Who owns "Smart Growth"?

An interesting battle is taking place in Allegany County:

What's in a name? Plenty, it seems, when it comes to invoking Smart Growth in an increasingly bitter debate over a major housing development proposed in the wooded mountains of Western Maryland.

The Columbia-based development firm seeking to build Terrapin Run, a 4,300-home planned community in eastern Allegany County, has applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to obtain exclusive use of the name "Citizens for Smart Growth in Allegany County."

That happens to be the handle used by a group of residents fighting the project, who have succeeded for the time being in tying the development up in court. They allege the firm's trademark filing represents "dirty tricks" aimed at squelching or at least confusing debate.

One of the cliches to emerge from the "Smart Growth" heyday of the Glendening administration was that while everyone was for it, no one could define what it meant. This is especially true when it comes developing rural land: sprawl will kill the country lifestyle, but then, so will dense developments. Of course, fewer people could move to the country; we might then have fewer traffic problems to worry about.

Tags: Maryland, development, Smart Growth