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BALTIMORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP Newsletter
Land Use and Transportation Issues Around the Region
February 22, 2002
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Contents:
*Joppa Visioning Process Shapes New Development Concepts
*Penn Station Arts District Attracting Development Interest
*Plans Underway to Overhaul Two Downtown Plazas
*Report Promotes "Healthy Neighborhoods" Approach
*County Says Howard Development is Slowing
*Downtown Shuttle Unveiled As Parking Alternative
*California Study Blames Smog for Asthma Epidemic
*Calendar of Events
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JOPPA VISIONING PROCESS SHAPES NEW DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS
On February 7, the Joppa/Joppatowne Community Council presented a vision
for future development in the Joppa/Joppatowne area to Harford County
residents and government officials. The plan was developed in a retreat
held last September which invited local residents and business people to
shape their communities' future. The vision reinforces the current
zoning that keeps the Joppa area, northwest of I-95, zoned mainly as
agricultural, which permits residential development at a density of one
house per ten acres. For the Joppatowne area, southeast of I-95, new
development concepts including a pedestrian-oriented office corridor
along Mountain Road and mixed-use village centers along waterfront areas
in Joppatowne. Also presented at the meeting were State Highway
Administration plans for landscaping the Route 40 corridor and a Harford
County plan to build a hiking/cycling trail along a sewer right-of-way
in the Winters Run watershed. The plan is the latest step in Harford
County's promotion of the Route 40 corridor as an area for targeted
reinvestment and improved development standards. For more information,
contact Adam Gordon, Baltimore Regional Partnership, at
adam@balto-region-partners.org
or Joan Morrissey Ward, Harford County
Department of Planning and Zoning, at jmward@co.ha.md.us.
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PENN STATION ARTS DISTRICT ATTRACTING DEVELOPMENT INTEREST
Three city-owned properties adjacent to Baltimore's Penn Station have
received attention from regional developers as revitalization plans for
the area move forward. The Railway Express Building,the Mildred Monroe
Elementary School and a street-level parking lot on North Calvert Street
could become the first development in the new arts and entertainment
district. The district designation provides a state income tax break
for qualified artists and a 10-year tax break for owners of commercial
buildings renovated for arts uses.The area around Baltimore's Penn
Station became an official state-sanctioned arts and entertainment in
January 2002. For a complete description of the proposals for the
properties visit
http://www.sunspot.net/features/lifestyle/bal-to.archcol11feb11.story
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PLANS UNDERWAY TO OVERHAUL TWO DOWNTOWN PLAZAS
Two plazas that were constructed in the 1960s as part of Baltimore's
first downtown renaissance, but which have not worked as centers of
activity, are now targets for new life. Baltimore's Design Advisory
Panel has approved plans by developer David Hillman to transform the
dark brick Charles Plaza, near Charles and Saratoga Streets, into more
of a "festival marketplace" with larger windows, balconies, a
mini-grocery store, and possibly a new high school. The Downtown
Partnership of Baltimore is sponsoring a design competition to revamp
Center Plaza, two blocks to the south. Ideas include adding grass,
fountains, shops, cafes, and possibly a skating rink in the winter.
With many more apartments downtown than in 1970, developers and city
officials see increased demand for attractive open spaces and amenities
within walking distance of those residents. Sun story on Charles Plaza
available at:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.plaza18feb18.story
Sun story on Center Plaza design competition available at:
http://www.sunspot.net/features/lifestyle/bal-to.charles20feb20.story
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REPORT PROMOTES "HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS" APPROACH
A new report sponsored by the Morris Goldseker Foundation of Maryland
urges Baltimore to accelerate its new revitalization strategy based on
bolstering the city's "healthy neighborhoods." Authored by
neighborhood
strategist David Boehlke, the report argues that revitalization works
best when it is targeted not at a long list of problems, but at
specific measures that will give homeowners the confidence to invest
time, effort, and money in their neighborhoods. Thus, "healthy
neighborhood" programs work to bolster the neighborhood's local real
estate market and social activities -- leveraging many private citizen
investments rather than trying to solve a list of problems solely by
government initiative. Boehlke cites successful programs in Battle
Creek, Michigan and in Baltimore's Belair-Edison neighborhood, and he
encourages more aggressive implementation of Baltimore's own Healthy
Neighborhoods Initiative, first launched by Mayor Martin O'Malley in
partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation in 2000.
Full report available at www.goldsekerfoundation.org.
Click on "Great
City Report."
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COUNTY SAYS HOWARD DEVELOPMENT IS SLOWING
A newly released report shows a 24% drop in new residential growth in
Howard County, for decades one of the fastest-developing counties in
the state. County Planners revealed that builders finished 1,904 houses
and apartments between October 2000 and September 2001, a 24 percent
drop from the previous 12 months. The annual Development Monitoring
System Report, released about 20 years before Howard County projects
"build-out," profiles a jurisdiction filling in from all sides. Almost
75 percent of new residential construction occurred in just three
established communities, Ellicott City, Columbia and Elkridge. County
officials, noting the strong housing market, attribute the slower pace
of development to tighter regulations, not a sagging economy. Quality of
life issues come into play, particularly the overcrowding of schools
which trigger a county regulation that delays homebuilding. For more
statistics growth and housing values go to
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/howard/bal-ho.roundup10feb10.story.
