Sawmill Branch Community Meeting Sept 17 6:30-9:00pm Catonsville Library
What is NeighborSpace? We are a non profit urban land trust We do nothing but protect open space inside the URDL We are partners to communities We are funded by Baltimore County, by foundations and by donations
History The wooded property, located south of Frederick Road and north of Patapsco Valley State Park, was owned by Peter Hause, a veteran of the War of 1812. He sold it to Daniel Vondersmith in 1859 and it became the property of the Catonsville Water Company in 1886, the records show.
A brief history about NeighborSpace involvement: Pierpont s Run NeighborSpace became involved with the property in 2008, when the Hilltop Community Association, with long-time advocate for the property and association president, Joe Gochar, actively involved, applied to have NeighborSpace acquire the property. In its application, the association suggested that the site would benefit the local community because it would provide outdoor recreation in a natural, wooded setting an opportunity for continuation of trails from the State Park, as well as stream valley protection and preservation of visual open space.
Ruins of Miller s House City Agrees to Transfer in Fall 2011; Maple Ave. Residents Protest At the City s request, NeighborSpace paid for a survey in 2009, which helped to facilitate the transfer. City has expressed a willingness to transfer the land to another government agency for preservation purposes and to grant NeighborSpace a conservation easement, which is what the community wants. With urging from Catonsville resident and State Delegate James Malone, the City Board of Estimates agreed to the transfer NeighborSpace Board on 5/6/2009. Maple Ave residents filed a petition to keep status quo
County Due Diligence Reveals Presence of Contaminants with a $21,000 Clean-Up Estimate County commissioned a Phase I environmental assessment, which revealed the presence of empty drum carcasses on the site [that] could have impacted the soils and groundwater of the site. This result led to a Phase II assessment, which revealed the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals and petroleum hydrocarbons in excess of recommended standards. This, in turn, led to a County remediation clean-up for for $21,130 in the fall of 2013.
The Stream In December 2011, the Baltimore County Council accepted the property and a deed was executed in February 2012, conveying the fee to Baltimore County as is with a deed restriction providing, in pertinent part, that the Property shall remain as open space conservation area in perpetuity, and shall not be converted from outdoor recreation and open space without the prior written approval of NeighborSpace of Baltimore County.
In 2013 NeighborSpace asked for an environmental scan by experts from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEPS) Specimen Trees, Forest buffer, Wetlands, Streams were reviewed in 2014
Some remaining issues: Historic house ( Bealmer s ) Easement over the Sawmill Branch Property Access to Patapsco State Park Public Access to the Sawmill Branch Property The Dam Stewardship Use Anything else you like to discuss
Where are we today? Succeeded in getting site from city to county Succeeded in guaranteeing protection as open space Cleaned up the site Established some parameters for future use: Protect Wetlands Thanks to Vince Griffith and Joe Gochar Thanks to Tom Quirk Thanks to the City Board of Public Works and County Executive Kamenetz Thanks to Richmond Properties Thanks Nancy Bealmer Protect Stream buffers Protect Specimen trees Protect Historic resources Eliminated restrictions from easements
Councilman District 1: Tom Quirk Patapsco Heritage: John Slater Patapsco State Park: Robert Dyke Richmond Homes: Kevin Wingate NeighborSpace Board: John Murphy Joan Plisko Eric Rockel John Alexander Marsha McLaughlin Exec. Director: Barbara Hopkins