The Dawn of A New Day
By Jeffrey Budnitz
I have frequently been asked by members of the community, “What has the Ruxton-Riderwood Lake Roland Area Improvement Association done for me and my family?” Well, let me give you an example that goes a long way to answering that seemingly simple yet complex question.
In 2000, the RRLRAIA’s Robert E. Lee Park sub-committee established an initiative and an agenda for the long term rehabilitation and stewardship of Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland. Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland have frequently been referred to as the ‘hidden jewels’ of our community, therefore meriting our organizations full attention as a community issue. Over the years, many residents of Riderwood, the Lake Roland Area and Ruxton have worked tirelessly to help clean up the park and lake, in attempts to establish the park as a family-friendly amenity and destination.
Robert E. Lee Park represents 453 acres of wooded park land with Lake Roland at its’ heart. Lake Roland is an approximately 100 acre man-made lake created by the damming of the Jones Falls in 1861 to serve as one of the first municipal water supplies for Baltimore City. The lake was originally called Swann Lake, named for then-Mayor Thomas Swann. The city stopped using the lake as a source of drinking water in approximately 1915. The lake is primarily fed by two smaller streams, Towson Run and Roland Run.
One of the most significant complexities that had plagued Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland for decades has been the status of the lake being a reservoir that no longer provides potable drinking water to Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland are currently owned by Baltimore City, a byproduct of the park and lake being a former “watershed asset”. Yet, unlike Loch Raven, Liberty or Pretty Boy Reservoirs that merit the full economic attention of Baltimore City as a function of their watershed status, Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland in essence have been relegated to a second class citizen status. Baltimore City Parks and Recreation has approximately 1,000 park assets comprising a total of 6,000 acres, yet only an operating budget to manage and maintain but a fraction of those numbers. Further compounding the problem is that Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland, Baltimore City owned assets, are located in Baltimore County. It is understandably difficult for the Baltimore City Parks and Recreation Department, an agency that has significant economic pressure placed on it regarding the assets that it manages within the Baltimore City limits, to justify any form of resources to be allocated to an asset located in Baltimore County.
The Robert E. Lee Park sub-committee, building on the significant works of another organization, the Robert E. Lee Conservancy, and the efforts of its key board members Louise Hildreth, Jane Lawrence, and Robert Macht, began to assess what had worked and what had failed previously regarding park based initiatives. The key was to identify the reasons for prior successes and failures to obtain a better understanding of the history and dynamics of the overall situation to assure that new resources that would be applied to the situation would capitalize on the positives while minimizing the chances of reproducing the negatives, negatives that were proving to be chronic at best. As an organization and as a community, we cannot thank Louise Hildreth, Jane Lawrence, and Robert Macht enough for the body of work and substantive foundation they gave our sub-committee in moving the future of Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland in a positive direction.
Upon further analysis, the sub-committee began to identify the numerous issues at hand and began developing strategies to aid in alleviating many of the problems that had plagued the park. The primary objective chosen was to restore the park to its former glory- a park everyone in the community, young and old, could enjoy. In addition, we focused on the replacement of the pedestrian bridge, significant capital maintenance, beatification initiatives, general park restoration and environmental remediation but to name a few. In 2001 the Ruxton Riderwood Lake Roland Area Improvement Association developed a Community Plan which was voted on by the Baltimore County Council and was adopted as part of the Baltimore County Master Plan 2010, in which many of the key park related issues were incorporated into this plan.
As a strategy, the Sub-Committee decided to take a three-pronged approach. Initially we would focus on working with Baltimore City, then Baltimore County and finally with the State of Maryland. We felt this gradual approach to local authorities would respect the existing authority structure and perhaps produce the greatest probability of a positive outcome. The long-term outcome we hoped for was a new custodian for the Park.
