BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Columbia’s village centers should have the flexibility to evolve to remain viable in a changing marketplace, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said Tuesday.

Ulman announced plans to rework the zoning for the villages, allowing each one to transform based on the needs and character of the individual village.

“The government must be an active partner in revitalization,” said Ulman in the courtyard of the Wilde Lake Village Center, which is the oldest center.

The details are being finalized, but Ulman said he will introduce legislation within 60 days. A draft of the legislation will be available before then to prompt resident comment.

Ulman’s proposal comes at a time when a few of Columbia’s villages are struggling for viability as stores close and anchor stores remain vacant.

Most recently, the Produce Galore in Wilde Lake closed earlier this month, and the space once occupied by Giant Foods is still empty nearly a year and a half later.

The current zoning, known as New Town, was put in place 40 years ago when Columbia was first built. Now, that zoning is too restrictive for the aging village centers, officials said.

For example, any development changes must come to the county from the original developer, General Growth Properties Inc.

Ulman said he wants to keep New Town zoning, but get rid of this “gatekeeper” philosophy in favor of giving more say to the county.

“I think it’s time for the community to have this dialogue,” he said.

The allowed uses for the village center land also must be expanded, Ulman said, to allow for more residential growth as has been proposed by Wilde Lake Village Center owner Kimco Realty.

Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, D-District 5, said she has been working on this issue for a year, and she was “glad the administration has finally decided to move on it.”

“It’s absolutely essential to have community input” before the zoning changes make it to the Planning Board and County Council, Sigaty said.

Wilde Lake resident Joan Spicknall, who attended the news conference, agreed it’s time for the county to rethink how the village centers are evolving.

“We need an overhaul,” she said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com