Extended Again

See below for the re-extended comment period for SAYC (S-P):

Hello Friends of Spa Creek,

Because of the complexity of the issues involved with the SAYC site plan proposal, Planning and Zoning Director Pete Gutwald emailed me at close of business yesterday that the Public Comment period is further extended. Please read his quoted remarks below. This means that there will be substantially more time for public response, and that Planning and Zoning intends to have a hearing convened before the Planning Commission, at which time the public will have an opportunity to discuss all concerns in an open forum. Please relay this information to people you know who may have interest in this project.

“It has come to my attention that you are concerned with the time frame for public comment regarding the above mentioned project.  

I realize the public notice sign establishes a period in which the the Department will receive comment.  However, consistent with past policies the Department will continue to take public input up to the the week before the Hearing with the Planning Commission (the time in which the Staff report has to be completed prior to the meeting).  Which public testimony will be heard at that time as well.  Please note the hearing has not been schedule at this time.

Section 21.10.020 establishes the minimum time period the property must be posted prior to a decision.  Since this project is also subject to Title 20 (subdivision) a posting of the property will occur prior to the date of the public hearing with the Planning Commission as well.

I trust this answers your questions regarding public input.  If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.”

The third one is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 31.

Regards,

Bill Sweetser, President, Save Spa Creek’s Heritage, Inc., (703) 626-3847

On Storm-water Runoff

Received from resident Cindy Lewis from a letter she received from Diane Butler:

There is an Eco-Action committee that is very involved with the storm water runoff into Spa Creek and surrounding areas . They are very involved with this project and are leaning very heavily on the City regarding the intended tree removal of all the trees on the property.

Here is some information on an upcoming meeting.

Joint Eco-Action Committee – Annapolis Environmental Commission meeting Sept. 7th 7:00pm 145 Gorman Street 3rd floor Conf. room

Hi Eco-Action Committee members:

Since many of you wanted to hear South Annapolis Yacht Center’s plans for stormwater management and impacts to Spa Creek and the Annapolis Environmental Commission (AEC) will be meeting with the SAYC engineers at our next AEC Meeting on September 7th, we are combining the meeting. That means our August Eco-Action meeting is now moved to September 7th, at 145 Gorman Street, 3rd Floor Conference room.  Our goal is to understand the projects environmental impacts and to educate the public and the city on those impacts. We might even have some helpful input!

A couple of things from the plan that are worth noting and which I am sure we will here more about on 9/7/16:

The applicant indicates that the plan will significantly improve the storm water management currently planned for the site by reducing the quantity, and the quality off the storm water runoff, into Spa Creek.  The plan will include a large rain garden and some storm water detention planters, and planting over 100 new, native trees in the buffer areas around the site.

It appears that the current stormwater management plan will only meet the minimum requirement to treat only 50% of the existing impervious surface on site while other developments on the Creek  have or will treat 100% of its existing impervious surface area.

The plan calls for the elimination of all trees on site including healthy trees. It will take decades to reproduce the ecological benefits of cutting all the trees down and replanting with 2 inch caliper trees on site.   The City of Annapolis has included in its Comprehensive plan and Sustainability plan the goal to to increase its  tree canopy goal of 50% by 2036. 

State Phase I permits have a 20% restoration requirement, and MDE expects to issue these same permits to Phase II jurisdictions, like Annapolis, by March 2017.  It will be almost impossible to restore 20% of acres in the City that have not been treated for stormwater because of the amount of asphalt and brick in Annapolis.  Therefore, it seems clear that new developments must go beyond complying with the bare minimum stormwater requirements or residents will end up paying increased stormwater fees to remediate the damage to our waters.  

Diane R. Butler

(443) 253-7263

 

Not Just a Tree Thing

Trees should, of course, be prized and protected for their aesthetic value.  But let’s not sell them short.  They are far more important to us than that.

They are important for our life on this planet.  For our future.  They are part of a cycle that is largely invisible.  But without that cycle, there would be no Earth as we know it, and no US.

Trees are a critical component of an environmental air and water cycle that is indispensable to life on Earth.  Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen through a process called photosynthesis.  Trees also help to prevent stormwater run-off by absorbing rainwater through their root systems which helps nourish their leaves that absorb the carbon dioxide.

Without trees, rainwater would run unimpeded into our waterways. This matters because our waterways will continue to be impacted by sea level rise which will result in more nuisance floods as well as serious storm flooding.  These natural processes are all connected; these connections are fragile and they are all under siege.

