Bay Ridge Charrette Summary

Households: Assessable Base:

422 $54 million

Community Background

Bay Ridge is a community located on the tip of the Annapolis Neck Peninsula in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The community is mostly bordered by water - the Severn River, the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Ogleton and Black Walnut Creek. Bay Ridge is among the oldest of the many subdivisions on the lower Annapolis Neck, and of its 420 households, the majority are year-round residents. Once a relatively remote settlement at the end of a country road, it is now part of an increasingly urban environment. Many residents commute to jobs in Washington and Baltimore.

In 1879, an Annapolis entrepreneur began buying the 387 acres that now comprise the community, and soon opened an amusement park on Tolley Point. Over the next 25 years, the park provided summer fun and recreation to thousands of people. A few remnants of the resort era survive, among them the bed of the Bay Ridge and Annapolis railroad, which runs through sections of the community. The Bay Ridge Corporation, which platted the land into small lots for vacation homes, developed Bay Ridge in 1922 as a summer community. Lots along the bay and river were somewhat larger and early deeds specified that houses on these lots should be more expensive than those on interior streets. By 1929, more than 214 properties had been sold and most of the new owners had built houses.

Mortgages by Bay Ridge Realty during the Depression led to a series of auctions and the eventual sale of the remaining undeveloped land to the Kass Realty Company in the early 1940s. Over the succeeding years, under a variety of corporate names, the Kass family continued to sell lots for development, though certain zoning restrictions halted lot sales in the early 1970s. Bay Ridge Properties, Inc. is the present owner of the undeveloped lots, including those known collectively as the Big Woods.

The Issue

Bay Ridge contains 114 acres of open space that many community residents would like to keep undeveloped. Of the 114 acres, 84 acres constitute contiguous riparian forest known as the Big Woods, which has been designated a Resource Conservation Area by the Critical Areas Commission. An additional 16 acres consists of shoreline, street ends and public paths. The remaining 20 or so acres are located throughout various sections of the Bay Ridge community. The Bay Ridge Trust was formed in 1989 with the purpose of preserving the natural resources and ecological health of the Annapolis Neck, especially in the Bay Ridge area. Since its inception, the Trust has been in purchase negotiations with the landowner, the Kass family, owners of Bay Ridge Properties, Inc. (BRPI).

The Environmental Context

The Big Woods is a mature riparian forest that is home to a variety of wildlife and an important resource for aquifer replenishment and the management of storm-water run-off. Since most Bay Ridge residents rely on well water drawn on aquifers in the area, they are concerned about the health of the ecosystem surrounding these aquifers.

In 1997, Anne Arundel County initiated the Small Area Planning Process. Separating the county into 16 small areas and associated committees, its purpose has been to provide area-specific recommendations for achieving and refining the goals of the General Development Plan. The Annapolis Neck SAP was one of the first committees established, and at the time of this writing, its plan is in the approval process and will go to the county council for adoption in the summer of 2000. The goals of the SAP include:

• Establishing a Natural Area Network to protect and preserve important natural areas on the Neck and to facilitate wildlife migrations and movement;
• Initiating an Open Space Program for preservation of agricultural and large undeveloped properties on the Neck;
• Planing and implementing a Greenway system for the Annapolis Neck area.

One of the concerns expressed by committee members and residents involved with this planning process is the disappearance of undeveloped land. Reaching the above mentioned goals will help ensure the preservation of these parcels for environmental, aesthetic or recreational purposes.

Recommendations and Observations

1. Because of the significant cost and size of the purchase, a strong sense of community support would assist in raising the funds needed for the purchase, as well as signal to BRPI the community's convictions. A community survey of use options for the entire property, as well as a land use plan for the most ecologically important parcels - including those most likely to be developed - would demonstrate strong interest in the future of the land.
2. Efforts to protect open space on the Annapolis will inevitably have political implications. As a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of important lands, the Bay Ridge Land Trust is not in a good position to play an advocacy and lobbying role within the County political structure. This role is best left to the Bay Ridge Civic Association - a community group organized to advocate the rights and interests of the citizens of Bay Ridge. On the other hand, the Trust is ideally situated to raise funds for the preservation of important lands within the community, and to use its neutral political position to its advantage. The Trust will likely play the role of neutral and reasonable negotiator with any foundations, private and public sources of funding, and other organizations interested in its goals.
3. In considering funding sources, the Trust should investigate the feasibility of utilizing the State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) to purchase part or all of the property. One idea is to put in place a special district, which would collect fees. This would create a revenue stream, allowing the Trust to borrow from the SRF or perhaps even a bank, for all or part of the purchase price. The special district fees would also indicate strong community support for the preservation effort, which would facilitate fund raising efforts with foundations and other private sources of money.
4. Several of the charrette panelists felt that if an "all or nothing" strategy related to conserving the entire 114 acres did not seem effective, then a more flexible plan might still achieve a number of goals. For example, if the community could identify a sympathetic and conscientious developer, some lots - especially those outside the Big Woods proper - might be sold and developed to help capitalize the effort to save contiguous forested land. To this end, it was recommended that the Bay Ridge Trust contact the Natural Lands Trust to develop a conservation development plan for the property. Though such a plan might only be used as a last-resort strategy, it will nonetheless enable the Trust to determine which areas are the most sensitive and which are appropriate for development.
5. Finally, it is essential that the Bay Ridge Trust develop an overall land use plan for the property. Such a plan is essential for effective fundraising. For example, securing foundation funds will likely depend on what the area has to offer to any particular giver. Depending on the giver, issues such as environmental education, public access, or a creative demonstration project may be more important than preserving the land per se.