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April 3, 2012 

In This Issue
Trading Forest for Traffic?
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The Pier
Save Your Annapolis Neck
How do you feel about trading forest for traffic? 

A Save Your Annapolis Neck representative spoke recently at an Oyster Harbor community meeting about the multitude of projects that are slated for the Annapolis Neck along Forest Drive and are currently in various stages of approval, appeals, and planning. These projects, including a proposed gas station at Giant Foods on Forest Drive, will have a SIGNIFICANT impact on the quality of life that we now enjoy in terms of increased traffic, overcrowded schools, loss of green space, and environmental damage.  

 

Why This Is Important

 

Developers want to construct two huge projects on Forest Drive inside Annapolis city limits. Under current configuration, the city would allow the projects to ignore the state's 21-year-old Forest Conservation Act, under which the city has the authority to limit forest and wetland destruction.

 

Further, the projects, the Reserve at Quiet Waters and Crystal Spring Farm, call for 681 residences and 200,000 sq. ft. of commercial space on 140 acres.

 

Fully 61 percent of the two surviving forests in the city would be bulldozed. Forests allow us to maintain clean water, clean air and provide the critical habitat necessary for birds and other wildlife we want our children to experience growing up in Annapolis. These are the last forests on Forest Drive. 

 

Traffic on Forest Drive, already exceeding rush-hour capacity, would be slowed to a crawl.

 

Overcrowded schools will become even more overcrowded.

 

One of the projects will be so close to the border of Quiet Waters Park that it will cause permanent damage to the park's environment.

 

The environmental community is rallying around an electronic petition to demonstrate opposition to the planned developments.  This petition is sponsored by the Sierra Club Maryland--Anne Arundel Chapter, the Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation, Save Your Annapolis Neck, and the Severn River Association.

Won't you consider adding your name to the petition and encouraging your friends to do the same?


Sign the Petition - Click Here 

 
Property owners may have a right to develop, but the city has a moral and legal obligation to enforce the laws and protect the environment. Make your voice heard.
 

 
Help our Community
Arundel-on-the-Bay
  • Have you and your children enjoyed yourselves at any of AOTBʼs social events?
  • Have you met neighbors at these gatherings that make you glad you live where you do?
  • Is the good fellowship and community spirit that have grown in AOTB over the years important to you and do you want it to continue?
If you answered ʻyesʼ to any of the above, then please help your community by considering ways you can contribute. 
 
These social events aren't free, and weʼre running out of funds that we can use to pay for the summer family picnic, the winter holiday party, the spring wine tasting, and other AOTB gatherings. 
 
Our nominal admissions charge isnʼt enough to cover the shortfall, and unlike Congress, we actually have to pay for things. To do so weʼre planning a fundraising event during our adult wine tasting on Saturday June 16th and it promises to be fun!

We'll be holding a silent auction along with the direct sale of goods and services during the annual Wine Tasting and Jazz Rumble on Saturday, June 16, but we need items like these from you:

Suggested Donations

Hand-crafted items
beaded jewelry
quilts
fine or photographic art work
scarves
bags
home-baked goods/jams/jellies
seagull deflectors + installation

Personal Services
pet sitting
baby sitting
massage therapy
headlight lens cleaning
report editing
carpentry
boat rides
yoga lessons
lawn mowing/yard work
car washing

Other Stuff
plants/cuttings
theater/sports event tickets
weekend getaway timeshare use

Do we have your support? How about other ideas for donations? Would you rather make a direct cash contribution? Please help your community!

Please contact either/both: 
Margaret Delia [email protected], 410-268-8622
Helene Rodriguez McConnell [email protected], 267-688-1506