CHAP Tax Credit to Expire

According to Baltimore Heritage, Inc., the City's historic property tax credit program will expire on March 1 unless reauthorized by the Mayor and the Baltimore City Council.

As many Canton residents know, The Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) offers tax incentives for homeowners in designated landmark and historic districts seeking to rehab their homes.

According to Baltimore Heritage, the tax credit "has been used by hundreds of building owners over the last eight years to promote millions of dollars in investment in dozens of our historic districts. It is a critical tool that has been proven to work for both neighborhood revitalization and historic preservation."

For more information about Baltimore's Historic Restoration and Rehabilitation Tax Credit, visit the CHAP website. To voice your opinion, contact Mayor Sheila Dixon at mayor@baltimorecity.gov or Councilman James B. Kraft at jkraft@baltimorecitycouncil.com.

Planning Department to Make Recommendations on Icon Development

With a minimum of advance notice, the Baltimore City Department of Planning has announced a meeting to present information and make recommendations on two bills that are currently before the City Council related to the development of the Icon project at Lighthouse Point.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, February 22 at 3:00 pm at the Planning Department's offices at 417 E. Fayette Street, 8th floor. The CCA encourages residents who are concerned about the proposed development to attend the meeting and make their voices and opinions heard.

Because the current Planned Unit Development (PUD) on the Lighthouse Point site is built out, additional construction requires a change to the existing law. City Council Bills CC 06-0551 and CC 06-0552 would change the law to allow the following:

• A one-story addition to the front of Blockbuster to square off the building
• A five-story, 360-space parking garage on the current parking lot in front of Bo Brooks
• Removal of the existing two-story building and parking kiosk
• Relocation of the existing one-story cabana

The new garage, which will also include a restaurant, retail space, and eight dwelling units, would be 120 feet wide and 330 feet long -- nearly the length of a city block. An additional 18-story residential tower on top of the parking garage would include 152 dwelling units.

The current law caps the height of buildings on the site at 79 feet. While the recent Boston Lakewood study issued by the City Planning staff recommended the construction of a large building on the Lighthouse Point parking lot, community leaders rejected this recommendation on the grounds that it relies on outdated, inaccurate, and incomplete information.

"The effect would be to double the number of multifamily units on Lighthouse Point by adding 160 to the existing 141," writes CCA President Darryl Jurkiewicz. "It would double the amount of restaurant space, and increase the amount of retail. It would add 210 parking spaces to the existing 754 for the entire site. The site includes the Moorings townhouses, the old boatel building, the office retail in front of the boatel, Bo Brooks, the pool and the parking lot."

Residents who can't attend the meeting are encouraged to contact their elected City officials:

Doug McCoach, Planning Director
Planning Commission
417 E Fayette St, 8th floor, Baltimore 21202
(410) 396-4327 (phone)
(410) 244-7358 (fax)
douglas.mccoach@baltimorecity.gov

Mayor Sheila Dixon
City Hall, Room 250
100 N Holliday St 21202
(410) 396-3835 (phone)
(410) 576-9425 (fax)
mayor@baltimorecity.gov

Stephanie Rawlings Blake, City Council President
City Hall, Room 400
100 N Holliday St 21202
(410) 396-4804 (phone)
(410) 539-0647 (fax)
srawlings@baltimorecitycouncil.com

Councilman James Kraft
City Hall, Room 505
100 N Holliday St 21202
(410) 396-4821 (phone)
(410) 347-0547 (fax)
jkraft@baltimorecitycouncil.com

photo: Mark Whittlesey

Ground Rent Bill Introduced in City Council

Earlier this week, First District Councilman James B. Kraft introduced a bill in the City Council that would give City homeowners the right of first refusal to purchase the ground rent for their property whenever it comes up for transfer.

Unscrupulous developers have been using foreclosure due to the non-payment of ground rent as a form of "back-door eminent domain" to seize property in Baltimore and in Baltimore and Ann Arundel counties. Councilman Kraft's bill reflects increasing popular discontent with the practice.

Ground rent was originally conceived as a way to help people afford their own homes by paying a 99-year renewable lease for the property. However, due mostly to decades of poor recordkeeping and lax oversight, today ground rents often cannot be tracked back to specific lease-holders. As a result, some homeowners do not know who they are supposed to pay. Developers identify these properties through tax and title records and initiate legal proceedings to evict the homeowners.

The Maryland Legislature is also taking up the issue of ground rent in the current session. The practice is widely anticipated to be abolished by state legislative action.

City Council Bill 07-0584, “Tenant's Right of First Refusal – Application to Ground Rents,” is one of five pieces of legislation introduced by Councilman Kraft on Monday. The other bills addressed improved trash collection and recycling services, off-street parking regulation, and improved processing for zoning variance requests.

