get the Tower approved. The County approved the project, but four residents who oppose the Tower banded together to try and challenge the Tower's legality. It is my understanding that, despite the County’s approval, the zoning does not allow for a building that tall on a site that small. Those who oppose the Tower are basing their arguments on this fact. Regardless, a judge ruled that these residents lack standing to challenge the Tower regardless of the zoning issue.

These four residents have plans to appeal, which is probably a desperate attempt to delay things so that Mary Kay Sigaty can attempt to pass legislation that would retroactively set height limits, thus making the Tower illegal. I have heard that Maryland is a State that has fairly late vesting, meaning that even if construction has begun, the developer is not considered “vested” until the project is nearly complete. Thus, if the retroactive legislation is passed, the developer will not be grandfathered in just because they already started construction. If this is the case, the developer clearly believes that it is unlikely Mary Kay Sigaty’s retroactive legislation will get off the ground.

My position is that once the County approves the project, that should be the end of any legal challenges to it. Looking at every technical aspect of a project after it has been approved reminds me of the Simpson’s episode where Lisa Simpson was disqualified from a beauty pageant because, on the entry application, Homer wrote “O.K” in the box that said “do not write in this space”.

Here is my favorite paragraph from the Sun article:

WCI started fencing the property last week to prevent soil erosion and prepare the site for digging, Rowe said. A bulldozer and a large steam shovel were sitting on the site.

I did not see a bulldozer, but hey, maybe I missed it. But a steam shovel? Have those been used since 1850?

Update: Dave Wissing took some cool photos of the site. No bulldozer or steam shovel.