Month: March 2016

Bloom the Block

Seton Hill clean up

Spring is here, and it’s time to start with some neighborhood spring cleaning! Come out with your neighbors on 16 April 2016 to help Bloom the Block!

We’re going to be building off of what the youth from Cathedral of Our Mary Queen did, and we’ll continue raking leaving, clearing flower beds, and planting! We’ll provide all of the equipment!

And, by doing this, you can even “earn” money towards your stormwater fee! The clean up is scheduled for four hours, which means your half way to getting a $10 credit on your stormwater fee. If you and someone else from your household participates, then you have fulfilled the requirement to earn $10! You can earn $30 a year!

Location: St Mary’s Park

Date/Time: Saturday, 16 April 2016, from 9am – 1pm

Want to help but can’t make it on 16 April – you can contribute by greening your area!! Let us know if you need any tools!

We can’t wait to show off our neighborhood! There are two major events happening the following week, after this clean up.

First, on Friday, 22 April 2016, in honor of the 225th Anniversary of the Sulpician Fathers’ arrival to the United States in 1791, St. Mary’s Spiritual Center and Historic Site will be hosting a private event.

Then, on Saturday, 23 April 2016, Seton Hill resident Nell Ziehl will be hosting a walking tour of the neighborhood with Baltimore Heritage!  How much do you know about your own neighborhood? There’s so much history here, and if you’re interested in learning about it, you should absolutely register for this tour!

There will also be a community dumpster on 30 April for all to utilize. It will be at the corner of N Paca and Druid Hill.

Questions? Please email us at president@setonhill.org.

CBA – signed!

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On Monday the State Center Neighborhood Alliance, of which Seton Hill has been a long time member, and State Center LLC signed a Community Benefits Agreement, the first of its kind in Baltimore. This was an amazing and historic day!

We were joined by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Senator Catherine Pugh, Council President Jack Young, Councilman Eric Costello, and Councilman Nick Mosby. Delegate Antonio Hayes couldn’t attend, but expressed his support.

As Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said, “This is what community economic development looks like!”

Thank you so much to all of the community leaders and advocates who have been working for the past 10 years to move this project forward! This has been an enormous undertaking. The last step in the puzzle will be Governor Hogan’s approval.

The event received a lot of news coverage, and our very own resident, Lisa Meyerhardt, was quoted in the BBJ – see below.

Baltimore Business Journal (blog): Backers hope State Center agreement will ‘spark some more movement’ on project

“Community groups would be happy to see action, said Lisa Meyerhardt, a member of the Seton Hill Association. Current development plans began years ago under Gov. Robert Ehrlich administration, she said. Current Gov. Larry Hogan can close the deal, she said.
“All we’re waiting on at this point is for the governor to push forward,” Meyerhardt said. “We’ve done our part. The community and our developer have worked really hard together for ten years now.” “

For more coverage, see:
Baltimore Sun: Politicians, community groups press Hogan on State Center

ABC2 News: Community leaders call for state support of redevelopment project in West Baltimore

CBS Local: Neighbors, Developer Sign Agreement On 28-Acre Redevelopment Project

And, if you have some time and want to watch the full event, you can watch it on Charm TV here.

For background on this event, see this press release.

For more information about the State Center Redevelopment project, please go here.

Here are the community groups involved: Druid Heights Community Development Corp., Heritage Crossing Residents Association, McCulloh Homes Residents Association, Madison Park Improvement Association, Marble Hill Association, Midtown Development Corporation, Mount Royal Improvement Association, Mount Vernon Belvedere Association, Pennsylvania Ave. Redevelopment Collaborative, Seton Hill Association, United Baptist Missionary Convention and Auxiliaries of Maryland, and the Upton Planning Committee.

Thank you again for all of your support!

In the words of John Kyle, the SCNA president, this is one more step towards “fulfilling the promise of State Center redevelopment … of fulfilling the promise of a role in forging our own destinies, the promise of being part of the growth and life of our City and State.”

 

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Press release – CBA

New Hopes Build For State Center Project

Community Groups and Developer Gather to Sign Community Benefits Agreement on the 10th Anniversary of the Proposed State Center Redevelopment Project 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura Rodini, Communications Associate, Community Law Center: laura@communitylaw.org or (202-669-3065)
Rendering of the proposed State Center complex at Howard and MLK. credit: Mithun

BALTIMORE, March 14, 2016 – A consortium of twelve West Baltimore organizations is gathering adjacent to the site of the proposed State Center redevelopment project on Monday, March 21 at 9 am to sign a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with project developer State Center, LLC. The Agreement governs the community process for this extensive redevelopment project. The project was originally put into motion 10 years ago by former Governor Robert Ehrlich.

Members of the media are invited to attend the signing, which will be held outdoors outside the Kappa Alpha Psi building at 1207 Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD 21217. RSVP by emailing Community Law Center’s Communications Associate Laura Rodini at laura@communitylaw.org.

