CommunityPreservation

March 16, 2005: "Annapolis Roads". Editor's Notebook, The Capital Editorial Board

Published July 15, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Judge refuses to lift Annapolis Roads building restrictions
By ERIC HARTLEY, Staff Writer

A judge rejected a developer's request to lift building restrictions on part of a 70-acre parcel in Annapolis Roads that now includes a golf course.

John Stamato, president of Ribera Development LLC, argued Annapolis Roads' residents' vociferous opposition to putting ballfields on the land violated a 20-year-old agreement and opened the door for housing.

But in an opinion issued Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. North ruled residents still have the right to speak out against any project, despite a 1986 agreement that the land only could be used for recreation, horticulture, conservation or a few other uses.

The ruling keeps the original agreement in effect and blocks any possibility of housing, though it's still unclear what will happen to the land.

Last year, St. Mary's High School backed out of a proposal to build athletic fields on part of the land as Ribera put houses on a neighboring 33-acre parcel.

Residents concerned about traffic and environmental impact had launched a campaign that included letters to the editor, missives to public officials and a Web site urging people to join the fight. Mr. Stamato argued their actions were unfair and breached the 1986 agreement, meaning the deal should be thrown out.

Ribera filed its lawsuit in March 2005.

"Nothing in the declaration or the settlement agreement strips defendant of all its rights, or states that defendant is barred from vocalizing its objections to a planned development," Judge North wrote. "Defendant is entitled to oppose a sale or plan that it believes may harm the Annapolis Roads community. It simply may not do so in a court unless it seeks an injunction. Defendant merely bargained away its right to any property interest in the golf course."

Judge North's ruling followed a trial last month at which Barbara J. Palmer, the attorney for the Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association, said residents didn't sign away their First Amendment rights.

Ms. Palmer said yesterday she was pleased, but not surprised, the judge agreed with her.

"I thought it was just so obvious that what we did was OK," she said. "I was sort of surprised we had to go as far as we did."

Mr. Stamato said he was disappointed, but understood Judge North had to go by the actual wording of the agreement, which said nothing about blocking residents from opposing any building proposal.

"The wording was not clear - it did not say 'shall not oppose,'" he said. "To us, it wasn't the intent of the agreement that the day after it was signed we say, 'Hey, we want to do ballfields,' and they declare war.

"Does agreeing upon the uses mean that you've agreed upon something and you can't oppose it? We felt that was obviously what was intended, but we couldn't go back to (1986) and reproduce those discussions."

Mr. Stamato said the actions of Annapolis Roads residents were "deplorable."

"I think that the way they acted - targeting St. Mary's, targeting the Redemptorist priest and the cardinal - that is not the normal way to oppose development," he said.

His attorneys had also asked Judge North to bar residents from speaking out against future projects, a request she declined.

Ms. Palmer said the residents had simply opposed a development they didn't like in the middle of their neighborhood.

"I don't think that the issue was that the community had a particular dislike for St. Mary's," she said.

Even if Judge North had ruled for Ribera, any new housing on the 70 acres would have had to clear several more hurdles, since the land is now zoned open space.

Mr. Stamato said he doesn't plan to appeal this week's ruling. He said he still believes recreational use is the best thing for the property. Ribera doesn't own the 70 acres, but has had a contract to buy it since 2004, contingent on reaching a deal on what to build there.

"We've always lived within the covenant that's on the property, and we'll continue to do that," Mr. Stamato said.

The dispute has its roots in the early 1970s, when there was a proposal to develop the 70 acres, but some residents claimed their deeds gave them some control of the golf course.

After a 13-year battle, the then-land owner and the residents' association reached the 1986 agreement, in which the residents got a piece of beachfront land and restrictions on another private piece of land.

Published August 11, 2005, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2005 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Residents Save Land From Building

ANNAPOLIS -- Annapolis Roads residents officially took possession yesterday of a 33-acre wooded tract, preserving land once slated for development.

