| Thank you all for signing the petition for the Eastport Shopping Center!
Here are some next steps:
Step #1 Copy and paste the text of the petition (or your own message) and send it to: Mayor@annapolis.gov, Pgutwald@Annapolis.gov, ECAPresident@EastportCivic.org,
eastportross@aol.com
The petition is at the end of this email so you can copy/paste from there
Step #2 Attend the City Council public comment period next Monday where one person from Eastport will read the petition and present it to the Mayor. We will all stand and clap at the end of the testimony. It should take a total of 15 minutes and we should be out by 7:30 pm. The point is to put us on City Council’s radar screen.
When: Monday, 27 February, 7:00 pm
Where: City Hall (160 Duke of Gloucester)
Step #3 Attend the Planning Commission Work Session
When: Thursday, 2 March, 2017, 7:00 pm
Where: City Hall (160 Duke of Gloucester)
The developers will present the project to the Planning Commission and we are not allowed to participate. We can peacefully protest by holding up signs. The good news is that the city has promised that citizens will have their own work session with the Planning Commission (date tbt) some time before the date of the Planning Commission’s formal public hearing and vote.
RECAP of recent events regarding the Shopping Center:
Alderman Ross Arnett held a town hall meeting on February 16, 2017 for Ward 8 residents to discuss quality of life issues with key planning staff from the City in the room. This came on the heels of a meeting that ECA board members held with the Mayor, Bob Agee and Pete Gutwald (P & Z Director) on January 17, 2017 as a follow up to ECA’s 10 January 2017 Letter from the ECA to Mayor Mike Pantelides.
Here is the email to copy and paste (or if you prefer, send something you write):
Dear Mayor, Planning & Zoning Director, Aldermen/women:
Eastport has NOT been designated as a “growth opportunity” area in our City of Annapolis Comprehensive Plan (CAP), yet we are clearly being targeted for growth by developers.
Please do not allow developers to build the massive residential apartment complex currently being considered. We know that additional apartments are going to be proposed in the near future at Watergate Village. So, to allow 120 or more apartment units in the shopping center will kill any chance of attracting retail opportunities that would improve our quality of life in Eastport.
The traffic study for this project is woefully inadequate. It omitted important data including the fact that we have a drawbridge that opens several times a day for 8 months of the year AND also did not take into consideration 5 residential projects which will directly impact traffic flow in Eastport, among other significant issues. There are not the 522 parking spaces legally required, which assumes 1.4 cars per unit. Many other problems exist and are too numerous to detail here.
We are not against growth in Eastport, however, we must be thoughtful about it rather than reactionary. Please make sure the Planning Director does NOT recommend this project for approval by the Planning Commission.
Sincerely, |
eastport defined 