Board of Ed Again Approves Mays Chapel Park As Site for New School
The decision comes after a contentious battle between area residents concerning the construction of a 700-seat elementary school.
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The Baltimore County Board of Education again voted unanimously to approve the construction of a 700-seat elementary school at Mays Chapel Park.
"I feel that my interest must lie primarily with the students of Baltimore County," said board President Larry Schmidt, a Mays Chapel resident, ahead of the vote. "I frankly don't know when a gathering of little children to learn has come to be such a perceived threat to one's way of life."
The school is intended to alleviate overcrowding issues at elementary schools along the York Road corridor.
Opponents of the project, primarily senior residents living in a condo community close to the site, argued that the school would bring about issues including traffic and environmental concerns.
The Baltimore County Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution on Jan. 23 approving the swap of a 10-acre wooded area of the Mays Chapel Park property and the adjacent 10-acre property made up of ballfields that is owned by the Baltimore County Public Schools system.
The Mays Chapel site was initially approved by the Baltimore County Board of Education last year. The state board of education, however, sent the process back for a second hearing after it ruled that the county board violated state law pertaining to legal notice requirements for the March 19, 2012 site selection hearing.
"As board president, I take ultimate responsibility for that failure," Schmidt said.
The state Department of Natural Resources must also approve the deal because of open space easements on the county's parcel. Those easements are expected to be transferred over to the new parcel.
Patch editors Bryan Sears and Nick DiMarco contributed to this report.
BMW
9:34 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
This is sad news indeed
TT McBean
12:14 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
It's sad that it took this long to get approval.
john sullivan
5:30 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
TT McBEAN,
I AM A FIRM BELIEVER IN THE SAYING " WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND". DESPITE OUR ASSOCIATIONS' HOURS & HOURS OF ENGINEERING, FINANCIAL & COUNTY RECORDS, STATISTICS, ETC., ETC. ( WHICH WE SUBMITTED TO THE COUNTY GOV'T. AS WELL AS THE BD. OF ED.) WHICH ABSOLUTELY CONFIRM THAT IT WOULD BE MORE EXPENSIVE TO BUILD IN MAYS CHAPEL PLUS MORE DETRIMENTAL TO THE CHILDREN OF THIS "COMMUTER" SCHOOL WE WERE TOTALLY IGNORED AT EVERY STEP. THIS WAS A "DONE DEAL" SINCE THE END OF 2010. kamenetz PUSHED THIS THRU. he KEPT IT TOTALLY QUIET TILL IT WAS LEAKED LAST YEAR. he EVEN BLINDSIDED COUNCILMAN HUFF WHO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT IT TILL THE INFO WAS LEAKED. WHY DO YOU THINK SLICK KING kamenetz HASN'T RELEASED THE NEW SCHOOL BOUNDARIES YET? MANY PARENTS WILL NOT BE HAPPY. THE REQUIRED 20 (POLLUTING) SCHOOL BUSSES WILL BE NOISY AND THE COST OF THE TRIPS HERE IN GAS WILL BE PAID FOR BY WE TAXPAYERS ( AS WELL AS THE EXTRA MILLIONS THAT THE NEW SCHOOL WILL COST US). FOR A 700 CHILDREN SCHOOL, AT LEAST 50% OF THEM WILL BE DRIVEN TO & FRO BY PARENTS FLYING IN/OUT TO GO TO THEIR JOBS, THE GYM, LASS, YOGA, ETC.(= 350 VEHICLES 2X A DAY). PLUS 120 + SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, VISITORS, VENDORS, ETC. SO TT McBEAN HOPEFULLY THIS TRAVESTY WILL HAPPEN TO YOU OR A RELATIVE. ONLY THEN WILL YOU COMPREHEND
Jennifer Liles
8:17 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Finally! I am so very excited for this new school, for it will help alleviate the overcrowding at my child's elementary school. While it is sad to lose a park for seniors (and I am pro seniors and pro exercise), it is more sad to see children jammed into a classroom and/or walking to trailers. If Sandyhook taught us anything, it is that we need to have our children in a secure location. Walking in and out of trailers is not safe for elementary children and our teachers. I am sure that the school could work out a plan with the seniors that after school hours they can use the land as their walking route. This could and should be a win win for everyone!
