Reading through the survey questions mailed to residents of Columbia by General Growth Properties made me feel very good about the firm's planning concepts, at first. Then I realized several flaws, one of the first being its inattention to specific problems in the community as a consequence of their generally-described plans.

In addition, any one of the options a respondent checked was an automatic approval of General Growth's general plan. This is why I did not check any of the options. However, those people who did not notice this serious flaw in the survey General Growth will use as evidence that Columbia's residents approve their general plans.

Although General Growth has had many public meetings, many of the residents' specific concerns were not really addressed. These concerns still exist, especially the zoning request that will affect all of Columbia. Although changes and development are needed in Columbia, if the county government gives blanket approval of General Growth's request for zoning changes throughout Columbia, it may have a
very negative effect on the lifestyle of Columbia residents.

Lillian Shapiro

Wilde Lake

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