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
