Recommendations Aim to Revitalize Baltimore County's Waterfront CommunitiesTim Lemke The Daily Record 10/27/2004 New waterfront homes, wider streetscapes and reduced speed limits across two of Essex and Middle River's most heavily traveled bridges are among scores of improvements recommended by a team of architects and planners asked to explore ways to revitalize the Baltimore County communities. The 10-member Essex-Middle River Urban Design Assistance Team said Baltimore County's east side can attract new economic development and elevate its image by making small improvements in several targeted areas, particularly downtown Essex and along the waterfront near Back River Neck Road. The team, whose members work for firms in North Carolina and Virginia, made the recommendations yesterday following six days of tours, workshops and meetings with community members. Team members said they believed Essex and Middle River have a strong framework for redevelopment, particularly in downtown Essex, where businesses could flourish with only minor upgrades to streets and storefronts. And, they largely endorsed efforts under way to revitalize the Country Ridge Shopping Center and convert the former Village of Tall Trees housing complex into a park. But, they said, the community will lose out on big opportunities for growth unless it can do a better job converting the area's waterfront into a destination. "The thing that we were surprised by is how little connected people are to the water unless they live at the water," said team leader Steve Gaddis, an architect with Gurlitz Architectural Group in Durham, N.C. "So we tried to address that." The team suggested creating a network of walking and hiking trails along the waterfront that would link developed neighborhoods such as Hawthorne and Hopewell Pointe, thus triggering development in between. It said the Back River Neck and Middle River bridges, which carry more than 50,000 cars per day up and down Eastern Boulevard, should also be made friendly for pedestrians and bikes, and act as "gateways" to the communities on each side. The team said speed limits on the bridges should be lowered from 45 to 35 miles per hour (although many cars are said to speed by at more than 55 mph) and outlined a three-phase plan involving parkland, restaurants and additional marinas to lure more people to the water. Gaddis outlined the team's recommendations for a 75-acre property owned by Lockheed Martin Corp. along Eastern Boulevard that is targeted for major redevelopment, suggesting that the site become home to two- and three-story office buildings with ground floor retail, six-story condominiums and a hotel for conferences. The team also endorsed plans for a new Maryland Aviation Museum, which officials say could be built at Strawberry Point, a former landing spot for seaplanes along Middle River. One of the mysteries regarding redevelopment near Middle River has been the future of the 1.9 million-square-foot aviation depot on Eastern Boulevard, which is now largely vacant and owned by the General Services Administration. The design team suggested it could be the site for the new aviation museum, but also presented recommendations from children in the community, including a skate park, swimming pool or other large recreation facility. The design team said the Essex and Middle River community should create its own redevelopment authority and revisit the Master Plan for the area, which was last updated in 1996. The team also suggested creating a set of design standards so that developers will enter the community with some knowledge of what residents want. "I don't think you can look at this and say, 'That's my plan,'" said John Gontrum, co-chairman of the Essex-Middle River Renaissance Corp., the nonprofit group that invited the design team. "Hopefully, we can say it's our plan. We really hope people can take ownership of this as our common plan."
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