Lake Ogleton Associates sold the Ogleton Woods parcel valued at $4.2 million to the Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association for $2.75 million, with the balance donated by Lake Ogleton Associates.

"With neighborhood commitment, we have proven that communities can determine the future course of development," association President Walter Bigelow said.

BankAnnapolis President and CEO Richard M. Lerner, a partner in Lake Ogleton Associates, praised the deal in a separate statement.

"We are pleased that moderate forces within the community of Annapolis Roads came forward with a reasonable offer for the property, leading to an outcome that satisfied the interests of everyone involved," he said.

The sale ends a controversy that began last fall, when Davidsonville developer John Stamato sought to build 40 homes on the site. As part of the development, St. Mary's Church was to get ballfields on the adjacent Annapolis Golf Glub property.

Residents opposed to the development threatened to stop donating to St. Mary's and pull their money out of BankAnnapolis. Working with the nonprofit Bay Ridge Trust, they also rallied to raise money through private donations and a state loan to buy the site.

St. Mary's pulled out of the deal in March. A month later, Mr. Stamato sued the Annapolis Roads association, claiming it violated a 1987 agreement that allowed Ogleton Woods to be developed.

-- From staff and wire reports

Our say: Editor's notebook
By The CAPITAL EDITORIAL BOARD

ANNAPOLIS ROADS -- Good for the residents of the Annapolis Roads neighborhood. They've demonstrated that, yes, a community can stave off a development plan that would change it forever.

Of course, the staving off didn't come cheap. The 320-home community passed the hat for $2.75 million to buy 33 acres integral to the developers' plans. Not every neighborhood will be able to do something like that.

Recently St. Mary's Church in Annapolis scrapped its plans to put a gymnasium and ballfields on the current site of the Annapolis Golf Club. The church's part of the deal was no longer feasible after the community's action snatched away property on which the church's partner, Ribera Development LLC, was planning to build houses.

The church still needs ballfields and we hope it finds land for them elsewhere. But its attempt to put them in a quiet, well-established neighborhood - as part of a development deal hated by its prospective neighbors - was a very bad idea.

Published March 16, 2005, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2005 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

St. Mary's backs off deal to build school's ballfields
By DAVID ABRAMS, Staff Writer

The Annapolis Roads community has staved off the last piece of a development plan that would have brought as many as 40 new houses, a gymnasium and several ballfields to the picturesque neighborhood.

St. Mary's Church, which wanted to build athletic facilities on roughly 55 acres of the Annapolis Golf Club, has decided to seek land elsewhere.

In a letter to parishioners, the church pastor said the agreement fell apart after Ribera Development LLC couldn't hold up its end of the deal. The church and Ribera had planned to jointly develop the property, but residents stepped in and raised enough to buy a tract Ribera eyed for homes.

"It would require that St. Mary's significantly increase its investment to acquire the golf course portion of the property to a level that we have determined to be unacceptable," the Rev. Denis Sweeney said in the Feb. 28 letter. He declined further comment this morning.

The church's decision came after residents in the 320-home community raised roughly $2.75 million in cash and loans in just three months to buy the tract known as Ogleton Woods. Neighbors still are trying to buy the golf course to permanently block any development.

Reached this morning, Ribera Presiden John Stamato said Annapolis Roads residents used "intimidation tactics" to squash his plans.

He cited an agreement the homeowners association made in 1986 with the previous owners of the land. That agreement stipulated it could be developed for recreational purposes, he said.

"I don't have half a million dollars to fight these people over something that's good for the community," Mr. Stamato said.

As soon as residents got wind of the deal between Stamato and St. Mary's in late October, they launched a letter-writing and media campaign against the proposal.

At a hastily-arranged house party in November, residents were able to raise $171,000 in one night. Those who were parishioners at the church lobbied the pastor to abandon the development plans, and even threatened to stop giving money to the church.

They put up signs at the entrance to the community criticizing the pending deal, and posted messages on the homeowners association Web site warning that the community was "under assault."