The full 81-page document can be found on the Howard County website at
http://www.co.ho.md.us/PZ/AnReNewsLetDMS/DMS2001FinalWeb.pdf
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DOWNTOWN SHUTTLE UNVEILED AS PARKING ALTERNATIVE
The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, a business advocacy group has
unveiled plans for a downtown shuttle service that the group hopes will
relieve the parking crunch and show that a car is not essential in the
center city. The partnership of business and state organizations has
named the new shuttle DASH, for the Downtown Area Shuttle and is funded
with a $5.9 million state grant. The new shuttle service, to commence
operation on March 4th, is designed to serve two groups, employees of
downtown-based businesses and tourists. The first shuttle will be the
Green Route, a rush-hour loop linking parking lots to major downtown
employers. A later Blue Route is planned for tourists linking major
attractions from the Inner Harbor to the Mt. Vernon Cultural District.
For more information, go to
http://www.godowntownbaltimore.com/Dash/Dash_FAQ.htm
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CALIFORNIA STUDY BLAMES SMOG FOR ASTHMA EPIDEMIC
A study published in the British medical journal Lancet suggests that
air pollution may cause asthma. The five-year study of 3,535 children
in California found that those children playing outside in neighborhoods
with high levels of air pollution are much more likely to develop asthma
than those who play in areas with cleaner air. The study, begun in
1995, followed disease-free children who participated in outdoor sports
in both high- and low-pollution areas. During the study period 265
children developed asthma and the majority of those cases were found in
children from high-level areas. This study contradicts earlier studies
that air pollution does not cause the disease but only aggravates the
lungs of people who have the disease. Asthma rates have more than
doubled in the past 20 years in the United States. More than 10 percent
of the children in Baltimore's elementary schools suffer from the
disease and it accounts for a growing number of emergency room visits in
Baltimore. Sun editorial available at
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/bal-ed.asthma11feb11.story.
Additional information at
http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=2431&state=5
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
February 26
*Parkville/Overlea/White Marsh Workshop on Draft Baltimore Regional Rail
System, 6:30-8:30 PM, St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 7910
Belair Rd. Seventh and final public meeting to gather public input on
draft plan released Jan. 23 by Advisory Committee. For more info go to:
http://www.baltimorerailplan.com/pages/publicwrkshp/intro.htm
March 6
*CPHA's Drug Treatment Workgroup Meeting. 6:00 - 8:00 PM, CPHA, 218 W.
Saratoga Street, Baltimore. You are invited to participate in workgroup
meetings to finalize the issues for the June 6, 2002 Rally for the
Region at the Baltimore Convention Center. For more information visit
http://www.CPHARegionalCampaign.org
March 21
*CPHA's Housing and Community Conservation Workgroup Meeting. 6:00 -
8:00 PM CPHA, 218 W. Saratoga Street, Baltimore.You are invited to
participate in workgroup meetings to finalize the issues for the June 6,
2002 Rally for the Region at the Baltimore Convention Center. For more
information visit http://www.CPHARegionalCampaign.org
March 22
*CPHA's Transportation and Land Use Workgroup Meeting. 8:45 AM, CPHA
218 W. Saratoga Street, Baltimore. You are invited to participate in
workgroup meetings to finalize the issues for the June 6, 2002 Rally for
the Region at the Baltimore Convention Center. For more information
visit http://www.CPHARegionalCampaign.org
March 26
*Baltimore Regional Transportation Board monthly meeting, 9:00 AM,
Baltimore Metropolitan Council offices, 2700 Lighthouse Point East,
Suite 310, Baltimore (on the 2700 block of Boston St. in Canton,
directly above Blockbuster Video). For more information, go to
http://www.baltometro.org/content.asp?id=31
April 3
CPHA's Drug Treatment Workgroup Meeting. 6:00 - 8:00 PM CPHA 218 W.
Saratoga Street, Baltimore. You are invited to participate in workgroup
meetings to finalize the issues for the June 6, 2002 Rally for the
Region at the Baltimore Convention Center. For more information visit
http://www.CPHARegionalCampaign.org
May 3 & May 4
*Annual Preservation and Revitalization Conference 2002. The annual two
day conference is sponsored by Preservation Maryland and will be held in
the Historic Mount Vernon Cultural District. The keynote speaker is
Stanley Lowe, vice president for Community Revitalization of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation. For further information, go to
http://www.preservemd.org/conf.html
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ABOUT THE BALTIMORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP AND NEWSLETTER
The Baltimore Regional Partnership is an alliance of five civic,
environmental, and anti-sprawl groups:1000 Friends of Maryland
(www.friendsofmd.org ), Baltimore Urban
League (www.bul.org), Chesapeake
Bay Foundation ( www.savethebay.cbf.org),
Citizens Planning and Housing
Association (www.CPHARegionalCampaign.org
), and Environmental Defense
(www.environmentaldefense.org).
This newsletter explores current issues, recent and upcoming events, and
ongoing deliberations that affect the region's quality of life through
transportation, economic development, and land use policy and planning.
We hope to link citizens in the region who are working to fight sprawl,
promote clean and efficient transportation, protect valuable farm and
forest lands, and revitalize urban areas, older suburbs, and historic
towns. You can view past issues at
www.balto-region-partners.org/news.htm .
Has this newsletter been forwarded to you, and you would like to receive
it yourself? Go to http://www.balto-region-partners.org/news.htm
to
sign up.
Send us information, too. Let us know about your work on land use and
transportation decisions that are affecting the Baltimore region. Email
information to Steve Beck at steve@balto-region-partners.org
. Visit
the Baltimore Regional Partnership website at
www.balto-region-partners.org
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