Monday, July 7th, 2008
Dear Senator Theatre Patrons,
For those of you who share our interest in protecting and
preserving The Senator Theatre, we want to inform you of a pending legislative
matter that if passed, may serve to undermine the theatre's operational status.
We are asking our friends and supporters to tune into this issue and what's at
stake, and to help us defeat the legislation currently pending before the
Baltimore City Council.
4th district Councilmember Bill Henry has introduced City
Council Bill #08-0135 for the purpose of approving certain amendments to the
established Planned Unit Development (PUD) for Belvedere Square. Some of the
amendments are warranted. Those that are problematic relate to the outdoor
concerts and outdoor movies on weekend evenings.
In recent years, the outdoor music concerts have expanded
exponentially to the degree that they are severely undermining the economic
viability of The Senator Theatre at a critical turning point in its 69 year
history, due to lack of sufficient parking at The Square. The impact this has
had on our operation was a factor that led to our foreclosure auction near-miss
in February of 2007.
We supported the investment of millions in supplemental
public funds for the economic redevelopment of Belvedere Square and we helped
to originate and promote the Friday outdoor concert series. We also feel that
the events in question serve to benefit our commercial and residential district
and that they should continue this summer as scheduled.
We are quite concerned, however, about the underlying
purpose, timing and effect of the PUD amendment legislation that has been
introduced at the request of Belvedere Square current owners. We are also
concerned that the PUD legislation is being rapidly propelled through the
legislative process by our council representative on behalf of the developers,
without apparent need and without following the appropriate procedures for
proposed legislation of this type.
Our concerns are shared among a number of the independent
small businesses in our district, who like us, were not informed of this
legislative effort to amend the PUD in our commercial district until it was
well underway.
It's been challenging for us as well to enlighten our patrons
and area residents as to why we are so opposed to the legislation that is being
moved along during the summer when many Baltimore City residents are not in
town or focused on matters of this nature. We feel strongly that this proposed
legislation will have negative ramifications that need to be better understood
by all concerned before it becomes law. Time is of the essence at this juncture
and most of our patrons and supporters remain unaware of what's taking place.
This Tuesday evening, July 8th, at 5:30pm, Councilmember
Henry is hosting a community-wide meeting at the historic Govans Library -
located at 5714 Bellona Ave., Baltimore, MD 21212 - about the parking and
traffic congestion issues related to the PUD amendment legislation. We
encourage all those who wish to better understand the ramifications of what is
being proposed and the reasons for our concern to attend the meeting if
possible. We regret the short notice.
Please join our timely efforts to shed light on what is being
proposed and why, as we feel that it is misguided legislation that will be
detrimental to The Senator Theatre and its future.
For those who cannot attend, we will provide follow-up
information about the meeting and about next week's Baltimore City Council
meeting to our listserv members.
If you have questions, concerns and/or comments please
forward them to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sincerely,
Tom Kiefaber
410.435.3583
To be removed from opt-in list.
[email protected]
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