January 2005

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season. It was wonderful to see everyone at the holiday pot luck and at the many gatherings at neighbors' homes throughout Butchers Hill.

We have a full agenda for the January meeting, and I hope for a large turnout. We will be voting on three important items. First will be the election of officers for the Butchers Hill Association. Second will be the Neighborhood Development Guidelines that we have been working on for many months. There will be an opportunity for any member to propose changes to the guidelines; we will discuss and vote on each proposed change in turn. When we are finished with changes, we will vote on the guidelines. Hopefully, we will then have a statement of what Butchers Hill values in neighborhood development that we can use to guide us going forward.

Finally, Stonington Partners and Elinor Bacon will make a brief presentation on their revised plans for 2101 E. Pratt Street (the machine shop). They plan to replace the existing one story structure with a set of four story townhouses. This would have a significant impact on the people living nearby, as well as the neighborhood as a whole. There will be a vote as to how we, as a neighborhood, feel about this project.

This will clearly be the most important Butchers Hill Association meeting in some time; I hope to you there.

-Dave Dyer.

PROPOSED BUTCHERS HILL NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR DISCUSSION AT THE JANUARY 5th BHA GENERAL MEETING

These standards are established to preserve the historic architectural character of Butchers Hill. All proposed construction must first be compared with its adjoining buildings for compatibility with height, scale and character of architecture. No construction should be permitted to alter our historic streetscape.

1. Building height should be no greater than the buildings adjoining it.

   1. Some flexibility should be considered for
      1. Open yard space provided.
      2. Number of off-street parking spaces provided.

2. Front additions to set-back houses should not be permitted.

3. Rear additions and additions on top of existing additions should be no greater in height or dimension than additions on adjoining buildings.

   1. Flexibility will be considered only if agreeable to adjoining neighbors.
   2. On lots less than 100' deep, flexibility may be considered for off-street parking spaces provided.

4. No new dwelling units should be added without provisions for off-street parking spaces:

   1. One off-street parking space per efficiency or one-bedroom dwelling.
   2. Two off-street parking spaces per dwelling with two or more bedrooms.

5. Non-conforming business uses should be neighborhood based:

   1. Examples: general variety stores, coffee shops, dry cleaners, book shops, small offices for professionals living in the neighborhood (maximum 3 employees).
   2. Business should not add to the neighborhood parking problem.
   3. Business should base its subsistence on neighborhood walk-in customers.

6. Existing precedent does not apply. Existing construction not in accordance with these Neighborhood Development Standards will not be considered as precedent for proposed construction.

7. Submit an impact statement including:

   1. Submit drawings of new construction to Butchers Hill Association:
      1. Submit at least 45 days in advance of a zoning appeal.
      2. Submit scale drawings of proposed plans and elevations.
   2. Submit a statement as to what market segment the project will be focusing on.

8. Roof decks and their access structures should be set back from the front wall of the building so they are not visible by a person standing on the sidewalk directly across the street.

   1. Access structures should be no more than 75 square feet in size.

9. Exterior building materials should be historically compatible on walls facing named streets.

10. New curb cuts will be opposed on all streets with on-street public parking.

11. Building Demolition should be by last resort only.

    1. Reasons for demolition should be submitted to the Butchers Hill Association for review and approval.
    2. Saving and preserving buildings using historic tax credits is encouraged.

In order to vote on these and other issues, you must be a member of the Butchers Hill Association.
Please remember to become a member or renew your membership for 2005

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2005!

BHA COMMITTEES AND MONTHLY MEETINGS

Block Rep/Crime Prevention: Wednesday, January 19th, 7 p.m., 2105 E. Baltimore St. The committee meets monthly to share information from our 20 block representatives and to coordinate action. Contact Carolyn at 410-522-4991 or e-mail c.boitnott@verizon.net.

Butchers Hill Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.): Butchers Hill Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) has been regularly patrolling the neighborhood for over three years, and conducts its walk-arounds on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. We meet at 7:30 p.m. at the intersection of Patterson Park Avenue and Lombard Street. All are welcome. For more information, please contact Evan Helfrich at 410-342-2148 or via e-mail, ubik14@netscape.net.

Community Representative, School 27 School Improvement Team: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991.

Education Committee: The January meeting is Thursday, January 20th, 2005. Contact: Martha DelPizzo 410-522-6046, e-mail mdelpizzo@comcast.net.

Land Use: The Land Use Committee reminds homeowners in the 2100 and 2200 blocks of E. Baltimore Street and the 2200 block of E. Pratt Street that you live in a City historic district. All exterior work and painting must be submitted to CHAP and Butchers Hill. We are always happy to help with any questions you may have. Contact Virgil Bartram: 410-327-4964. CHAP's number is 410-396-4866.

