From: Jed Weeks Sent: Friday, April 17, 2020 4:32 PM To: Austin, Natawna B.; Dorsey, Ryan Subject: Fwd: Bikemore inquiry regarding Council Bill #20-0497 CAUTION: This email originated from outside of Baltimore City IT Network Systems. Reminder: DO NOT click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know that the content is safe. Report any suspicious activities to BCIT.ServiceDesk@baltimorecity.gov / 410-396-6648. Hi Natawna, Here is the Rec and Parks reply to my letter to the Planning Commission, as well as my follow- up reply to their response. Thank you, Jed Weeks ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Jed Weeks Date: Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 10:21 PM Subject: Re: Bikemore inquiry regarding Council Bill #20-0497 To: Feinberg, Laurie Cc: Boarman, Adam , Moore, Reginald , Morgan, Jenny , Torres, Larissa , Ryer, Chris , Tiso, Eric , Davis, Sean , French, Martin Thank you Adam for the detailed response. Laurie, this answers my questions although my comment in the original email does remain: I have concerns that Rec and Parks continues to be planning investment in new parking infrastructure when existing facilities could potentially meet that need and allow us to pass the savings from not having to build parking onto improved recreational facilities. In the 21st Century Parks survey, Rec and Parks asked existing park users to rate citywide park and recreation facilities. Only 2% complained about parking. For non-users, the biggest barrier was "not easy to walk to/not easy to get to by public transit," not parking. Of those that reported regularly driving to parks, over 70% did not live in South Baltimore, and most made $75,000 or more per year. Continuing to invest in parking that is utilized predominantly by households making far above the median household income is a strike against equity, especially when Parks and Recreation facility users, and those who want to use facilities but currently can't access them desire that money to be spent in other ways. And at a minimum, we should be pursuing all available avenues to maximize parking opportunity in the existing right-of- way before ripping up park land and spending money on more parking. I really think we should be conducting robust assessments of parking needs based on actual data and available inventory before spending our limited funding on parking. The agency report from PABC, while supportive, did highlight this, stating "there is ample unrestricted parking on Reedbird Avenue." We are, and continue to be, strongly supportive of the recreation assets Rec and Parks is planning. The Middle Branch Fitness and Wellness Center is an amazing project, and we can't wait for it to be operational. These questions about parking are not to challenge the recreation assets as a whole, but are narrowly focused on parking and whether or not we are unnecessarily spending funds on parking that could be used to further enhance our recreation assets. Thanks, Jed Weeks On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:58 PM Feinberg, Laurie wrote: Thanks Adam for your detailed response with site plans included. Jed, feel free to call me tomorrow morning if you'd like to further discuss. Of course you are welcome to testify in our first virtual hearing tomorrow but if there are specifics we can address ahead, we'd like to assist. From: Boarman, Adam Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 8:42 PM To: Jed Weeks Cc: Moore, Reginald ; Morgan, Jenny ; Torres, Larissa ; Ryer, Chris ; Feinberg, Laurie ; Tiso, Eric ; Davis, Sean ; French, Martin Subject: Bikemore inquiry regarding Council Bill #20-0497 Jed, Thank you for your interest in our upcoming project, the Middle Branch Fitness & Wellness Center at Cherry Hill. With regards to your questions recently submitted to Planning, I wanted to share more about the project. It is intended to be a transformative regional destination for South Baltimore. The improvements will bring 21st century indoor and outdoor recreational amenities to a former landfill and serve a number of communities including Westport, Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay. Ultimately, it will function as the anchor for improvements that come out of the Middle Branch Waterfront Plan. This is a major project for the region and the largest capital improvement ever made by the Department of Recreation & Parks. The attached plans were generated with extensive public input collected at two community wide meetings, two Cherry Hill Coalition meetings, and numerous conversations with community stakeholders over the last 18 months. With regards to the parking lot, we made a conscious effort to pull cars out of the center of the park and locate them on the edge to preserve the interior of the park for pedestrians. The 103 spaces shown, are only 1/6th of the code requirements for a park of this size. At our meetings, community members from the adjacent neighborhood made it clear that parking was necessary to deter people from clogging up their streets the way they already do during pool season. Though we did not formally execute the parking studies you inquired about, we feel that our modest parking lot is appropriate for the park and its amenities that will draw people from across South Baltimore. Finally, let me also note that bikes, walkers, and alternative transportation have also been considered. We are working with our sister agencies to improve sidewalks and crosswalks leading to the park. We are also participants of the Greenway Trail Network planning process and the Middle Branch Waterfront Plan that I mentioned earlier. As those projects flesh out, our agency will work with partners to enhance the Middle Branch Trail, create a pedestrian connection to Brooklyn, and hopefully connect Reedbird Park to the Patapsco Heritage Greenway. I hope that I have alleviated some of your concerns. Best, Adam Adam Boarman, RLA Chief of Capital Development Baltimore City Recreation & Parks Capital Development & Planning 410.396.7948 -- Jed Weeks Policy Director facebook | twitter Support better biking in Baltimore by making a donation today. -- Jed Weeks Policy Director facebook | twitter Support better biking in Baltimore by making a donation today.