In a written statement released yesterday, Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association President Walter Bigelow said: "Annapolis Roads is pleased that St. Mary's has decided not to pursue ballfields and a gymnasium on the historic 1920s golf course in the heart of our tranquil and environmentally sensitive community. St. Mary's pulling out is an important second step toward completing the goal of community preservation."

In the neighborhood yesterday, residents including Jim Gibb were excited at the latest turn of events.

"Woo-hoo!" he said as he was recovering his trash and recycling cans from the street. "That is a very nice development."

A longtime Land's End resident out walking her dog concurred.

"Most people know what a negative effect it would have. It would damage our community," said the woman, who declined to be identified. "What we worry about is what will happen next? Will it be worse?"

But St. Mary's parent Raymond Crosby of St. Margarets said the community would have been better off with the church's plan.

"That property is now for sale in Annapolis Roads," he said. "Who would have been a better neighbor than a church and kids?"

Meanwhile, the church still needs fields for its lacrosse, softball, baseball and tennis teams.

St. Mary's has 32 teams and "We use every location in the city and county we can possibly find," said Dave Lanham, the school's athletic director.

Tennis players go to Truxtun Park or Mears Marina in Annapolis. Boys lacrosse is over at Riva Park. Girls lacrosse is at Germantown Elementary School.

"Our needs haven't changed," Mr. Crosby said. "We've got 1,600 kids and zero fields."

Staff Writer E.B. Furgurson III contributed to this story.

Published March 10, 2005, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2005 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Anne Arundel Residents block effort to build on woodland Annapolis Roads group to buy parcel, preserve it

By Childs Walker

Sun Staff

Originally published February 15, 2005

Annapolis Roads homeowners have apparently stymied a developer's hopes to build houses on a wooded section of their tranquil waterfront community by striking a deal to buy and preserve the property.

The Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association moved last week to buy the 33-acre parcel, known as the Ogleton Woods property. The prospective developer, Ribera Development LLC of Annapolis, had an option on the property and planned to build an undetermined number of homes on the land.

Neighbors are still battling Ribera's efforts to buy the adjacent 78 acres that are home to the Annapolis Golf Club and build homes and athletic facilities for St. Mary's High School there.

Richard M. Lerner, chairman of BankAnnapolis and the primary owner of the Ogleton Woods property, said he was pleased that neighbors made a competitive offer on the 33-acre tract.

"As president of a community bank, I am sensitive to the wishes of the community, and I am glad that we were able to work out a solution that benefits all parties," Lerner said.

"I congratulate the community of Annapolis Roads for stepping up and taking control of its own destiny. From my perspective, this is an ideal outcome for everyone," he said.

Ribera's president, John Stamato, also commended neighbors.

"This is the way a community association should protect open space," he said. "It reduces the number of houses, which is obviously a good thing for the community."

Stamato said his company is working to acquire the golf club and probably would not take any action for at least two months. He said the neighbors' purchase of Ogleton Woods could change his company's planned configuration for the athletic fields and homes slated for the 78 adjacent acres.

Stamato has said building athletic facilities, including lacrosse fields and a basketball gym for St. Mary's, was always his chief goal.

The nine-hole, public Annapolis Golf Club is owned by George Grace, who last year optioned the land to Stamato.

That stirred immediate opposition in the Annapolis Roads association, which represents about 300 households.

Neighbors mobilized to block the Ribera plan, which they said would ruin the peace and quiet they cherish. They wrote letters to county leaders and immediately began raising money to make a competitive bid on the land.

Association representatives could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

Published February 14, 2005, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2005 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Annapolis Roads residents buy land, block developer
By DAVID ABRAMS, Staff Writer

Annapolis Roads homeowners have bought 33 acres of woodlands in their neighborhood, blocking a developer's plans to build on the site.

Now their sights are set on stopping St. Mary's High School from building athletic facilities on the adjoining golf course.

