MCA General Membership Meeting Minutes 3/29/07
Carol L April 12th, 2007
The following officers of the Maplewood Citizens Association attended
the General Membership Meeting, held March 29, 2007 at the Heart House:
Allen Myers, President
Seth Maiman, Vice President
Carol Linden, Secretary
Approximately forty members of the community attended.
1. The Secretary’s report from the last meeting (November 15, 2006) was deferred because due to an oversight, it had not been forwarded to the MCA President nor printed.
2. The Treasurer’s report was provided by the President. The Association has $4130 income since September 2006, has expended $2863.78, and has a current balance of $6619.36. The membership year ends in May and begins in September. Membership numbers are still down relative to previous years, but may rise as residents become engaged in the discussions surrounding the BRAC action at the National Naval Medical Center and the proposed plan for residential development of the American College of Cardiology property. Patricia Rossi moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report; the motion was seconded by Janet Maalouf and passed unanimously.
3. The spring social is scheduled for April 21, 2007 from 3:30 – 5:30 pm at the Maplewood-AltaVista Park. Allen Myers circulated a sign up list for volunteers to help with the social and/or contribute. The proposed budget for the spring social is $1610, which includes $200 park rental (which is refundable), pizza and drinks, a moon bounce and other children’s entertainment, and a fire truck visit. There was a motion to accept the proposed budget, which was seconded and passed unanimously. The actual budget will be reduced by any cash contributions received.
4. Sarah is heading the nominations committee for officers for the MCA, who would take positions in September. The committee needs at least 3 MCA members.
5. MCA president Allen Myers provided an update on the National Naval Medical Center BRAC issues. Ike Leggett has put together a BRAC Task Force, on which MCA now has a seat. This task force will meet at least once a month, and perhaps more often after the Navy publishes the final EIS, in June. There will be a 45 day comment period on the EIS and MCA anticipates that traffic will be a major issue. Janet has volunteered to serve on this task force as the MCA representative.
6. The bulk of the meeting focused on discussion of the potential development of the America College of Cardiology property. Cathy Gates and a team of 5 representatives of the project provided a briefing (with drawing) on the plan being developed by the ACC. The property has always been zoned as residential (R60), with the ACC operating there as an educational organization by exception. The ACC has not yet been able to sell the property, so they have undertaken a site development plan in an effort to make it more attractive to a potential buyer. The proposed plan shows 41 units, with no townhouses. They do not propose to request any rezoning. The plan maintains Camberley Rd. as a dead end, and includes a buffer zone of trees adjacent to the “old neighborhood”. The plan shows only one entrance, from Alta Vista Dr., with all circulation on an interior road. There would be no driveways on Alta Vista or Old Georgetown Rds. The fronts of the houses would all face the main neighborhood streets and the houses would have driveways in the rear. This plan will be presented to Parks and Planning as a preliminary site plan. At this point, a developer who purchased the property would not be bound by this plan unless the ACC makes it a requirement of the sale. The ACC has not decided whether to pursue obtaining approval of the plan at the next level.
Cathy and her team answered numerous questions from the approximately 40 residents in attendance. Not surprisingly, many issues were raised about the character of the proposed new residential site and how it would relate to the community. Major discussion points included:
- Traffic, particularly with respect to access to the development via one entrance versus whether it would be more desirable to have entrances to each home on AltaVista. One resident raised a specific issue about the visibility and danger at the intersection of Alta Vista and Locust. (If this development is pursued, a traffic study will have to be performed as part of the process.)
- Storm water management – one resident stated that the lower portion of Alta Vista already had water runoff problems from previous construction.
- Access through one road off of Alta Vista vs cutting through Camberley Rd. and also possible access from Old Georgetown Rd.
- Height of the proposed homes with respect to the terrain on which they would be built.
- Character of the proposed new enclave as a more or less “self contained” neighborhood that would (or would not) feel part of the larger surrounding community.
- Trees – some will be preserved, but some inevitably will be removed as part of any development.
Overall, most residents reacted favorably to the proposed plan, but there were a few individuals who felt strongly about their particular issue. Allen Myers proposed that additional discussion take place at the next General Membership meeting in May in order to formulate a MCA position that would be provided to the ACC and to Parks and Planning.
Carol D. Linden
Secretary, Maplewood Citizens Association
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