Community Shows Support for UDATJean Flanagan The Avenue News 1/28/2004 They came from Hawthorne and Holly Neck, Wilson Point and Walnut Point, Rosedale and Riverside Drive, to learn more about the Essex-Middle River Renaissance Corporation and the Urban Design Assistance Team (UDAT) scheduled to visit the area later this year. Julie Gaynor, local resident and member of the UDAT Steering Committee, welcomed more than 120 people to a Community Information Meeting held Thursday evening at Stemmers Run Middle School. The audience watched a video of the UDAT process prepared by the American Institute of Architects. The video explained the UDAT process as it related to Salisbury, North Carolina. Much like the Essex-Middle River area, Salisbury was on the cusp of major changes due to a shift in the economic base of the community. The UDAT made several suggestions to make the main thoroughfare — similar to Eastern Boulevard — more appealing to residents and to potential business investors. Jane Willeboordse, executive director of the Dundalk Renaissance Corporation described the UDAT process that took place in Dundalk in 2001 and explained the impact the process had on the community as a whole. "We had a large geographical area in the study area," she said. "The UDAT focused on historic Dundalk and the impact improvements to that area would have on the rest of the community." Willeboordse also made the point that community participation was the key to the success of the process. "When we narrowed the focus, communities like Turners Station and Watersedge stepped forward and asked to be included in the study," she said. "Plans to enhance their communities were included in the final document." The final document is a 48-page composite of the UDAT process entitled "Dundalk, Maryland — A Second Century Vision." It includes a history of Dundalk, describes the study area and the formation of the Dundalk Renaissance Corporation, explains the UDAT visit and the recommendations they made for improvements to the area. The publication also highlighted the importance of community participation, the value of green space and new strategies for existing commercial centers. Essex-Middle River UDAT Steering Committee co-chairs, Shawn Meyer and John Gontrum explained how the UDAT would affect the Essex-Middle River community. The UDAT is a group of urban design professionals who donate their time to fashion a community plan based on the input they receive from a series of community forums. A series of community input meetings, or forums, will be held to garner ideas and suggestions from residents and business owners in the study area. The meetings will be based on three questions; What would you like to preserve in your community? What would you like to create in your community? What would you like to change in your community? The Steering Committee will also host a community forum when the UDAT is in town, so members of the team can hear, first-hand, from the community. "We understand that teams are becoming more difficult to put together," Gontrum said. "You can imagine, if your spouse came home and said they were going to a place you had never heard of for a week." The team will also look at the history, economic base and untapped resources of the community. In the case of Essex and Middle River, the team will tie together the various projects already in the works. The main component, Gontrum said, is community involvement. "We need your help to make this a success," he said. Gaynor introduced members of the Steering Committee and asked for volunteers to help prepare for the UDAT visit. Sub-committees include; forums, fundraising, neighborhoods, media/PR, institutions, history, maps and documents, commercial/retail, flyover/boat-tour, accommodations. Anyone who wishes to participate on a sub-committee will be welcome. Questions from the audience were mainly in regard to the study area and its boundaries. Residents from Bowleys Quarters, South Marlyn Avenue and Wilson Point asked that their communities be included in the study area. Meyer and Gontrum explained the study area was defined by the original Essex-Middle River Redevelopment Plan initiated in the mid-1990s. They emphasized the fact that the study area is tentative and will be decided upon by the team. "It will be up to your community to get together and present your ideas to the team," Gontrum said. He cited the insistence of the Turners Station and Watersedge communities to be included in the Dundalk UDAT. Meyer introduced the Essex-Middle River Renaissance Corporation's Web sites — www.e-mrudat.com and www.e-mrrc.org. Residents can find information about the UDAT process, links to information regarding the Dundalk and Randallstown UDAT, as well as links to the American Institute of Architects Web site. Also available are community input forms which can be downloaded or completed on-line. All information received, either on-line or from the forms distributed at the meeting, will be turned over to the UDAT when they arrive. At the end of the meeting, members of the audience were asked to come up on stage as a sign of their willingness to participate in the process. Nearly all in the audience obliged. Members of the Steering Committee were impressed with the turn-out and expressed hope the enthusiasm for the process would continue. UDAT organizer Dr. Peter Batchelor from the University of North Carolina will be visiting Essex-Middle River in February and has asked a forum be organized without representatives from Baltimore County present. "I want to hear from the community," he said on his last visit. The first Community Forum will be held on Thursday, Feb. 26 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Stemmers Run Middle School.
| 