"The 33 acres will definitely be preserved and give the us the first giant step in preserving our community the way it is," Walter Bigelow, president of the Annapolis Roads Property Owner's Association, told The Capital this morning. The deal was signed last week.

A source close to the negotiations said the 33 acres were purchased for about $2.75 million.

Before homeowners started a frantic fund-raising campaign about three months ago, Ribera Development LLC of Annapolis planned to build as many as 40 houses on the property.

"Any community that steps up to the plate and is willing to pay a market price for a property, they need that opportunity to be able to do that," said John Stamato, president of Ribera.

The developer still is working with St. Mary's to build ballfields and a gymnasium on the Annapolis Golf Club, a roughly 80-acre golf course next to Ogleton Woods.

"We have an agreement in place, and we're still working on some of the details," Mr. Stamato said. "This does change our plans for what the development would look like. It's obviously a very positive thing for the community."

But the homeowners said they will continue working to preserve the golf course.

In a written statement, a homeowner who organized the fund-raising drive said the purchase will not only benefit the neighbors, but also the environment and people who use Forest Drive.

"We could not have done this were the community not united. Annapolis Roads residents are committed to preserving our way of life," Geri Nicholson wrote.

Rick Lerner, chairman and CEO of BankAnnapolis, is the primary owner of the property sold last week. He said the homeowners brought a good business background to the table.

"As president of a community bank I am sensitive to the wishes of the community, and I am glad that we were able to work out a solution that benefits all parties," Mr. Lerner said in a statement released this morning. "I congratulate the community of Annapolis Roads for stepping up and taking control of its own destiny. From my perspective, this is an ideal outcome for everyone."

Published December 12, 2004, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2004 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Guest column: Annexation not a factor in Annapolis Roads issue
By JON ARASON

Quite a stir has been created by the unveiling of St. Mary's High School's plans to replace the Annapolis Golf Club with athletic fields. Annapolis Roads residents are rightly concerned about the potential impact on their quiet community.

I've coached youth athletics and been a soccer dad, a St. Mary's parent and a habitue of the golf course. So I fully understand that the number of youth sports devotees that can descend on a competitive event can far exceed the number of cars at the Annapolis Golf Club on even the most beautiful weekend afternoon.

But the protests of this pending sale go well beyond the Annapolis Roads community. Why? According to the opponents, it is the specter of annexation (the longest four-letter word I know). St. Mary's, the story goes, is just a witless accomplice in some municipal plot to annex "The Roads."

Nothing could be further from the truth. Contrary to what is said by those trying to rachet up public outrage, the city does not have, nor have we sought, a stake in this confrontation.

Annapolis does not solicit annexations. Property owners must petition the city for annexation. The process takes six to 12 months, and includes public hearings. Annexations are not always approved, as those who suffered through the Chesapeake Harbor experience will attest.

Additionally, state law requires that annexed property be zoned in a manner consistent with the land use recommendations of the county plan.

Property owners annex mainly to receive municipal services - public water and sewer. The city annexes to create a logical boundary, develop a compact city configuration for the efficient provision of municipal services, or assist property owners whose wells or septic systems have failed.

There are areas where the corporate boundary is so convoluted that the notion of incorporated vs. unincorporated land is defeated. The Somerville Supply building is split by the city-county line - purchases are made in the county, pickup is in the city.

In other areas, annexation and municipal development have fostered smart growth and mixed-use areas of exceptional design, convenience and integrity.

The Annapolis Roads property, as I understand it, has zoning and covenants that restrict the use of the land to open space and recreation, including playing fields.

In addition to the acreage so covenanted, an additional 36 acres adjacent to the golf course is currently zoned R-2, which allows two (or under some conditions, three) dwelling units per acre.

If this property were to petition for annexation, at a minimum the owners would be required to honor the current open space zoning and covenants, extend city water and sewer, build a sidewalk along the length of the property, analyze traffic, designate land outside of the golf course for permanent conservation, stay within the parameters of the county plan and Critical Area designations, and meet our rigid development standards.