Nan Rohrer, formally with the Office of Partnerships and Baltimore City Department of Recreations and Parks, Connie Brown, the former Director of the Baltimore City Department of Recreations and Parks and Gennady Schwartz, P.E. Chief of Capital Development for Baltimore City Department of Recreations were instrumental in opening the initial doors required to get this process started. The Robert E. Lee Park Sub-Committee, in August of 2003, invited department heads of the Baltimore City Department of Recreations and Parks, The Roland Park Civic League, the Robert E. Lee Park Conservancy, the Mount Washington Association and the Baltimore County Police community policing division for a round table discussion and presentation on a broad range of issues impacting the park and what would be required to restore the park. The issues ranged from environmental erosion, criminal activity in the park, the state of existing structures in the park and the capital improvements required in restoring them, off leash dog issues ranging from community driven complaints to potential health and environmental impact to the park, trail cutting of new trails, and last but not least, individuals that had actually taken permanent residence in the park. We did not want to suggest changes in policies until the information had been fully absorbed by all. This approach created a groundswell of interest that took a life of its’ own.
As a result of this meeting, Baltimore County Police officially accept law enforcement responsibility for the park from Baltimore City and a joint City/County Parks Department Concept Plan that included a variety of short and long term objectives for the park. Baltimore County Police committed at that time to be the first responder if a public safety and/or criminal event occurred within the boundaries of the park. The Concept Plan outlined several short range objectives that included replacing the pedestrian bridge and erosion control and remediation of the soil on the peninsula. The remediation request was a direct byproduct of the Baltimore City Health Department’s findings of excessively high bacteria levels due to dog excrement, findings that caused closure of the park for a significant period of time. The soil samples taken by the Baltimore City Health Department revealed extremely high and dangerous levels of acid/bacteria and fecal e-coli, creating a serious public health threat (samples taken on site were 17,000 percent above of the acceptable levels) and a health threat that our organization and subcommittee initially alerted the Baltimore City Health Department of. In addition, members of our committee testified in front of the Baltimore City Council in support of the actions taken by the Baltimore City Health Department in their efforts to solve this potential health threat impacting our community.
Through the efforts and diligence of Sgt. Moffett of the Baltimore County Police community policing division, who was pivotal in having Baltimore County Police officially accepting law enforcement responsibilities for the park from Baltimore City and his successor, Sgt. Fink, we as an organization were able to remove several individuals living within the confines of the Park, in particular the removal a significant encampment that existed on Copper Hill Road. In addition, Baltimore County Police have also significantly increased their routine patrols of the park itself and the surrounding communities that feed into the park. All a byproduct of the memorandum of understanding our organization helped establish. As an organization and as a community, we cannot thank Sgt. Moffett, Sgt. Fink and the Baltimore County Police Department enough for their efforts and time they gave our sub-committee in moving the future of Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland in a positive direction.
The Sub-Committee and the Association have also been enthusiastically supported in their efforts by Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, whose advocacy for the preservation and rehabilitation of the Park has been and continues to be impressive. For example, Councilman Kamenetz was instrumental in halting an effort to sell off Park lands for development. Due to the popularity of our community, lack of developable land for real estate and tighter public budgets, the area has been increasingly vulnerable to the pressures of “infill” development or the sale of public-owned, green-space properties. When Baltimore City proposed the selling of Park lands adjoining Racquet Road, Copper Hill Road and Lake Side Drive for residential development, the Association and the Sub-Committee requested that the County rezone all of Robert E. Lee Park from DR1 to RC7. This change would reduce the density of homes permitted from one per acre, to one per 25 acres. Councilman Kevin Kamenetz took full ownership of this issue and made it a reality for our community. The request was fully approved and the new RC 7 zoning was established. The Park is the only property lying with the Baltimore beltway to receive an RC7 zoning designation and, as such, was not a simple cause for Councilman Kamenetz to champion. This action effectively makes development in the Park economically untenable.
By 2004 our Sub-Committee felt that all opportunities and solutions afforded by Baltimore City had been exhausted so we turned our focus to Baltimore County, in particular the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks, headed by Director Bob Barrett. Our initial meeting with Bob Barrett was rather memorable. When we posed the idea of Baltimore County taking over Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland, his initial reaction was that he thought we were kidding. But being that Bob Barrett is a man of significant vision and concern for the community, especially in matters related to public parks, the concept piqued his curiosity. Over a series of meetings with Bob Barrett, his former Deputy Director, John Markley and Jean Tansey, head of Capital Planning, Bob Barrett realized early on the potential of Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland becoming Baltimore County’s central park very similar to New York’s Central Park. Our organization cited the example of Fort Smallwood Park, a Baltimore City owned park located in Ann Arundel County and how that county had been able to establish a long term lease with Baltimore City, in effect taking over the park. The efforts of Bob Barrett and his key department staff culminated in the production of a work product in December 2006 titled the Robert E. Lee Park Report. The report represented a capital needs and feasibility analysis in addition to a high level long term plan for Baltimore County to take Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland over from Baltimore City. A recent byproduct of this process was the determination that the pedestrian bridge that is located at the heart of the park was structurally unsound and needed to be closed pending replacement.
