Minutes of the Annapolis Roads Community Meeting for the Community Preservation Campaign
October 21, 2004 7:00pm
Over 150 Annapolis Roads residents attended this important meeting, and at the end of the meeting, over 60 residents volunteered their time and skills to support the Community Preservation Campaign effort. Work is already underway, and each of the volunteers WILL be contacted.
For those of you unable to attend, Sandy Sweeney of the Bay Ridge Land Trust was kind enough to record minutes for this meeting. Please address any questions about the meeting or next steps to the community leaders on the Preservation Campaign or the Land Use Committee. If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Gretchen Dolan
Amy Steindler, co-chair of the Communications Committee, opened the meeting at 7:10, introduced Walter Bigelow, ARPOA President; Geri Nicholson, Chair of the Land Preservation Campaign; Stan Samorajczyk and Anastasia Hopkinson, Land Use Committee; Dan Wells, Sandra Sweeney, Bill Davidson of the Bay Ridge Land Trust.
Stan Samorajczyk began by making a public disclaimer that he would be speaking for himself only, as a member of the community. He gave an overview of the current situation as we know it: Approximately 108 acres of land are now at risk of development including the 5 acre Green Willow property, the 33 acre Ogleton Woods property and the 70+ acre golf course. Initially there was one developer who owned 38 acres and then two, one owning Green Willow and the other Ogleton Woods. Now it appears there is a third developer with a contract on the 33 acres and golf course. In addition, St. Mary’s School wants to purchase 55 acres of the golf course for playing fields for approximately 32 sports teams. Stan noted that at the same time as the community is negotiating with the Green Willow owner to achieve a fair price, ARPOA is also pursuing legal avenues to block development plans.
Stan reminded attendees that this is a shifting and changing situation, and will continue to be so. Those working on the project will be adapting and adjusting the business plan and strategy to meet the changing situation. They may have to recommend compromises and new directions in order to accomplish the goal of preserving the maximum amount of land in Annapolis Roads.
Amy reviewed the results of the April 2004 survey of the community, noting that at least 80 percent of those 164 households responding support preservation of the open space in Annapolis Roads.
Dan Wells described how the Bay Ridge Land Trust became involved when the Land Use Committee asked for assistance to draw on the experience of the Trust in preserving 100 acres of forest in Bay Ridge. The Trust obtained a grant from the County Conservation Fund to undertake initial information gathering activities such as appraisals, title searches and engineering studies. This information was used by the Land Use Committee to develop an overall business model for the project and a strategy for the Green Willow and Ogleton Woods properties which establishes an ARPOA negotiating position to offer a fair price to the owner while vigorously opposing development.
Dan described the several funding options and financing mechanisms that are possible because of the Trust’s involvement in the project, including tax benefits to the owners, use of the Maryland Department of Environment linked deposit loan program, a loan from the Maryland Environmental Trust, and individual tax deductible donations. He noted the importance of starting the fundraising campaign now in order to qualify the Annapolis Roads community as a buyer with the owners, banks, etc. and to be ready to respond quickly to changing situations.
Geri Nicholson described the two-prong approach to the Campaign – communications to ensure that the community is well informed and united, and fundraising which includes both donations and critical votes by the community regarding use of the Special Community Benefit Tax District. She encouraged residents to volunteer to be involved in the campaign in all different ways. She also admonished individuals not to take it upon themselves to issue press releases to the press and not to repeat or publish rumors, as those actions could contradict or otherwise damage efforts being made by the Campaign. Instead pass any such requests for information to those leading the campaign. There will be periodic meetings for the community as information becomes available.
The presentations were followed by a questions and answer period. At the close of the meeting over 60 persons signed up to volunteer. Thank you!
1. What is the appraised value of the properties? A. We can’t discuss that now because is might jeopardize our ongoing negotiations.
2. Are we talking about raising thousands or millions of dollars? A. Think of the value of the homes that might be built. We’re talking about a lot of money.