[I had just finished a draft of this post for eastportdefined when I read a piece in the Capital on a judge’s dismissal of a forest conservation case to stop tree clearing in the Parkside Preserve project.  There’s a lot of Code blah blah blah and Developer blah blah blah, and bottom line is that our environment appears to be in for another blow.  Why am I reminded of the quote about Nero fiddling while Rome burned?  The sad fact is that while Rome was able to be rebuilt, the environment may not be able to be repaired.]

All right, back to trees and the environment and US.  While refraining from pointing fingers, let’s accept the fact that developers have the money and resources to influence planning, zoning and the results of the special studies used to inform these P&Z materials and processes.

It’s time to stop the chatter, and begin to change the laws and regulations needed to protect and preserve the environment.  Annapolis has to do its part but the fact is that if Annapolis doesn’t do the right thing, and then the next town and the next city and so on follow suit, the future will be dim for us, our children and their children.  Pretty grim!

So how about this?  Let the developers destroy all the trees they want.  But let’s also make this self-indulgent irresponsibility on their part come at a price to their profit margins.  I propose:

1. Have the developer pay a price for each tree destroyed, based on the economic value of a tree.
2. Pay a percentage of new proposed project costs, where trees are being destroyed, into a fund to purchase sites for replanting of trees.
3. Pay to replant 2, or 3, or 5 (or more) trees for each tree destroyed at the site identified in #2.
4. Pay an additional percentage of the economic value of a tree, for each tree destroyed, into a fund to manage the sites where replanting is taking place, and to fund research on environmental remediation opportunities.
5. Annually publish the names of the individuals who are principals or owners of companies whose projects destroy trees, along with the names of their consultants, lawyers, bankers, judges and the politicians who support them. This will help inform the public (us) and give us information to assist us in making decisions about who we wish to purchase services from.

Now you’re asking if I’m serious.

This is serious.  I am serious.  The  developers are serious.  Their supports are serious.  If we are ever to level the playing field, the public has to take this seriously!

The environment needs a voice.

If not us, then who?  If not now, when?

Times 2 (S-P)

Reminders on Sarles-Petrini:  Today is the deadline to get your comments on this project to P&Z.  And today is also the second Open House.   Contact Bill directly if you need directions to the Open House.

See Bill’s email, below re:  the Open House.

Hello Friends of Spa Creek,

A friendly reminder: the second of three Open Houses is scheduled for today, Thursday, August 25 at the project site. from 7:00-8:00 pm.  This will be the second of three Open Houses. The third and last will be next Wednesday, August 31, 2016.

Bret Anderson, the owner, will be there to explain the project. Tom Smith indicated to me in a phone call last Friday his intentions that he and perhaps Pete Gutwald from the Annapolis Department of Planning and Zoning will attend. They want to hear opinions and comments from you and others who live on and around Spa Creek so they can understand people’s feelings about the redevelopment.

Please make sure you ask questions and engage directly with the owner to express your views.

These three Open Houses may be the only public meetings on the detailed arrangement and merits of the project before the end of Planning and Zoning’s review, perhaps the only chance to air differences in a constructive well attended forum.

Again, it’s today, Thursday, August 25, from 7:00-8:00 pm. It will be held in the B/C Building on the project site. For directions to the B/C building see the property map on this website:  http://restoresayc.com/ . On the website click on Open House in the top right and scroll down to the bottom.

Regards,

Bill Sweetser, President, Save Spa Creek’s Heritage, Inc., (703) 626-3847

More to Consider than Water – Trees (S-P)

Received from Bill Sweetser and copied here:  Please contact Bill to be included on his email so that you can also see ALL attachments.

Friends of Spa Creek,

Many of you have been discussing the extent of planned tree removal for the project and its impact on the way the site will look.

The attached two tree photos show how the trees on the project look today from across Spa Creek.

Now please look at the Existing Tree Table on the attached Sheet L2 of 6. The column labeled DBH shows the current diameter at breast height of each tree. The Status column shows what will happen to each of the 63 trees listed if the project were to be approved as submitted. They will be removed. The circles on the drawing show the canopy coverage of each tree.

This plan demonstrates that the property will be mass graded and all trees removed, irrespective of their size and condition, all of which is necessary only because of the maximum density and size of dwellings and other facilities proposed by the developers. This plan appears to be contrary to Code provisions applicable to any redevelopment in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area.

