At the June 30 meeting, members inquired about agressive panhandling. Tom Yeager from the Downtown Partnership provided this link to more information/city code.

http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/charterandcodes/

Select Article 19 Police ordinances

Select sub 47 soliciting

The next RNA meeting will be Monday, June 30th at 7pm

6:30 social
7:00 meeting - Speakers from The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
Committee updates - including development and crime updates - lots of recent developments
Upcoming events
Open forum

As always, meetings will be at Salem Lutheran Church on the corner of Randall St. & Battery Ave. Enter through the Battery Ave entrance.

Hope to see you there!

The Peninsula is undergoing water main re-lining. This is a large project, and will be going on for some time. It is also a critical project, as the pipes on the Peninsula (and many in Riverside) are among the oldest in the city.

Work planned on the following streets in the next 90 days (June 1 - August 31) is as follows:

LINING WORK:
Clement
Riverside
Jackson
Birkhead
Henry
Ostend
Covington
Fort
Belt
Randall
Harvey
Gittings-Clement
Hyson
Battery
Anchor

RELAY WORK:
Clement
Patapsco

To All Riverside Residents:

On June 16th the City Council routinely approved by a majority vote Council Bill 08-0117 which created brand new development rights to HarborView Properties that could be conservatively estimated to be worth as much as 17 million.

As you may already know, HarborView’s developer could build only one more 17 story tower (Pinnacle I) before City Council approved an Amendment to the Key Highway Urban Renewal Ordinance. Now Mayor Dixon faces the choice of either signing the Bill into law within 30 days or letting it die a quiet death. The choice Mayor Dixon has to make is not an easy one.

The Mayor is fully aware that over 380 of our South Baltimore neighbors (to this date) have added their names to an Online Petition Opposing the Proposed Amendment allowing HarborView’s operating partner Richard Swirnow to build as many as three more skyscrapers than the original Key Highway Urban Renewal Ordinance would have permitted him to.

Apparently Mr. Swirnow intends to “leverage” the additional new development rights on Lot #6 created by the Amendment to obtain the funds necessary to build Pinnacle I and Pinnacle II (27 stories) on the southeast corner (waterfront side) of Key Highway and Cross Street . Should Planning consider it desirable in the future to restrict those new development rights on Lot #6 to provide the “scale” that is necessary to maximize the appearance and the amount of open space promised for the center-piece Waterfront Park centered at Webster Street, it might be difficult to convince HarborView that it is a good idea to capitulate on rights already granted.

While no one is suggesting that there is anything illegal or unusual afoot here, there certainly was a whole bunch of money riding on the Council’s vote last night. After all, the Amendment certainly increased the asset value of the property now that all of the additional construction can go forward. The approval process required a scant 5 weeks. So, one might naturally expect some controversy to accompany such a high-stakes vote.

As reported June 17 by the Baltimore Examiner, last week a City Board of Ethics complaint was filed against Councilwoman Rikki Spector on grounds that her deciding vote as a member of the Urban Affairs & Aging Committee represented at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. Councilwoman Spector is a resident of HarborView with contractual rights to residency free of charge (except phone bills) for as long as she lives. Without Councilwoman Spector’s vote, it is unlikely the Amendment granting those valuable new development rights to HarborView would have made it out of Committee to the City Council for a full vote.

All the additional asset value that the Amendment creates for HarborView doesn’t even factor in the “marketing value” afforded the developer in the form of the Newly Constructed Dwelling Property Tax Credit Program that offers buyers the advantage of paying ½ the mil rate the rest of us pay in year 1 of the 5 year program.

Yet, property tax revenues have fallen so much over the last year that despite her promise Mayor Dixon and City Council found it impossible to grant the rest of us a two-cent reduction in our rate under an annual program begun by Mayor O’Malley.

We have precious little time to encourage the Mayor to rethink the City’s approach to preserving at least a small percentage of what is left of South Baltimore ’s Inner Harbor Waterfront for the enjoyment of the public and the residents of our adjoining neighborhoods. If you have not already done so, please add your name to the Petition Opposing the Amendment to the Key Highway Urban Renewal Ordinance.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?pl080117

If your name already appears, please encourage as many neighbors as you can to add theirs to the growing list. There is also room for optional comments which will be submitted to the Mayor’s office.

Best regards,

Brad Slater
President
Riverside Neighborhood Association

Below is a link (copy the whole line into a new browser) to a form letter that can be sent in opposition to the proposed amendment by Harborview, which will be heard at a Public Hearing before the Urban Affairs Committee.

http://www.riversideactiongroup.org/images/Amendment%20Letter%20June%202%20members%20letter.pdf

This is a PUBLIC hearing, so if you can attend, please do so. The hearing will be at City Hall on Thursday, June 5 at 4:15pm 4th floor.

Be sure to sign your letter and put your address of your residence.

Send to Urban Affairs committee members:
agnes.welch@baltimorecity.gov
sharon.middleton@baltimorecity.gov
marypat.clarke@baltimorecity.gov
nicholas.d'adamo@baltimorecity.gov
rochelle.spector@baltimorecity.gov

All emails should also be copied to:
edward.reisinger@baltimorecity.gov
brian.mchale@house.state.md.us
senator.g.della@house.state.md.us
councilpresident@baltimorecity.gov
kimberly.washington@baltimorecity.gov
kaliope.parthemos@baltimorecity.gov

The next RNA meeting will be Monday, May 19th at 7pm - Early due to the Memorial Day Holiday

6:30 social
7:00 meeting
Committee updates
Upcoming events
Open forum

As always, meetings will be at Salem Lutheran Church on the corner of Randall St. & Battery Ave. Enter through the Battery Ave entrance.

Hope to see you there!

The next RNA meeting is Monday, April 28, 2008!

6:30 social - No food sponsor for this month's meeting
7:00 meeting - Speakers:
1. Mayor Sheila Dixon to speak to the membership and take questions
2. Representatives from Honeywell to update us on the Swann Park remediation

Committee updates
Upcoming events
Open forum

As always, meetings will be at Salem Lutheran Church on the corner of Randall St. & Battery Ave. Enter through the Battery Ave entrance.

Hope to see you there!

We'll be having a cleanup day this Saturday, April 19th. We'll meet at the Riverside Park Gazebo at 9am. We'll need people to help with cleanup in parts of the neighborhood, and in the park.

Hope to see you there!

RNA is working on compiling a list of contractors in the area who other neighbors have had a good experience with. To see the list, click "read more" below, and if you have someone to recommend, email us at ragsobo@yahoo.com

The next COP walk is Thrusday, March 6 at 7pm at the Riverside Park Gazebo.

WE ALWAYS WALK WITH A POLICE OFFICER but we MUST have at least 5 community members from the scheduled neighborhood or the walk will be cancelled and the officer/s sent back on duty.

WINTER INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY
If the Baltimore City Schools are closed or closing early or if it is 32 degrees or below, or above 90 degrees at 6 PM the walk is cancelled. Walks are also cancelled if it is raining.

The next scheduled walks are:
Thursday March 6
Thursday April 3
Thursday May 1
Thursday June 5
Monday July 7
Monday August 4

Please come out for a crime walk - we need at least 5 people from the community or the walk will be cancelled, and we want to show that Riverside is a proactive community that deters crime!

If you would like the full schedule you can visit www.sdpcrc.org