3. How can we raise that much money when so many residents are retired and on fixed incomes? A. We hope everyone will participate to the extent they can. A rule of thumb is that 90% of the donations will come from 10% of the people.
4. I’m willing to have the tax rate increased to save the woodlands. Don’t paint ourselves into a box by saying we won’t raise the tax rate.
5. Doesn’t this go beyond the charter of ARPOA? A. The bylaws say we can acquire and own property. However, an affirmative vote of 50 percent plus one of all the Annapolis Roads households is required.
6. When will we take the vote? I’m ready now! A. A vote can only be taken when we have a proposal. We’ll vote as soon as we can after we have a proposal.
7. How will the vote be handled? A. It will be done by written ballot.
8. How much of the money from the SCBD will be needed? Will it take away from other needs of the community? A. When doing the business model we have considered the other community costs as well, e.g. road maintenance, etc.
9. When you say the tax rate probably won’t go up do you mean from the current “Isabel” level? A. Yes
10. Would a conservation easement affect existing property owners? A. ARPOA would put up signs and have to deal with issues of encroachment, but the CE would not affect property owners’ rights on their own property.
1. How does the golf course fit with the big picture? A. We don’t know yet. We are trying to meet with the new owner as soon as possible.
2. What were the surveyors doing? A. They were surveying the properties for the potential buyer.
3. What part of the golf course is being bought? A. We are not sure yet. We have not talked with the potential buyer yet.
4. Can we buy the golf course? Have we talked with the current owner? A. We have talked with the current owner several times over the years.
5. 20 years ago we won a lawsuit regarding use of the golf course… what’s changed? A. As we understand it, there is no intent to build on the golf course land. They would repurpose it for sports fields.
6. Will the use of the golf course be restricted by the lawsuit we won 15 years ago? A. We are working with our attorney to ensure that the restrictions will carry over.
7. Ball fields would be a big problem… the lights, the noise and teen drivers.
8. Can the city annex the golf course? What are the city’s plans? A. If the property is adjacent to the city and the owner wants to annex, they make a proposal to the city. Five votes of the city council would approve annexation.
9. What about the houses between Edgewood Road and the golf course? A. They are in the city and provide the contiguous access.
1. Can we involve the media? A. Yes—the plan was to inform the community first, so that residents aren’t finding out about the issues from a newspaper article.
2. Can we get politicians involved? A. Not immediately. Our first priority is to inform the community and make sure we have an organized community effort.
3. It sounds like we have to move fast… what is a realistic timeframe? A. We’ve been moving as fast as we can to respond to changing situations. You’ll have to bear with us as we work with our legal and other advisors. We’ll do the best we can to communicate status in a timely way.
4. Watershed drainage is a problem for the Ogleton Woods… How will that affect development potential? A. We’re not sure how the County will deal with that.
5. Can we incorporate? A. There have been no serious discussions about that. It’s not as simple as it seems.
6. What about letting the Green Willow development go through? A. We want to treat all of the land as a single project and avoid divisiveness in the community. We also need to remain flexible in our negotiating position.
7. Green Willow is important to preserve, as a buffer to noise and traffic exhaust. What is the progress on the lawsuit? A. We are currently pursuing it to enhance our negotiating position.
8. Does the Trust have a relationship with CBF? Can they help? A. We will be talking with a variety of organizations that may be able to help.
9. Would we go forward with the purchase if the developers went away? A. Yes
10. Was Bay Ridge fighting a developer? A. Yes. You have to vigorously oppose the developer if they don’t obey the law, but at the same time, you have to continue to work toward a deal that will meet the interests of the owner and the community.
1. Where are we now? Can we win this? A. Everything is possible, but we do know what will happen if we do nothing.
2. Compared to 15 years ago we’re much more organized now. For the past 18 months we have been developing this purchase plan. We have a chance. We owe a lot to those who have been working on this and the Trust.
3. Thank you for lots of good information. I feel much more confident now.