In reality, Annapolis is not interested in complicating this dispute between the purchaser of the property and the community. Some of us learned long ago not to whack a hornet's nest.

Since Annapolis intends to remain an outside party, honest community debate would best be served by an understanding of the merits, liabilities, legalities and illegalities of the proposal itself - not by using the specter of annexation or imagined city designs to obfuscate the real issues.

City Hall has received an avalanche of e-mails denouncing our "greed" - as if the city would be making any money off tax-exempt property. We answer these e-mails with the facts about annexation and our nonrole in this controversy. But we've had had no opportunity to respond to letters in The Capital that contained false, misleading or inflammatory statements.

If anyone has questions about the city's position on this or any other proposed development, city or county, he should call my office for an explanation. Our planning processes are completely open. We have always welcomed public participation.

The writer is the director of the city Department of Planning and Zoning.

Putting Our Experience to Good Work

By Sandra Sweeney, The Bay Ridge Trust

The third largest forest on the Annapolis Neck is in danger. The environmentally sensitive woodland lies in the center of the Annapolis Roads community giving respite to all who travel the roads through the neighborhood and providing habitat for forest nesting birds, deer and other wildlife.

In fact, it was all planned that way. When Frederick Law Olmsted’s landscape architecture firm designed the historic community in 1926 the roads were made purposefully winding and the woodland was specifically set aside to ensure a country feeling even as homes were built.

Now two developers are planning to build homes at the highest density possible on two parcels – the 33 acres of forest and approximately 5 acres of wooded land on the border of Bay Ridge Road. And over 85 percent of the residents of Annapolis Roads have said they don’t want that to happen. They fear that development of these parcels will adversely affect silting in Lake Ogleton, well water levels, emergency response time and traffic flow.

Maryland Environmental Trust representative Dianne Chasse, along with Bay Ridge Trust Board members Bill Davidson, (L) Dan Wells (2nd from L) and are given a tour of the Annapolis Roads woodland by resident Angus Phillips.

As part of its mission to preserve the remaining wooded and open spaces on the Annapolis Neck, the Bay Ridge Trust is working with the Annapolis Roads community to protect the natural resources in its midst. Over the past year we have assisted the property owners association with the development of a practical business plan built on a complex mix of funding sources, financing options and conservation tax benefits. Using our experience with appraisers, engineers and tax advisors, the Trust has brought the necessary expertise to the project toward the goal of negotiating an offer price that is fair for the owner and feasible for the community to undertake.

The Annapolis Roads community is embarking on a campaign to raise the funds necessary to purchase the property and place a conservation easement on it. It is their hope to be the owners of the forest, to preserve it and to manage it for the protection of wildlife and enjoyment of future generations.

As a nonprofit organization qualified to hold conservation easements, the Trust brings unique and critical resources to the project. It received a County Conservation Fund grant of $46,000 to fund start-up costs for the project including appraisals, title searches and engineering studies. By ensuring the conservation focus of the project, the Trust can attract certain financing resources that are specifically reserved for land preservation goals such as use of the Maryland Department of Environment linked deposit loan program and bridge loans from the Maryland Environmental Trust.

And the Trust can use tax deductible donations from residents and other supporters on the Annapolis Neck to purchase permanent conservation easements on the properties.

The Annapolis Roads woodland is still at risk and the accomplishment of this preservation project is far from resolved, but working in partnership, the Bay Ridge Trust and the Annapolis Roads community will continue to pursue the goal of preserving one of the last remaining forests on the Annapolis Neck.

Article and photograph re-printed courtesy of The Bay Ridge Trust (Newsletter, Fall, 2004)

Annapolis Roads Deal Bad For Church And Community

EVEN WITH a church working with it, the developer that wants to put homes next to what is now an Annapolis Roads golf course should have expected intense community opposition as par for the course.

This is the second time in less than two decades that Annapolis Roads residents have fought a development plan involving the nine-hole Annapolis Golf Club. They stopped a 1987 plan for luxury condominiums.