Marketing/House Tour Committee: Next meeting Tuesday, January 11th, 7 PM, 2223 E. Pratt St. Contact Rick Gilmour, 410-342-7061, gilmour@qis.net. At this meeting we will establish recommended dates and prices for the 2005 tours and flea markets. If you have recommendations, but can't attend the meeting, send them to Rick via e-mail. We need an overall chair for the Fall Flea Market. Volunteer or recommend a friend by contacting Rick.

Trash Committee: Contact Sue Whitson, 443-527-1103, e-mail sbwhitson@hotmail.com (e-mail preferred).

Parking Committee: William White, 410-563-7941, e-mail: willilicious@hotmail.com.

BHA Executive Committee: Tuesday, January 18th at 7 PM, Simon's of Butchers Hill, 2031 E. Fairmount Ave. Contact: Dave Dyer (410-342-7655), or dave@viacapital.net.

Newsletter: The deadline for FEBRUARY is Friday, January 21st. Contact Steve Young: young@umbc.edu.

Streetscape Committee: The Streetscape Committee will be holding an organizational meeting in January. Details to follow. If you are interested in getting involved, contact Jeff Gabriel at jgabriel@ubalt.edu.

COMMUNITY DUMPSTER, SATURDAY, JANUARY 8TH

On Friday, January 7th and Saturday, January 8th, there will be a community Dumpster in the unit block of South Collington. No electronics, hazardous materials, batteries, paint, or appliances. The city usually delivers the dumpster about noon on Friday, and then removes it between 10 and 11 on Saturday. The next scheduled dumpster is Saturday, February 5th, unit block N. Chester.

JANUARY BUTCHERS HILL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday, January 5th. Coffee & cookies, 6:45 p.m. Meeting 7:00 p.m. St. Andrew's Church hall, corner of Chester & Lombard Sts. (entrance on Lombard). Contact DAVE DYER, 410-342-7655.

AGENDA: Election of Butchers Hill Association officers;
Discussion of and vote on Neighborhood Development Guidelines;
Presentation by Stonington Partners and Elinor Bacon on 2101 E. Pratt Street, and vote.

NOMINATIONS FOR BUTCHERS HILL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 2005

The Nominating Committee will present the following slate at the January meeting of the Butchers Hill Association. Nominations from the floor may be made at that time, providing the nominee has consented to serve. You must be a Butchers Hill Association member to vote.

President: Dave Dyer
Vice President: Erica Holcomb
Vice President: Ellen Reich
Corresponding Secretary: Les DelPizzo
Recording Secretary: Beth Needham
Treasurer: John Murphy
Parliamentarian: Howard Ehrenfeld
Member at Large: Dean Alexander
Member at Large: Jennifer Parkinson
Member at Large: Jean-Luc Renaux

FAIRMOUNT AND OTHER CITY VIEWS

As noted last month, Fairmount Street was called "Hampstead Hill Street during the War of 1812. In 1852, lithographer Edward Sachse published a vista called "View of Baltimore City From Fairmount." This view is from the high point of Broadway where Church Home Hospital recently stood. Fairmount was apparently a place name, not that of a mansion or stately home, and around 1850 was a garden spot and promenade in East Baltimore. Our Fairmount may well have been named after the Fairmount Park section of Philadelphia.

It seems clear, though there's not a great deal of reliable evidence, that Fairmount was well enough known to justify changing the name of Hampstead Hill Street to Fairmount Street at some time in the second quarter of the 19th century.

E. Sachse & Co. was one of the two prominent lithography firms in Baltimore after the mid 1840s, when Edward emigrated to Baltimore from the family home in Germany. He produced many popular landscape views of Baltimore, Washington, and other nearby towns. During the Civil War, he made a series of prints depicting Union encampments and sold them cheaply - 50¢ to $1 - to soldiers who could send them home as the kind of souvenir where "X marks my tent."

Sachse reached his zenith with his 1869 "Birds-Eye View" of Baltimore designed to show every house and business in the city, which was then bounded by North Avenue, but where the closely built-up sections stopped at about Eager Street. Published in 12 sections, the final "view" is 51/2 feet by 15 feet, said to be the largest such view ever published in the United States.

According to Sachse, it took 3 years and 3 months for four artists to complete the view, which was made by producing a meticulous perspective version of Baltimore's street layout, and then having the artists travel the City sketching the actual buildings. Sachse made one interesting deviation: he "completed" City Hall, which was just starting construction in 1869, but Sachse's City Hall faces south, not east!

Sachse's "Fairmount" view is not available on the web, but the Bird's Eye View is. Start at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem, then click maps, then panoramic maps, then geographic index, then Maryland. Choose entry 2.

-Rick Gilmour, with thanks to Virgil Bartram for the URL.

Corner of Pratt and Chester Streets, "Bird's-Eye View of the City of Baltimore," E. Sachse, & Co., 1869.