john sullivan
11:00 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
AGAIN ....... 6 MONTHS OF THE YEAR IT GETS DARK EARLY. SENIORS WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE LEERY OF WALKING IN THE DARK. THE COUNTY (BEFORE THE SCHOOL WAS APPROVED) REMOVED ALL OF THE BENCHES & THE GAZEBO. IT WAS A DONE DEAL FROM THE BEGINNING .... FORCED DOWN THE RESIDENTS' THROATS. WHAT A SHAMEFUL TRAVESTY !!!
james smith
3:14 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
SandyHook taught us that we can no longer use trailers in our elementary schools because they are unsafe?????!!!!! Are you crazy?? So now stupid Americans will spend billions of tax dollars adding onto schools and removing trailers??!! What a crazy country this is!!!
George
3:00 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Seniors walk during the day, NOT in the late afternoon after school is out and all after school activities are done. New security measures will ensure that NO ONE gets near this property.
Seniors favor a solution to school overcrowding that DOES NOT use trailers, DOES treat taxpayer dollars prudently, DOES keep kids close to home and in walking distance and DOES NOT destroy OPEN SPACE and PARKLAND. ALL these "does and don'ts" could be adhered to IF the BCSB (unelected politicos) would elect to enlarge current school buildings (real enlargement, not trailers)
james smith
3:05 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
As a Baltimore County resident who has no interest in the decision (I do not live in the area and have no school aged children), I do not understand what all the ruckus is about. Is this the only piece of land in the area on which a school can be built? Looking at the lay of the land in the area (York Road corridor), it looks like there are a lot of places that an elementary school could be built. Why do the parents of school age children have to have the school built on THIS site?
john sullivan
5:33 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
AMEN TO THAT MR. SMITH !!!!!!!!!
C. McMahon
8:27 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Hurray! Thanks to the School Board for doing the right thing.
john sullivan
8:33 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
WON'T WASTE MY TIME GIVING YOU THE CORRECT FACTS. WE HAVE GIVEN THEM TOO MANY TIMES TO NO AVAIL. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR !! DREAM ON C.M.
C. McMahon
5:22 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
No dreams here, I can't wait to see the construction equipment arrive.
Seymour Butts
9:39 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
It's literally right behind my house and I'm perfectly ok with it. Don't ever be upset when a new school is built.
john sullivan
11:22 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
OK, SERIOUSLY NOW .... WHAT'S YOUR REAL NAME ???
Geoffrey Atkinson
8:19 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Sounds like a good decision. Be happy it isn't a block of section 8 housing.
john sullivan
11:48 am on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
G.A.
OH, I DEFINITELY AM.
john sullivan
12:11 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
ATKINSON
ONCE AGAIN .... WON'T WASTE MY TIME GOING DEEP IN DETAIL. WE HAVE GIVEN HOURS WORTH OF RESEARCH, INFO, STATISTICS, ETC. ON WHY THIS SITE IS THE WORST CONSIDERING THAT THERE SEVERAL OTHER VIABLE SCHOOL SITES. SINCE THIS SITE WAS A SECRET DONE DEAL FROM THE BEGINNING OUR FACTS, DATA, ETC. WERE TOTALLY IGNORED. THIS SITE IS WRONG FOR SO MANY REASONS.
Dagney Taggert
9:20 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
It's a school for kids. The school board owns the land. They bought it 20 years ago to build a school. The housing that exists today did not exist 20 years ago. Maybe you should have considered the fact that the land was purchased for a school before you moved in. Blame yourself.
james smith
10:36 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
I believe you are mistaken. Please correct me if I am wrong. The school board did not buy the land 20 years ago to build a school. Baltimore County Parks and Recreation owned the land and operated it as a park for many years. Recently the Baltimore County Board of Education swapped another parcel of land that they owned with the Department of Parks and Recreation to get this land to build a school. The people who moved to this area over the past two decades saw a park, and had no reason to believe that anything else other than a park would be there. This parcel was a real park, with park benches and a gazebo, not just a vacant field or woods owned by Parks and Recreation.
There is a law in Baltimore County that requires that the county provide a certain number of acres of parkland for every thousand residents of the county. Once land becomes a park, it remains a park because of this law and the growing population. The people who moved to the area saw the park, and had no reason to believe that anything else would be built there because of this law. The park may well have been one of the factors that made them want to move there. I do not live in or own property in the area, but I beleive that the county government has been very unfair and deceiving to the area residents.