Now, Ribera Development L.L.C. wants to use the 115 acres of property - including the golf course and an adjoining 33 acres of forest - to build single-family homes. But it has added a new twist: providing ballfields for St. Mary's Church.

Residents still aren't buying the idea - for good reason.

Bringing in a church as a partner doesn't make the project any more appetizing to the community. Even if some of the disruption comes from lighted baseball diamonds and busloads of kids coming to and from games, rather than just from more residents going to and from houses, it still adds up to an unwanted burden on an old, well-designed and quiet community.

If involving a local church was intended to attract community support or mollify residents, it had the opposite effect. Residents are questioning the motives of the developer in including St. Mary's and feel the church has betrayed the community.

We can understand why. As the area's schools are at capacity, the developer couldn't get the necessary county zoning approval - at least not without putting age restrictions on the housing. So it has turned to the city in hope of getting the property annexed and securing water and sewer service. But without turning the golf course land into ballfields, there would be no connection between the new home sites and the city - and no way to annex the development. So St. Mary's has been brought into the projected deal.

The church does need ballfields, but this is not a good place for them. The streets cannot accommodate additional traffic and residents are entitled to their peace and quiet. Does St. Mary's really want the ballfields there if it means disrupting a neighborhood? It can't be worth the price the church would have to pay in the loss of good will.

St. Mary's should back out of this deal before it generates any more hostility. The residents, on the other hand, should step up their efforts to buy the property. Unless they control the land, this won't be the last time they have to fend off a developer with a bad idea for its use.

St. Mary's, Developer Work On Annapolis Roads Deal

DAVID ABRAMS, Staff Writer

St. Mary's Church and a developer are negotiating a deal to turn 110 acres in the Annapolis Roads community into ballfields and housing, the church and Archdiocese of Baltimore announced yesterday.

Ribera Development, LLC, is contracting to buy the nine-hole Annapolis Golf Club and surrounding land, and is in talks with the church to sell some of the property for use as playing fields.

Ribera would build housing on roughly 33 acres surrounding the course, near Lake Ogleton.

Neither party would release the cost.

"This has come along, and we're hoping," said the Rev. Denis J. Sweeney, pastor of the church.

Building ballfields would end a seven-year search on behalf of the athletic teams from the church's private school, housed next to the church on Duke of Gloucester Street in downtown Annapolis.

St. Mary's has more than 15,000 parishioners and about 2,100 children enrolled in religious education, but it has no place to grow.

The parish opened St. John Neumann mission church on Bestgate Road two years ago, and has purchased land in Crownsville for a new campus in the future.

But the impending deal in Annapolis Roads already has residents preparing for a fight. They're concerned about the part of the deal that is still unknown: An attorney for Ribera would not say how many or what kind of units it intends to build.

Kara Flynn, an Annapolis Roads resident, said property owners envision "nightmare scenarios" that range from senior housing to condominiums. A developer who applied several years ago for permits to build 28 single-family homes on the property was rejected.

"We've all seen the development that's rapidly encroaching on our community," Ms. Flynn said. "New homes, they're behemoths."

Ms. Flynn identified a host of issues, from traffic to the effects on wildlife and the environment.

Joe Devlin, an attorney representing the developer, said the company plans to work with the neighbors. "We believe we'll come up with an appropriate project that will hopefully address all of the issues that are already out there in the community so we can get a project that everyone will say is a great thing," he said.

Residents heard rumors of the impending deal three days ago, and held a meeting Thursday night to get organized.

The 150 people who showed up discussed how the Bay Ridge Civic Association two years ago bought 108 acres of nearby forest to block 322 homes from being built.

The Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association wants to raise money to do the same thing. But it's up to the owner of the property to entertain offers.

"We have no intention of selling the land to anyone else," Mr. Devlin said.

Ms. Flynn said the community will not accept that answer. Half of the homeowners at Thursday's meeting filled out surveys saying they want to protect the property as is.