Through 2007 and 2008, Director Bob Barrett shepherded the park takeover concept though various Baltimore County agencies building a ground swell of support for the issue culminating in a meeting between, Director Bob Barrett, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, County Administrative Officer Frederick J. Homan and our park Sub-Committee. The long term outcome of that meeting was Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith’s 2009 budget request to the legislature focused on funding for Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland. County Executive Jim Smith went to Annapolis twice in March of 2009, with Director Bob Barrett at his side, formally made his request in front of both House Finance Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
The request read, in part: “After extensive discussions with Baltimore City and the neighborhoods surrounding Robert E. Lee Park, Baltimore County is looking to the possible City transfer of Robert E. Lee Park to Baltimore County. The Park is approximately 453 acres of invaluable open space that attracts more than 41,000 visitors annually from the Baltimore metropolitan region. If Baltimore County were to take on responsibility for this property, however, critically necessary repairs to its infrastructure would be required. The erosion of the shoreline around Lake Roland, the erosion of Lakeside Drive, the effect of harmful runoff on the quality of the water in Lake Roland, and replacement of the park’s bridge are all issues that must be addressed to maintain the environmental integrity of the park. That is why the transfer of Robert E. Lee Park is contingent upon receiving the $3 million in State funding that we are requesting. These State funds would be combined with $3 million dollars in County matching funds to provide the $6 million dollars needed for park infrastructure improvements.”
The breakdown of the budget for the requested Robert E. Lee Park Improvements Funds is as follow:
Component Design Construction Total
Bridge Replacement $276,000 $2,557,600 $2,833,600
Roadway improvements/parking $121,000 $1,122,720 $1,243,720
Dog park and erosion improvements $195,000 $1,807,000 $2,002,000
Total: $592,000 $5,487,320 $6,079,320
As an organization and as a community, we cannot thank Director Bob Barrett, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, County Administrative Officer Frederick J. Homan and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith enough for their efforts, time and support they have given our park sub-committee in moving the future of Robert E. Lee Park, Lake Roland and our community, for that matter, in a positive direction.
In these trying economic times, the legislative process took on a life of its own. The Association diligently pursued our elected officials to keep this matter from drowning in the fiscal backwaters. We reached out to Chairman Conway of the House Appropriations Committee and fellow Committee members to voice our support for the County’s request. Building on the County Executive’s targeted testimony and the Association’s enthusiastic support, our state elected officials (Senator Brochin, Delegate Frank, Delegate Aumann and Delegate Lafferty) vigorously pursued their fellow House and Senate members to support the full funding request. The combined efforts succeeded as both the House and Senate approved full funding. In April, Governor O’Malley signed the budget into law. The budgeted funds will become available July 1, 2009 at which point Baltimore County Recreation and Parks Department will begin their efforts in earnest. The community will be able to affect these efforts by contributing input at meetings to be held in the fall of 2009. Eventually, a Robert E. Lee Park Council will be formed on which the RRLRAIA will play a prominent role.
The question posed at the start of this article is a valid one. I hope the Association’s efforts on your behalf have been amply demonstrated by the long term and extensive work performed by many RRLRAIA individuals in order to facilitate the transfer of Robert E. Lee Park to Baltimore County. We extend a hardy thanks to all of them. We should also thank all of the tireless County officials and elected public representatives who saw this initiative through to its end. As a result of everyone’s efforts, the future of Robert E. Lee Park and Lake Roland is secure.
As Baltimore County gets underway toward healing the Park, the Association hopes you ask a very different question, “What can I contribute to the future of the Park?” Neither Baltimore County nor your elected officials nor the Association can save and preserve this community gem alone.