Regards,

Bill Sweetser, President,  Save Spa Creek’s Heritage, Inc., (703) 626-3847

Restaurant? S-P

Bill Sweetser emailed, clarifying Sarles-Petrini proposed (or not) restaurant:

Hello Friends of Spa Creek

I have been asked by many people about whether a restaurant is being proposed with the redevelopment of the Sarles/Petrini properties. It’s the right time to bring this subject to your attention as you finalize your Public Comments by the current deadline of August 25, and as you attend the three Open Houses scheduled from 7:00-8:00pm for Tuesday, August 16, Thursday, August 25 and Wednesday, August 31, 2016. The owner will be there.

Will there be a Restaurant in the Project?

A restaurant was originally proposed in the initial development proposal, but it now has been eliminated from the revised proposal. I know that many residents, including myself, are opposed to a restaurant.

It would be appropriate at this time to inquire of the developers if it is their intention to have a restaurant at some future time. If that is not the intention of the developers, then they should be asked to enter into a restrictive covenant with the communities and individuals opposed, which eliminates any possibility of a restaurant in the future. If the developer declines to do so, then one could assume that a restaurant is contemplated if and when the current site development plan process is finalized.

In that event, because the current site development plan does not include a restaurant, there is no restaurant to object to in the current plan, but the current plan should be viewed predicated upon the assumption that there yet could be a 2,000 square foot restaurant. Even though the restaurant would require a special exception public hearing process, a special exception carries with it a legal presumption in favor of it. That would be a concern to anyone opposed to a restaurant.

City officials will be attending all three meetings so they can hear the discussions first hand and read the community’s leanings on the project. It’s highly likely that these meetings will be the only meetings on the detailed arrangement and merits of the project before the end of Planning and Zoning’s review. So these three meetings may be our only chance to air differences in a constructive well attended forum. The City may decide to not hold a “firehouse” meeting as they often do for projects that have large impacts on the community.

Regards,

Bill Sweetser,

President, Save Spa Creek’s Heritage, Inc., (703) 626-3847

 

New Deadline

Email from Bill Sweetser re:  Extended period for public comments on S-P:

Hello Friends of Spa Creek,

Yesterday I received the following email from Tom Smith, Chief of Current Planning in the Annapolis Department of Planning and Zoning, saying the Department is receiving comments after August 15:

From: Thomas Smith [mailto:ets@annapolis.gov]
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 3:16 PM
To: Bill Sweetser <Bill.Sweetser@spacreek.us>
Subject: Re: Sarles/Petrini property redevelopment

Bill,

Sorry for the delayed reply, I was away from the office earlier today. The Code requires that the “notice” be posted on the property that is the subject of an application, Site Design in this case, for minimum of 15 days prior to a decision. In many simple cases the Department does make a decision within the 15 day posting. With SAYC, and most larger Site Design applications, agency review can take up to 6 weeks, but like to post early so we can garner community input and add to our comments.

Hence, the Department is open to receiving comments after August 15th. The ECA simply ask for the August 25th so they can discuss as a group after participating in Bret Anderson’s open house meetings.

Please feel free call if I have not adequately explained the Code posting requirements.

Kind regards,

Tom Thomas Smith, Jr., RLA, Chief of Current Planning, City of Annapolis, Department of Planning & Zoning

 

This is an important time in the approval and permitting cycle for this project and I encourage you to make your views known to P&Z. They want to hear our opinions.

To access the plans online using the Annapolis eTrakIt website follow this link http://etrakit.annapolis.gov/Search/project.aspx . Under Project Search (make sure it says “Project” search, not “Permit” search) type boucher in the Search box and click on Search. Then scroll down and click on SUB2016-007. Then, at the bottom of that page click on Parent Project(s):  SDP2015-063.

Bill

Did You Know? S-P

We received this email from Bill Sweetser.  For more information, contact Bill to be put on his email list.

Here’s Bill’s email ( minus attachments):

Hello Friends of Spa Creek,

A photo is attached of the Public Notice sign at 800 Burnside Street. I was just told of it today and don’t know when it was posted. It reads:

The Annapolis Planning and Zoning Department has received a request for Final Site Design Plan Review with Adequate Public Facilities and Preliminary Subdivision to Redevelop the Sarles Boatyard & Petrini Shipyard, known as the South Annapolis Yacht Centre, Boucher Ave., State St.  File# SDP2015-063.

The public is invited to comment thru August 15, 2016.

For more information contact the Annapolis Planning & Zoning Department at 145 Gorman Street, 3^rd Floor, Annapolis, Maryland  21401; or call 410-263-7961.

