Please note that the Roland Park Civic League office will be closed from December 25th through January 1.

For contact information, visit https://rolandpark.org/contact/contacts-addresses/ 

 

 

From Hap Cooper, President Roland Park Civic League

I would like to personally apologize if the recent Roland Park News conveyed to you the impression that we wish to interfere with your First Amendment right to free expression. We support and encourage respectful dialogue without exception. In fact, we ourselves planted a temporary sign welcoming people of all backgrounds to our community that still sits next to the permanent “Welcome to Roland Park” sign on University Parkway.

An attorney and resident of our community formally requested that the Civic League circulate the Baltimore zoning laws prohibiting long-term use of temporary signs. We failed to anticipate that doing so could be interpreted as opposition to the content of many of these signs. For that, again, we are truly sorry.

I spoke with Baltimore City Solicitor Andre Davis this morning and confirmed that signs containing political opinions may stay up indefinitely. So we would like to publicly encourage our community to continue to express themselves in ways that promote awareness and discussion–especially relating to tolerance and inclusivity.

Tomorrow night (12/6) at 7:00p, we will be conducting our regular monthly community meeting at the North Baltimore Mennonite Church at 4615 Roland Avenue. Feel free to attend to express your views.

DEC 2017 agenda

Excerpt Roland Park News

UPDATE 11/15/2017:

Additional trees looking for new homes, to be  planted on personal property. If you are a resident who pays full fees, you are eligible for a new tree.  Not only is the tree free but we’ll plant it for you. The remaining trees available for planting this fall are listed below.  Please see this file for full descriptions and photos.  All of these trees need a sunny location on personal property.

[2 quantity] Nuttall Oaks

[2 quantity] Chinquapin Oaks

[1 quantity] White Oak

[1 quantity] Sweet Birch

I am also taking requests for trees during the 2018 planting season.  Please contact Kate Culotta

For more details.  krculotta@msn.com or landscape@rolandpark.org

Previous post follows….

Thank You Roland Park residents for your generous turn-out for new trees in Roland Park.

Those of you who requested ornamental trees should have had trees delivered Saturday October 21, 2017  along with stakes and twine.  Tree Descriptions and planting instructions were emailed.  Please let Kate Culotta (krculotta@msn.com) know if you did not receive the email or unable to open the PDF.

Thank you to those who requested street shade trees.  Tree planting by K&C Groundworks was completed on Wednesday the 25^th.  The new trees look great.

There are a couple more tree still available via our program for a new home.

Betula lenta [Sweet Birch or Cherry Birch]  

Two beautiful Sweet Birches are available.

Medium sized, long living shade tree.  Native to Maryland.    Bark is dark and shiny.  Mature trees may shed bark in horizontal strips.  Sweet Birch trees are source of flavoring for Birch Beer and can be tap for sap like a Sugar Maple.  Twigs give off a sweet wintergreen smell when up close or when crushed.  Leaves are oval and serrated along the edges.  Flowers in April-May with long yellow catkins that hang down before leaves appear in the spring.  Fall foliage is bright yellow.  Considered one of the better fall colors among Birches .  Best in well-drained  soil in sun to part shade.

 

 

Quercus alba  (White Oak)

I also have 2 White Oaks.  These are some of the largest trees in Roland Park when mature, but it will be many decades before they reach full size.  I’m looking for a sunny spot on personal property (not in the verge) with room to grow.

A lovely slow growing shade tree that can grow to very large size.  50’-80’ Tall x 50-80’ wide with a wide spreading rounded crown.  The White Oak is a great candidate for a shade tree, best planted within your property rather than in the verge..  It is drought, clay and poor soil tolerant, once established.  Yellow-green catkin flowers emerge shortly after leaves in the spring.  Acorns develop mid-summer (3/4”) and serve as important wild life food source.  Leaves are dark green 4-9” long with deeply rounded lobes.  Fall color is dark red to brown.  “Alba” refers to its light ash grey bark.  2 qty 15 Gal.

 

I also have one Chinquapin Oak Tree.  It is a lovely Oak with  small, sweet and edible acorns.  I have only one and it is currently a small sapling.  Best planted in a sunny spot on personal property.

Please contact Kate Culotta to reserve your tree.  krculotta@msn.com

Also, if you’re interested in a free fruit tree for your yard.  TreeBaltimore is offering a free fruit tree give away Saturday October 28 10 am – 2 pm at the Rawlings Conservatory at Druid Hill Park.

On July 21st, 2017 Hap Cooper and Chris McSherry met with Mayor Catherine Pugh to ask her to veto the PUD legislation that was passed by the City Council to allow the construction of the Overlook at Roland Park. The mayor was not willing to do that and she signed the legislation that same day. We were disappointed because we viewed her as our first and last avenue to change the course of this proposed development.

The neighbors who will be most affected by the construction of that apartment building have filed a lawsuit asking for judicial review of the process used by the City Department of Planning and the City Council in approving the PUD, and the RPCL joined the petition for judicial review, so the matter is not settled yet.

The legislation was proposed by freshman City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer immediately after he was sworn in to the City Council. He had rushed the PUD legislation through the Planning Department and the City Council at such a record pace that the RPCL was not aware of the details of it until the eve of it passing the City Council.

Although PUDs are supposed to be used for the benefit of the community, this one wasn’t even reviewed by Roland Park or Mount Washington, two adjacent communities that will be significantly affected. We lobbied aggressively to delay the legislation so that we could weigh in on the proposed development, but no one in the City Council was willing to push that for us. The City Council has a tradition of “Councilmanic Courtesy”, whereby land use legislation in a particular council member’s district will not be questioned or resisted by other council member.

In light of the City Council’s tradition of deferring to the member in whose district the development stands, there was no actual review of this proposed PUD. We are hopeful that the Circuit Court will overturn the legislation because the Planning Department failed to notify the surrounding communities and failed to consider the impact on them and because the City Council failed to exercise the required “quasi-judicial review.”