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$145 Million Proposed for Md. Lands

By Daniel LeDuc
Wednesday, January 10, 2001

Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) said yesterday that he would expand his efforts to preserve open space throughout Maryland with a proposal to spend $145 million during the next five years to buy land threatened by development.

The governor said the new spending would allow the state to purchase land linking already preserved tracts, helping to protect animal habitats and creating additional buffers for the land from storm runoff and other pollutants.

"We must move aggressively now," he said. "There is no going back when that land is plowed under."

Though the governor has previously said he would be expanding his efforts at limiting suburban sprawl by buying up open land, his announcement yesterday was the first indication of how much he planned to spend this year. It came as Glendening outlined his agenda for the 90-day General Assembly session that begins today in Annapolis.

Glendening also announced plans to spend $45 million during the next three years to revitalize neighborhoods and another $45 million also over three years to build and repair playgrounds and recreational facilities. Those efforts are part of his plan to make existing areas of development attractive to residents and to discourage people from extending suburban sprawl by building homes on farmland.

Such efforts have been a major thrust of Glendening's administration. He calls the plan smart growth and said yesterday that he will conduct a national search for a special smart growth secretary to oversee a new office to coordinate state efforts at limiting sprawl.

As he outlined the rest of his agenda, the governor also said he would renew his push for a gay rights law to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and housing. And he said he would seek a law banning police from stopping drivers based on racial profiles.

At the State House news conference attended by a Baltimore police officer who was shot point-blank in the chest last year, Glendening said he also will seek to ban anyone but law enforcement officials and other authorized people from owning bulletproof vests.

Detective David Azur, who was wearing a vest when he was shot by a car thief last year, said police strongly support limiting who can obtain body armor. "The vests in the hands of the wrong people would be disastrous for us," he said.

Body armor is sold at gun shops and by mail order. Glendening said he wanted to limit its availability to police, security guards and others who need it for their work, including journalists in dangerous areas. He also said those fearing domestic violence could seek permission to have vests.

The governor cited the case of a 17-year-old boy who ran down a Baltimore police officer last year after allegedly committing a gang murder. The teenager was wearing body armor, and Glendening said yesterday that it showed how easily available the vests are for those who shouldn't have them.

Sanford Abrams, vice president of the state Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, said gun shop owners would oppose Glendening's move because many retail merchants buy the vests, which sell for $500 to $700, to protect themselves. He said a more appropriate move would be to make it illegal to wear the vests while committing a crime.

In the past, Glendening's smart growth proposals generally have been well received by legislators. But his gay rights proposal will face a tough fight in the conservative Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which refused to vote on the legislation two years ago.

Yesterday, legislative leaders began preparing for today's opening of the session. Senate Democrats reelected Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (Prince George's) as president. Miller had survived a coup attempt by a Baltimore County senator last month.

House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. (D-Allegany) outlined his agenda, which includes increased funding for elementary and secondary education, toughened drunken-driving laws and help for elderly Medicare recipients to help pay for prescription drugs.

Taylor's agenda also calls for the creation of a regional transportation authority to coordinate road construction and mass transit with Virginia and the District.

© 2001 The Washington Post