Barbara Ballagh - Other Voices Bowie Blade News

From "Other Voices" Bowie Blade News - Thursday, April 13th 2017

To understand what is happening around Bowie, you need to attend the City Council meetings and see how the elected members run the city and do or do not represent us

I had not attended a council meeting in years, until I attended the January meeting for the Market Place Apartments. I was appalled with what I saw and heard.

Not only did the council not listen to the citizen’s and their petition, but they also ignored their traffic study. They completely ignored their own advisory board’s position against the Market Place Apartments. I had to ask “What is going on?”

After that, I attended more meetings to figure out what was happening. It didn’t take long to see that council business is no longer carried out as I remembered.  A lot of their decisions are made prior to the meetings. There are no discussions, the Council members seldom give reasons for their votes, and simple unsupported claims of “good for Bowie” are often stated.

What is going on in Bowie is not limited to the Market Place. This is just one example of the poor representation the Council is providing for the Citizens of Bowie who, elected them as their representatives.

Unconstrained development with unsupportable roads and infrastructure, excessive spending with threats of tax increases, lack of conserving resources (or tax reductions) during times of budget surplus, building a new gym and ice rink, soon-to-come traffic chokers and traffic circle on Belair Drive are other examples where the Council is not listening or soliciting input from the Citizens.

The mayor and the council appear to have become complacent, more so now that their term has been increased to four years. We need to make sure our council remains accountable to us, the people.

The entire council takes an oath to support the Constitution, to which the Bowie City government is an extension. “We the People” in our Constitution are not independent individuals with self-interests or business (to which the Council gives significant attention). The representatives on the City Council should comply with their sworn oath, and represent the citizens of Bowie above their own self-interest.

Since the Council is not doing their job and have failed to uphold their oath, I support the Bowie Recall. This recall is our opportunity to make the Council members accountable to us as they have committed to.

Barbara Ballagh

Bowie

Hilltop Shopping Center Residential Development

Bowie City Council denied the owner of Hilltop Shopping Center's application for residential housing when it was re-developed citing a lack of adequate facilities including overcrowded Bowie High School. 

Mayor Robinson on Bowie Town Center Development

In commenting on his victory to the Blade News, Mayor elect Fred Robinson said,

“I’m sure in the South Bowie numbers, the message was (voter’s opposition) to the two shopping centers, the New Town Center regional mall and Amber Ridge”

— Mayor Frederick Robinson (Blade News April 9, 1998)

The Mayor actively campaigned against the unpopular mall development and shortly after his election, he betrayed his voters and voted for Bowie Town Center development.

Letter to the Editor - Deborah Rice

Dear Editor,

Bowie residents concerned about the traffic and quality of life impact of 285 apartments at the Marketplace and 400 homes on the Jesuit properties along Route 450 should be equally or more alarmed about the preliminary plan for 1,800 residential units at Melford.  This plan is going to be discussed by the Bowie Advisory Planning Board on January 10 and the City Council on the 17th.

Melford is on the Northeast corner of Routes 50 and 3/301, isolated from the rest of Bowie, with a single entrance at the end of Belair Drive.  The Conceptual Site Plan’s approval of 2,500 apartments and townhouses in this cul-de-sac office park is being challenged by citizens of Bowie in the Court of Special Appeals.  Still St. John Properties is pushing forward by submitting a preliminary plan for about 1,800 of those units.

The Melford Village traffic analysis found at full build out that the residential component alone would generate 14,000 car trips per day.  City planners recommended against approval of the Marketplace apartments because traffic on Stonybrook Drive and Superior Lane would exceed level of service “C”.  The Melford preliminary plan will have the same impact on these streets, and more, as residents try to circumvent congestion on Routes 3, 450, and 197; a traffic analysis of Belair Drive already proved this to be true.  We believe for that reason alone the preliminary plan should be disapproved.

The County’s General Plan says Melford is one of three unconnected parcels forming a “Local Town Center,” along with the Bowie Town Center and Gateway Plaza.  Guidelines for these Centers call for a dense “core” and a less dense “edge”– so why is the dense residential development at the edge on the Melford parcel? 

We need to hit the “pause” button on all of these developments and consider their collective impact – not one at a time.  We also need a plan showing how Melford’s proposal for dense residential development contributes to the overall Bowie “Town Center.”  A new master plan is on the horizon for 2018 so this presents the opportunity.

Deborah & John Rice