ETS@Annapolis.gov :  Project Planner: Thomas Smith

This is an important time in the approval and permitting cycle for this project and I encourage you to make your views known to P&Z by August 15. They want to hear the opinions and comments of Annapolis citizens and residents.

I’m attaching for your quick reference the following additional three files posted by the City on the eTrakIt website under the File# SDP2015-063:

1. SAYC Letter of July 5, 2016 is made up of several letters and constitutes the developers’ response to P&Z’s Tom Smith’s February 3, 2016 Site Plan Review letter applicable to the first set of the developers’ plans dated September 3, 2015. Tom’s letter is included in this attachment.

One way to understand the changes made between the September 3, 2015 plans and the July 15, 2016 plans is to compare the 28 responses in the developers’ July 5, 2016 letter with the 28 items in Tom Smith’s February 3, 2016 letter. Tom summarized Public Comments on the earlier plans on page 5 of his letter as:

“The greatest number of public comment include:

• Increase in traffic and associated negative impacts upon the neighborhood,
• Restaurant noise and associated negative impacts upon the quiet, residential neighborhood and those residential neighborhoods across Spa Creek,
• Neighborhood character and negative impacts of increased commercial uses, streetscape changes, increased height and scale, views both to and from the water,
• Environmental and negative impacts to the Critical Area and creek with increased impervious surface/loss of green space.”

The developers’ responses stated on page 5 in their attached letter are:

–      “Access to maritime uses has been removed from State Street, mitigating increased traffic flow.

–      Number of residential uses remains unchanged from existing, mitigating increased traffic flow.

–      Number of  boat slips  is  reduced from  existing  124 slips to  a proposed  74 slips, mitigating increased traffic flow.

–      Proposed maritime office uses (moderate traffic) have been reduced and replaced with proposed maritime fabrication uses (low traffic), mitigatingincreased traffic flow.

–      Revised plan does not include a proposed restaurant.

–      New structures which abut the existing residential community are designed with architectural scale, materials and character reflecting theexisting adjacent community.

–      Proposed new dwellings meet the height and setback requirements of R2/NC zoning which, in turn, supports the scale and character of theexisting Eastport community.

–      Environmental and water-quality impact on Spa Creek are overwhelmingly positive and exemplary for new development on the Chesapeake Bay.

–      There is a decrease in impervious area over existing conditions within the 100 foot buffer. A slight increase in the overall impervious coverage forthe entire site.

–      Landscaped  areas  are  increased,  organized  and enhanced  to  improve  overall  green-space experience in the Eastport community.”

 Please let P&Z know, via email by August 15, whether you agree with these responses from the developers.

Another way to understand the changes made between the September 3, 2015 plans and the July 15, 2016 plans is to compare the actual drawings of September 3, 2015 with the new drawings dated July 15. Both sets are available on the eTrakIt website and in the offices of P&Z.

2. Public Comments, and 3. Additional Public Comments, are files containing the Public Comment letters submitted in December, 2015 in response to P&Z’s invitation. Those letters pertain to the September 3,  2015 plans, not necessarily the July 15, 2016 plans. You can see what some residents said about the first set of plans.

As I emailed you last week, to access the plans online using the Annapolis eTrakIt website follow this link http://etrakit.annapolis.gov/Search/project.aspx . Under Project Search (make sure it says “Project” search, not “Permit” search) type boucher in the Search box and click on Search. Then scroll down and click on SUB2016-007. Then, at the bottom of that page click on Parent Project(s):  SDP2015-063.

Regards,

Bill Sweetser, President, Save Spa Creek’s Heritage, Inc. (703) 626-3847

View From Park – New Photo

Here’s a photo of one view from the little park near City Dock.  All photos welcome, including mood shots like sunrises and sunsets, cloud formations, etc.

Update on Sarles-Petrini

We received this email from Bill Sweetser:

Hello Friends of Spa Creek,

 

I saw yesterday morning that the new drawings for the project were posted on the website this week. Please follow this linkhttp://etrakit.annapolis.gov/Search/project.aspx . Under Project Search (make sure it says “Project” search, not “Permit” search) type boucher in the Search box and click on Search. Then scroll down and click on SUB2016-007. Then, at the bottom of that page click on Parent Project(s):    SDP2015-063.

To open the new drawing package click on SAYC Revision 1 Site Design Plan Review Drawings.pdf . It’s a large file and takes a while to load and open. Full size prints of the drawings are also available at the offices of Planning Zoning at 145 Gorman Street, 3^rd floor.

Regards,

Bill Sweetser, President, Save Spa Creek’s Heritage, Inc., (703) 626-3847