The citizens who live around the state center complex in Baltimore have been working very hard for years trying to develop a livable community that will take the place of the ugly, concrete, emotionless, useless State Center complex. Out of nowhere the State is suddenly proposing an alternative that could set the area back for decades. I received the following email today:
Planned mixed-use redevelopment of State Center under siege
Unexpected legislation and language in the state budget report threaten a carefully developed and widely acclaimed plan to replace the obsolete state office complex in Baltimore City with a mixed-use development capitalizing on the existing transit hub at State Center.
The plan, a public-private partnership, had involved and been applauded by the surrounding neighborhoods, the business community, the City and State planning departments, the State Department of Transportation and more. The proposed transit-oriented development would replace the aging office buildings with a mixture of public and private office space, green space, retail stores and residential space, including 400 affordable housing units. The plan would generate $35 million annually in local tax revenue, $500 million in minority business contract opportunities and 8,000 permanent new jobs.
A counter-proposal from the State Department of Legislative Services would demolish and rebuild the state office complex without significant changes and without the financial benefits to the City and the community. SB1066 paves the way for this plan, killing the mixed-use project lauded by numerous public and private partners.
Central Maryland Transportation Alliance (CMTA), a fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation, has been working with the Maryland Department of Transportation to bring more transit-oriented development to Baltimore City and the Central Maryland region. Their work reflects a belief that transit-oriented development spurs economic development, enhances equitable access, and ensures environmental protection. If Senate Bill 1066 stands, it will be a defeat to transit-oriented development in Baltimore and throughout the state.
Please contact the state legislators listed below by COB, Monday 3/23 to urge them to oppose SB1066 and express concern about language in the state budget report that echoes SB1066 and raises questions about our state's separation of powers.
Read more about SB1066 and the budget language in question.
Maryland Legislators:
Senator Ulysses Currie (Prince George's County)
Chair, Senate Budget and Taxation Committee
(301) 858-3127
ulysses.currie@senate.state.md.us
Senator Ed DeGrange (Anne Arundel County)
Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and SB1066 sponsor
(301) 858-3593
james.degrange@senate.state.md.us
Senator Ed Kasemeyer (Baltimore & Howard Counties)
Vice Chair, Senate Budget and Taxation Committee
Co-chair, State Center working group
(301) 858-3653
edward.kasemeyer@senate.state.md.us
Delegate Talmadge Branch (Baltimore City)
State Center working group
(301) 858-3398
talmadge.branch@house.state.md.us
Delegate Adrienne Jones (Baltimore County)
House Committee on Appropriations
(301) 858-3391
adrienne.jones@house.state.md.us
Delegate James Proctor (Calvert & Prince George's Counties)
Co-chair, State Center working group
(301) 858-3083
james.proctor@house.state.md.us
Read more about BCF's Transportation Path.
Learn more about the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance.
Comments
"The plan would generate $35 million annually in local tax revenue, $500 million in minority business contract opportunities and 8,000 permanent new jobs." Why just "minority" businesses? This is unfair and divisive; it's also a waste of the taxpayers' money to award contracts to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it's illegal (see the comments that the Center for Equal Opportunity send to the Colorado DOT, on our website).
If the State is so broke how can the Legislative Services have any money. Here we go again that loud sucking sound coming out of my pocket.
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