Residents Team Up To Prevent Unwanted Zoning Change

A block of neighborhood-minded Baltimore residents has pressured the city's zoning board to reject a plan to create a community service center nearby that offers job training and AIDS counseling, despite the area's need for economic investment.

1 minute read

December 10, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


"They appeared en masse at a zoning board hearing to oppose an application by the influential, 2,000-member Southern Baptist Church to turn a vacant, church-owned rowhouse on the block into a multipurpose service center. Church representatives said the project would offer help in a number of areas, including job-readiness training and counseling for relatives of AIDS patients."

"After listening to residents express fears that the center could bring traffic, trash and loitering to a block they worked so hard to maintain, the board voted unanimously to reject the church's appeal for a zoning change that would have allowed it to open."

"Eric Booker, a community leader in the area who was among those opposing the center, said the zoning decision sends a wider message to those who live in the long-neglected neighborhood of the impact of civic engagement. It's also a signal to others that residents still need to be brought on board before projects are undertaken, notwithstanding the area's widespread decay, he said."

Wednesday, December 6, 2006 in The Baltimore Sun

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