"When you have community opposition with hundreds of people or more, involve politicians and state agencies and environmental groups, I can't imagine it's going to be that easy," she said.

2/14/05 PRESS RELEASE

Annapolis Roads Community Enters into Agreement to Purchase 33-Acre Ogleton Woods Parcel

The Officers and Board of Directors of the Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association (ARPOA) today announced that the community has negotiated the purchase of 33 acres of land known as Ogleton Woods, which secures a key parcel in their ongoing effort to preserve the historic landscape and environmental quality of the community.

At the heart of Annapolis Roads, the Ogleton Woods parcel was sold by Lake Ogleton Associates, LLC for an undisclosed sum. Preservation of the woods and wetlands from development into high density housing will contribute to the improved environmental quality of the Chesapeake Bay, ameliorate traffic problems on Forest Drive, and enhance the quality of life for Annapolis Roads residents.

Located on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula in Annapolis, the ARPOA's Community Preservation Campaign committee developed and executed a plan 18 months ago with the intent of purchasing key parcels in the community. The purchase strategy, developed in conjunction with the Bay Ridge Trust, utilizes a conservation mechanism where the property is put into a permanent conservation easement. This mechanism allows the community to buy the property at market price.

Fundraising from the community to purchase parcels is a key component of the Community Preservation Campaign plan. "We could not have done this were the community not united. Annapolis Roads residents are committed to preserving our way of life," said fundraising lead Geraldine Nicholson. The Annapolis Roads Community raised an unprecedented $750,000 in three months. Annapolis Roads has also seen support from the communities on the Annapolis Neck, the golfing community, and local and regional environmental organizations.

WE CAN STOP THIS DANGEROUS PROPOSAL BY ST. MARY’S, BUT WE NEED EVERYONE’S HELP WRITING LETTERS AND SENDING EMAILS!

POSITIONING: The position of the residents of Annapolis Roads is that the partnership between St. Mary’s and the developer is beneficial to the developers first and foremost, as their goal will be city annexation, which would allow them to circumvent county laws and create high density housing on the 33 acres of Ogleton Woods. St. Mary’s is being used by the developers to secure this annexation while portraying the developer as a benevolent entity. The threat of annexation begins with the golf course land being earmarked for the St. Mary’s ball fields, putting St. Mary’s in the position of having to at least tacitly agree to annexation, in order to get their much-needed playing fields.

In addition, neither St. Mary’s nor the developers sought opinion or consensus from Annapolis Roads leadership or residents prior to announcing their intent in the press. In fact, St. Mary’s was asked directly about the deal just prior to the press release and denied any such deal was in progress. Recent articles expressing “shock” at our reaction and calling for Annapolis Roads to be “reasonable” should elicit a response of outrage from all residents of the Annapolis Neck.

Choose a few of the following points to focus your communication. Write from the heart, and your message will be clearly heard.

1) Resident status. The letter-writer is a resident, and part of a community that is galvanized to fight this damaging and disruptive proposed plan by the Ribera/Stamato Development Company & St. Mary’s partnership.

2) Traffic dangers and speeding. Their plan is dangerous to our community. It will add thousands of cars per week on our small roads, which will endanger our children, as well as adults who walk and bike on the roads. There is no road infrastructure to support this kind of traffic, nor should there be this level of traffic in our small community. Increased traffic will cause backups similar to that experienced by Hillsmere residents when Key School’s school day or athletic events begin and end.

Speeding on the roads is already a persistent problem. Numerous complaints are already on record with the county. This problem will only increase as the number of drivers from outside our community speed through.

3) Environmental issues. Ogleton Woods and the Green Willow Woods are environmentally sensitive woods and wetlands. They are the last large undeveloped tracts on the Annapolis Neck and are home to ospreys, herons, owls, fox and many other species.

The environmental degradation will be traumatic. Automobile exhaust, noise pollution, light pollution from ball field lights, runoff into the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Ogleton, will all be measurable effects.