This Community Benefits Agreement is between State Center, LLC, and the State Center Neighborhood Alliance, Inc., composed of the organizations representing the West Baltimore communities most affected by the site and several adjacent anchor institutions. This represents an historic occasion, as this Community Benefits Agreement is the first in Baltimore for a project of this scale.

Under this agreement, the developer must:

  • involve the community in planning, designing, and implementation of the redevelopment;
  • improve access to transit;
  • generate much needed community jobs and leverage job training for local residents;
  • provide for environmentally sensitive construction and design;
  • work toward commercial synergy with surrounding areas; and
  • help finance additional community-led projects.
“We are proud to have participated in drafting and negotiating this Community Benefits Agreement on behalf of the State Center Neighborhood Alliance,” said Kristine Dunkerton, Executive Director of Community Law Center. “It is surely a national model of a binding contract between grassroots organizations and a developer. It demonstrates the benefits of a developer taking the time to listen, include the needs, and address the concerns of well-organized area residents with a long term commitment of working together.”

“This agreement ensures the adjacent communities are at the center of the opportunity this project will bring to West Baltimore,” said John E. Kyle, President of the State Center Neighborhood Alliance. “In order to fulfill the promise of this project, SCNA members and area residents have collaborated over the past 10 years in advocating for this once in a generation opportunity for our neighborhoods. We sign this agreement today to add one more building block to moving ahead with this shovel-ready project. Positive investment in Baltimore, like this project’s creation of jobs, can be truly achieved when the affected communities have a voice.”

“This Community Benefits Agreement documents hours of collaboration with the community, and is based on the fundamental belief that we are better together than we can ever be alone,” stated Caroline Moore, co- managing partner of State Center, LLC, the developer of State Center. “The CBA will be the roadmap, it will be the bedrock on which we can build State Center, and it will be the metric by which every small achievement is captured to realize the ultimate vision. We hope to see the project implemented after ten years of hard work by the community, the development team and various State and City officials.”
 
“It is our fervent desire,” said Kyle and Moore jointly, “that the current state administration will move the project forward so that the community can reap the rewards of this historic agreement and so that the neighborhoods, the City, and the State can benefit from this project.”
To obtain a copy of the Community Benefits Agreement, contact us.

About the State Center Development Project

One of the largest projects currently envisioned for Baltimore City is the proposed re-development of the 28-acre State Center complex. Now home to state offices, the site will be transformed into 2,000 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of state and private office space, and retail-including a grocery store and parking garage. The project is expected to have a significant economic impact on West Baltimore, including the creation of 8,000 jobs over the life of the project by the State and by private entities.

Although the Baltimore City Board of Estimates authorized a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) for the state occupied space in 2015 and the State of Maryland Board of Public Works has approved various agreements and leases, the decision on whether the State will move forward with its part of the deal is now in the hands of Governor Larry Hogan.

About The State Center Neighborhood Alliance, Inc.

The membership of the State Center Neighborhood Alliance, Inc. (SCNA), listed below, comprises over 25,000 city residents. It also counts among its non-voting members, major cultural institutions including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the University of Baltimore, and the University of Maryland Medical System – Midtown Campus.

The SCNA President is John E. Kyle (410-812-5788).
The SCNA Vice-President is James Hamlin (443-280-2702).

Members of SCNA:

Druid Heights Community Development Corporation – represented by Roscoe Johnson

Heritage Crossing Residents Association – represented by Janet Allen
McCulloh Homes Residents Association – represented by June Johnson
Madison Park Improvement Association – represented by Pam Johnson
Marble Hill Association – represented by Steva Komeh
Midtown Development Corporation – represented by Charlie Duff
Mt. Royal Improvement Association – represented by John E. Kyle
Mt. Vernon Belvedere Association – represented by Jim Peiffer
Pennsylvania Ave Redevelopment Collaborative – represented by James Hamlin
Seton Hill Association – represented by Kevin Macartney
United Baptist Missionary Convention & Auxiliaries of Maryland – represented by Trina Palmore
Upton Planning Committee – represented by Wanda Best

The purposes of SCNA are to:
  • provide the community voice to the development project occurring at State Center,
  • leverage benefits for the neighborhoods and residents in the impact zone,
  • keep the Alliance and the greater community informed of the process, and
  • undertake other projects, programs and activities not inconsistent with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and applicable state law, including the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) the Internal Revenue Code, as the need to do so presents itself in the opinion of the Board of Directors.
About State Center, LLC
 
State Center, LLC’s purpose is to own, develop and manage this transit oriented development in Baltimore. It is 66% owned by Maryland investors and 33% minority owned. The partnership has expertise in sustainable mixed-use redevelopment and is committed to partnering with the communities where it is working.
State Center, LLC’s co-managing partner is Caroline Moore (443-453-5102).

About Community Law Center
 
Community Law Center, Inc. is a Baltimore-based nonprofit law firm that provides legal services to community and nonprofit organizations throughout Maryland to promote stronger nonprofits and more vibrant neighborhoods.
If your community association wants to negotiate a community benefits agreement or other legal legal assistance, contact Community Law Center.