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BCC/Keswick Land Sale

Primary Source Documents

 

The purpose of this page is to present a variety of primary-source documents relating to the proposed BCC/Keswick land-development deal.

In each case, click where indicated to bring up a PDF of the document in question. All documents are presented in exactly the same form, and with exactly the same content, as when received by RolandPark.org.

If you have primary-source material that you believe would be useful for this web page, please e-mail it to rpcommunication@rolandpark.org. If you have no electronic version, please e-mail rpcommunication@rolandpark.org anyway and we can make arrangements to scan the material.

From this page, you will also be able to link to:

  • A general information page, describing the situation, by clicking here.
  • A report on Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton's July 4 announcement of opposition to the BCC/Keswick development. It's right here.
  • A report on the Roland Park Civic League's hugely successful special community meeting on July 1 about the BCC/Keswick deal. See it here.
  • A letters page, demonstrating RP residents' views pro and con, by clicking here.
  • A list of our state and municipal representatives for you to contact, pro and con, by clicking here.
  • Links to local newspapers, for submission of "letters to the editor," by clicking here.
  • A link to the RP community calendar, for seeing who is doing what locally, by clicking here.

 

Back to main BCC/Keswick sale page? Click here.

   
 

Historical Documents

Original Deeds and Covenants on BCC Land. The land the would become the course for the Roland Park Golf Club, later the Baltimore Country Club, was sold to the club by the Roland Park Company (RPC) in separate parcels in the early 20th century. The covenants that were integral to the deeds all deemed that the land should be used for "no hospital, asylum or institution of like of kindred nature." The covenants all expired in the 1920s and '30s. Some of the deeds may be reviewed here, including one by which the RPC bought the land from the previous owner. (Thanks are due to Ken Rice for providing these scanned deeds and to TitlePoint Real Estate Settlement Services for providing paper copies.)

Rice Presentation, July 2008. On July 15, RP Community Foundation President Ken Rice made a detailed presentation about the history of the land to the crowd assembled for the impromptu street meeting that evening. The text is here.

 

Current Keswick Offer

Roland Park Civic League Resolution. On July 2, 2008, the Roland Park Civic League passed a resolution opposing the sale of the BCC land for development by the Keswick Multi-Care Center. Read the resolution here.

BCC Board Pro-sale Booklet. This six-page correspondence has been distributed by the BCC board to the membership. It advocates the sale of the land to Keswick. It contends that the sale of the land will "absolutely not" have a "negative impact on the Roland Park Community." You may read this document here and make your own mind up on this.

Baltimore City Zoning Code. The success of the would-be BCC/Keswick sale revolves around the land's being rezoned from its current low-density R-1 status to high-density R-5. Part of this process will be the approval of a city "planned unit development" or PUD for the land. Details may be read in the city zoning code; the section of PUDs begins on page 255.

 

Previous Roland Park Offers

First Roland Park Offer on the Land. On June 19, 1999, the Roland Park Civic League, under then-President David F. Tufaro, made the first of three offers on that part of the property not needed by the BCC, 18 acres, approximately the same area and location of the land now in contract between BCC and Keswick. Apart from a short letter acknowledging receipt of the $4.25 million proposal, the BCC did not formally respond to the RP offer. The RP proposal may be read here.

First Roland Park Reminder. Five months later, a frustrated new Civic League president, Stephen A. Lauria, wrote to the BCC to remind the club of the spring 1999 offer. Mr. Lauria's letter may be read here.

Second Roland Park Reminder. The following January, 2000, the chairwoman of the Roland Park Community Foundation, Kathleen P. Vander Horst, again wrote to remind the club of the community's interest in acquiring the land. That letter may be read here.

Second Roland Park Offer. On 8 November 2001, Roland Park, through the Community Foundation, made its second formal offer for the parcel, this time for $4.2 million. The proposal, called "The Partnership for Open Space," received no official response from the country club. The proposal is here.

Political Support: General Assembly. The Partnership for Open Space proposal was strongly supported by the then-Roland Park area delegation to the state General Assembly. The delegation's letter of support is here.

Political Support: City Council. The 2001 proposal was also supported by the old fifth district's City Council delegation (Roland Park at the time was in the fifth district), as evidenced here.

Third Roland Park Offer. On January 20, 2003, Roland Park officially submitted its third offer, a reworking of the 2001 "partnership" proposal. The sum was once again $4.2 million, and the official response was once again nothing. The third proposal is here.

Tufaro Presentation, July 2008. On July 1, 2008, at the Civic League's special community meeting, the league's former president, David Tufaro, made a detailed presentation describing the Roland Park offers on the land. The text of the presentation is here.