Zero East Avenue--A Citizen who Cares and Still Believes-JohnHoyt

Anyone who lives in Carney knows about the plight of the residents of East Avenue and their 20 year battle to retain a buffer between their homes and the commercial enterprises that operate and have operated at Harford Road and East Avenue very close to the 695 Baltimore Beltway exit.

For years they have fought.  Joe Bartendfelder, first as a State Delegate and then as a County Councilman kept the less than 1 acre buffer green.  Then the citizens got help from the People's Council, Peter Zimmerman who had to beat Arnold Jablon (then working for a Law Firm) by presenting the facts and proper testimony.  The citizens were able to keep the green buffer and thought the battle was won.

Enter 1st term Coucilwoman Cathy Bevins, political favors and the 2012 CZMP process which gave the power to the Councilwoman to rezone the Zero East Avenue green buffer from residential to commercial zoning.  Poof! The green buffer at Zero East Avenue that East residents fought for decades to preserve was gone.  This seems immoral to me if zoning decisions can be immoral.

Now the East Avenue residents are watching a fence being built.  Apparently, the fence building process is encroaching on residential land.  There is also a question of whether MileOne plans to put a building on this former green buffer.

A citizen who is still a believer and who cares about his East Avenue community, has sent a letter to Councilwoman Cathy Bevins and her assistant and community leaders.  Mr. Hoyt's letter asks some questions that really need answering.

Read his letter and see what you think.  Will Mile One respect the East Avenue community or not?  

Some issues the community has had with Mile One Heritage have been: improper use of East Avenue for test drives day in and day out;  car carriers parked on East Avenue that prevent access emergency response vehicles; obtrusive lighting;  and of course, the appaling decision to eliminated the green buffer at Zero East Avenue. 

Anyway, here is Mr. Hoyt's letter which was sent to me by Mr. Hoyt:

As expected with the zoning ruling last year, construction has begun for the parking lot on 0 East Avenue.  One observation myself and several neighbors have made on this construction is that the current grading, leveling and modification of property is being conducted on not only  the section of the lot that was approved for BM zoning, but also extends into the area that was kept as the 20-ft residential zoning all the way up to the 3018 East Ave property line.

Although, I am content to believe that these modifications are being made on the residential section of the property to support proper drainage from the enhanced rainwater runoff that will be caused by the new parking lot, many of my neighbors have voiced concerns to me that they fear that the final parking lot will be built so that it consumes the zoned 20-ft residential buffer right up to the 3018 East Ave property line.  Because of their concerns, I feel it necessary to ask the question, what is the true purpose of the construction occurring on the residentially zoned section of 0 East Avenue?  Has this construction on the residentially zoned portion of 0 East Avenue been approved by the county?

Additionally, as mentioned in this Patch article (http://parkville.patch.com/articles/council-approves-heritage-dealership...) and mentioned in a previous Cathy Bevin newsletter, "MileOne Heritage created a declaration to be filed with the county,  which among other things, states that a building will not be erected on  the property."  Has this declaration been filed with County and, preferably, been entered in the land records?

Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide on the 0 East Avenue construction project.  My hope here is to try to dispell any rumors about the 0 East Ave project circulating the neighborhood as well as open some form of line of communication between Heritage Auto Group and the East Avenue residents in regards to this project.

As a side note to Mr Fader, my wife greatly appreciated your quick response to her last inquiry about the surveyors that showed up on our property.  She has asked me to pass along the message that the contractor has still yet to introduce themselves to any neighbors, nor have they provided us any contact information to express concerns, per your desires in your last message to her.  She (as well as I) understand that a personal meet and greet with all neighbors is not realistic, but perhaps a flyer dropped off in the local residents mailbox explaining the project and providing contact information for concerned individuals might go a long way to helping dissolve the concern and paranoia in the neighborhood.

Regards,
John Hoyt