4) Emergency services infrastructure is inadequate. Lack of emergency services to support development or heavy recreational use by children – our emergency response times are already strained, and could be dangerous to both residents and children.

5) “Good neighbor” guidelines ignored by St. Mary’s and developers. We are appalled that a civic minded organization like St. Mary’s would propose such a dangerous, disruptive and destabilizing plan for a tranquil neighborhood like Annapolis Roads, and would pursue it without having had any open dialog with the community leaders first.

6) Annexation to support greed. The developers have made it clear that they intend to request annexation, which will open the door for them to build high density housing so that they can maximize their profits, more than mitigating any financial loss realized from the St. Mary’s ball field proposal. Annapolis Roads residents will strongly oppose annexation, which would open the door for high density housing, traffic, crime, and a highly detrimental impact on the environment. This request for annexation has gotten the attention of all of the other community associations on the Annapolis Neck. We will be instrumental in organizing them to oppose this move as well.

7) Issue a “call to action.” Tell St. Mary’s you want them to back out of this deal. Communicate to Janet Owens that you’re counting on her and her team to enforce the laws and codes that govern development in the highly sensitive Annapolis Neck, and that you want the county’s support in opposing annexation. Tell Ellen Moyer that the developers have made clear their plans to request annexation, and that you and your neighbors want the City Council to reject any such request as it is bad for the environment, great for the pockets of the developers and their associates and supporters, and is clearly a strain on the city’s infrastructure.

1. Avoid personal attacks on any individual involved in the land deal. Be respectful but firm in your tone.

2. Avoid antagonistic stance against St. Mary’s or the developers. Keep your personal bias out, as it will reduce the credibility of your communication.

4. If you’re unsure, and would like a second opinion, please ask a neighbor or forward your letter to the Communications Committee Chairs—Dave Buemi and Amy Steindler at buemibeachhouse@verizon.net or call them at (410) 280-1540. If you’d like your letter published on the website, please send it along as well, and we’ll publish a representative selection.

Thanks! Your letter writing IS ALREADY making a difference! Please encourage all of your neighbors to write letters as well! WE CAN WIN THIS! But we’ve got to work together and continue to persevere!

The Baltimore Sun

Letters to the Editor, The Sun, P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore 21278-0001

letters@baltsun.com (be sure to include contact information, including your full name and both day and evening phone numbers)

Thanks! Your letter writing WILL make a difference! Please encourage all of your neighbors to write letters as well! WE CAN WIN THIS! But we’ve got to work together and continue to persevere!

Thank you for your enthusiastic turnout and response to the assault on our community by a coordinated strategy from Ribera/Stamato developers and St. Mary’s church. 160 Annapolis Roads residents attended the meeting and overwhelmingly endorsed fighting this offensive on our community, conserving the land and preserving our community integrity! In a show of our resolve as a community galvanized, 60 residents volunteered to work on our highly organized and resourced effort. Click here for the meeting minutes . . . . . .

The day after the meeting, St. Mary’s issued a press release from which the Evening Capital crafted an article. Click here . . . . . .

STAY STRONG ANNAPOLIS ROADS! WE ARE ORGANIZED, RESOURCED AND HAVE A STRONG PLAN. WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED!

Please check this website for frequent additions, updates, meeting announcements and requests for particular types of help on this effort.

Annapolis Roads St. Mary’s Parishioners Unite Against Proposed Development By Church

Frank Peterson is an Annapolis Roads resident and a St. Mary’s parishioner. He is leading a group of parishioners who are community residents to oppose Ribera/Stamato and St. Mary’s destructive plans for Annapolis Roads.

If you are a St. Mary’s parishioner, live in Annapolis Roads and feel strongly about fighting this proposed development, please contact Frank Peterson 410.268.7719.

For all Annapolis Roads residents who were not able to volunteer previously but would like to work on the effort, please contact our Director of Volunteer Coordination, Gretchen Dolan 410.263.5548