Eastport Shopping Center -NO apartment complex
Pete Gutwald, Director of Planning & Zoning City of Annapolis
A proposal is pending in the City of Annapolis' Planning & Zoning Department to build an 59 ft. high, 120+ unit apartment complex at the Eastport Shopping Center even though the property is zoned B2, which is commercial/retail zoning, NOT R2 residential. The developer filed the application as a Special Mixed Planned Unit Development.
We would like the City to enforce the current zoning which will allow for additional commercial /retail options rather than residential apartments. This is particularly important since there will be residential apartments added by the Watergate Village developers sometime in the near future. Asking our Mayor and the City's Planning Director to enforce the commercial/retail zoning at the shopping center will only happen if the owner/developer and our elected officials hear our views.
Thanks you.
Concerned Citizens fighting to Retain our Quality of Life in Eastport
Petition by
To:
Pete Gutwald, Director of Planning & Zoning City of Annapolis
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Mayor, Planning & Zoning Director, Aldermen/women:
Eastport has NOT been designated as a "growth opportunity" area in our City of Annapolis Comprehensive Plan (CAP), yet we are clearly being targeted for growth by developers.
Please do not allow developers to build the massive residential apartment complex currently being considered. We know that additional apartments are going to be proposed in the near future at Watergate Village. So, to allow 120 or more apartment units in the shopping center will kill any chance of attracting retail opportunities that would improve our quality of life in Eastport.
The traffic study for this project is woefully inadequate. It omitted important data including the fact that we have a draw bridge that opens several times a day for 8 months of the year AND also did not take into consideration 5 residential projects which will directly impact traffic flow in Eastport, among other significant issues. There are not the 522 parking spaces legally required, which assumes 1.4 cars per unit. Many other problems exist and are too numerous to detail here.
We are not against growth in Eastport, however, we must be thoughtful about it rather than reactionary. Please make sure the Planning Director does NOT recommend this project for approval by the Planning Commission.
Sincerely,
Concerned Eastport Residents