Members of the County Council voted Oct. 1 to introduce a bill to set the so-called "open-closed" chart for school attendance zones, thus determining where new homes can and cannot be built after 2004. 

The two Republicans on the council, whose votes were needed to allow the bill to be introduced after the normal deadline, first extracted a concession from schools officials. 

Rather than counting on a new middle school to relieve crowding in four western Howard County middle schools _ and allowing construction to continue in the west _ the proposed chart closes the area served by Glenwood Middle School starting in 2005. 

Deputy Superintendent Sydney Cousin said that the new middle school, scheduled to open in 2003, would not completely eliminate crowding in the west. Schools officials, however, were reluctant to arbitrarily choose one school's area to close to development, Cousin said, since several areas will be crowded. 

But Allan Kittleman, a Republican who represents the west county on the council, insisted that the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, on which the chart is based, demands they make the call. 

Kittleman suggested closing the area around Lime Kiln Middle School because the new school, next to Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School, will be closer to Glenwood and Clarksville middle schools and so more likely to relieve crowding there. 

But Kittleman didn't dispute Cousin's decision to designate the area around Glenwood Middle for closure instead, and he and Chris Merdon, a Republican who represents Ellicott City, agreed to allow the open-closed chart's introduction. 

The ordinance stops home construction for up to four years in school attendance zones when projected enrollment exceeds 115 percent of capacity. 

While three out of four middle schools in western Howard County will be crowded in 2004, even with a new school, closing just one school's attendance zone to further development satisfies the ordinance, Cousin said. 

And, Cousin noted, a 117-seat expansion of Clarksville Middle School has been proposed. 

If the expansion is funded, and attendance zones are reconfigured, "That will change everything," he said. 

A public hearing will be held Oct. 15 on the proposed open-closed chart and other legislation. 

As introduced, the chart shows the Elkridge Landing, Dunloggin and Patapsco middle school areas closed for new-home construction starting in 2004, and Glenwood closing in 2005.