Image courtesy iBand.com

CCA Board Elects New Officers

At its monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 6, the Board of the Canton Community Association elected its officers for 2007:

• President: Darryl Jurkiewicz
• Vice-President: Vince Geppi
• Secretary: Denise Aversa
• Treasurer: Lisa Faherty
• Administrative Assistant: Michele Franklin
  

The 2007 Board members are Tracy Bumba, Marisa Capone, Vince Geppi, Susanna Maddox, Jackie Moyer, Anne Norton, Patrick Paulus, Liz Phelan, Gina Schwind, Victoria Stewart, and Jack Stout.

The Canton Connection Online joins the rest of the community in congratulating the new Board officers on their election, and extends its thanks and appreciation to departing Board President Stephen Strohl for all his years at the helm.

Begorrah!

Baltimore City Councilman James Kraft (1st District), O'Donnell Square business owners, and local residents have hammered out a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to govern this year's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The agreement, which is available for download as a MS Word document from the CCA website here, establishes the rules that must be followed by businesses within the 2900-3200 block of O'Donnell Street, and clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the various City agencies that have jurisdiction over public celebrations.

The 2007 St. Patrick’s Day Celebration will be held on O’Donnell Square on Friday, March 16 from 11:00 am - 2:00 am and on Saturday, March 17, from 11:00 am - 2:00 am.

Highlights of the MOU include:

• Outdoor entertainment will end by 11:00 pm both nights.
• No outdoor speakers will be permitted.
• Trucks will have to park in front of businesses, not on side streets.
  

Baltimore City Police will provide on-duty officers and coordinate coverage with Councilman Kraft's office. Representatives of Public Works, the Fire Marshal, Health Department, and the Parking Authority will also be on hand to ensure enforcement of health and safety codes. Councilman Kraft's office will handle permitting and will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the MOU during the festivities.

Questions? Concerns? Contact Billy Hwang at Councilman Kraft's office, at bhwang@baltimorecitycouncil.com.

Image courtesy iBand.com

City Health Department Funds Violence Prevention Program

The Baltimore City Health Department’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention announced on Friday that it will make grant funding available to community organizations through Operation Safe Streets (OSS), a community-based violence intervention program.

According to a press release from Mayor Dixon's office, through OSS community organizations "develop and implement strategies to reduce and prevent violence, particularly shootings and killings. The model relies on outreach workers, faith leaders, and other community leaders to intervene in conflicts, or potential conflicts, and promote alternatives to violence. Along with cooperation from police, CeaseFire includes a strong public education campaign to provide the message that shootings and violence are not acceptable."

The program is based on a successful Chicago program called CeaseFire. The funding for OSS was provided by a grant from the United States Department of Justice. Baltimore community organizations that are based in neighborhoods with high violent crime rates are eligible to apply for grants through the OSS program.

Contact Dr. LaShawn Worsley, Director of Operation Safe Streets, at (443) 984-3566 or lashawn.worsley@baltimorecity.gov for more information or to obtain a Request for Proposals (RFP). The Health Department will convene a Bidder’s Conference for potential applicants in the in the Maxie Collier Room, 3rd floor of the Health Department's headquarters, 210 Guilford Ave., on February 16, 2007 at 9:00 a.m.

DPW Offers Pipe Protection Tips

The cold weather has finally arrived, which means that homeowners need to be on the lookout for frozen water pipes. (It is with dubious pride that this desk can claim what may be the neighborhood's first pipe break of the season.) Pipes and utility meters can freeze when exposed to temperatures below 25 degrees F for extended period.

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works offers the following tips to help homeowners protect their water lines during the winter months:

• Let a thin stream of cold water run from a basement faucet. The stream should be a continuous flow, about the thickness of a pencil. This water can be caught in a bucket or pail to be recycled later as laundry or dish water.
• If you find that a water pipe is frozen, gently warm it with hot air from a blow dryer at the point where the pipe enters your house.
  
• Know the location of the water shutoff valve in your home. Check it periodically to ensure that it works.
• If you have a sump pump, be sure to monitor it regularly. A frozen drain pipe could result in a flooded basement.
• Insulate pipes in the unheated parts of your house.
• Be especially alert if you have had frozen pipes in the past.
  
• Keep bottled water on hand in case you have to shut off your water for extended periods while waiting for a repair.

DPW reminds owners that it maintains outdoor water lines up to and including the meter. Water lines that run from the meter to the house, as well as internal plumbing, are all the responsibility of the property owner.

Call 311 to report water emergencies in Baltimore City. Homeowners who live outside the City but within DPW's service area can call (410) 396-5352. Additional cold weather tips can be found in your 2007 DPW calendar and on DPW's website.