Dennis King
10:59 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Allow me to correct you Mr. Smith. What you may observe to be one plot of landd is actually two. In approximately 1986, 10 acres of the 20 acre site were deeded to BCPS for a future school; the remaining 10 acres were deeded to the County as open space. You can verify this with the Land Records. This was before a single shovel-full of dirt was dug for the construction. Additionally, I have ADC maps going back to the early 90s that show this site as the future Mays Chapel Elementary School. Almost everyone who lives in that area could have looked at the map at the time they bought their property and seen that a school was to be built on that site. Anyone who exercised reasonable diligence would have been aware of that potential. Those who didn't should, as stated above, blame themselves.
In order to address the concerns of some of the area residents, BCPS agreed to certain location changes for the school. In order to accomodate those changes, BCPS needed to swap its portion of the property with the portion of the property held by Recreation and Parks as open space.
john sullivan
1:00 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
"DAGNEY" (???)
WE HAVE SPENT HOURS RESEARCHING THIS LUDICROUS PROPOSAL. SO BEFORE YOU COMMENT MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE CHECKED ALL OF THE RESEARCH, STATISTICS, DATA, ETC. LET ME REPEAT THAT .... CHECK ALL OF THE FACTS IN DETAIL. WE BLAME THE SECRET, INCORRECT INFO & PROCESS OF THE BOARD OF ED. & KING kamenetz WHO TRIED TO "ZIP" IT THRU WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE (UNTIL IT WAS LEAKED).
C. McMahon
1:39 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
When you win it's "justice served", when you lose it's a "conspiracy". Right, Sully?
john sullivan
11:16 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
C.M.
LOST CAUSE TRYING TO INFORM YOU.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Dagney Taggert
2:06 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
Mr. Sullivan,
Screaming at people in all caps doesn't make anyone change their point of view. I've lived in Mays Chapel for 14 years. I've seen huge amount of growth; new development, more traffic, more noise, new stop lights and more pollution. I've chalked it up to an increase in the county's population. I have two children that attend Pinewood Elementary and I'm hoping they will get into the new school. Whether you like it or not the school will built.
john sullivan
10:37 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
"DAGNEY",
USING ALL ONE CASING OF LETTERS IS MUCH EASIER & QUICKER ... HELLO ! SO IT'S NOT SCREAMING. QUITE SENSITIVE ARE WE? MAYBE THE SCHOOL WILL BE BUILT HERE ... & MAYBE IT WON'T. THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER YET. WE'LL SEE.
Steve
2:14 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
They should have been concerned about the zoning in Mays Chapel when the County allowed Keelty to put up those ugly Commie Blocks.
john sullivan
10:41 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
AGREE WITH YOU ON THE ZONING ISSUE. A "PUD" (PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT) IS AN EXCUSE FOR DEVELOPERS TO BYPASS MANY ZONING REGULATIONS. BUT " COMMIE BLOCKS" ?????????????
Ed
12:00 am on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sullivan, if you don't like the zoning of the neighborhood you live in, why in heaven's name did you move there?
Steve
12:13 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Yeah, Commie Blocks. Those buildings look like something you see in Eastern Europe.
TT McBean
2:35 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
It's a new elementary school, and it's going in Mays Chapel where it's been planned for years. Just because they didn't completely change the plans for you JOHN SULLIVAN doesn't mean that you were totally ignored. Board of Ed and County putting it where they determined it will best benefit the area. I get tired of the old folks. Being against anything new. Bet if it was a new Senior Center you'd be all for it.
john sullivan
10:32 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
T T
I DON'T HAPPEN TO BE AN "OLD FOLK". INTERESTING THAT SEVERAL YEARS AGO THE BD. OF ED. WROTE THAT THE MAYS CHAPEL SITE WOULD NOT SERVE IT'S PURPOSE AS A SCHOOL !!! HELLO !!!! "YOU'RE TIRED OF OLD FOLKS .... BEING AGAINST ANYTHING NEW". LIKE I CARE. QUITE A CHIP VS. ELDERLY. UNFORTUNATE PROBLEM !!!! FYI... THERE ARE RESIDENTS OF M.C. WHO ARE IN ARE IN THEIR 30'S, 40'S & 50'S BESIDES THE SENIORS. SHOULD BE FUN WHEN YOU ARE A SENIOR !!!!
Ed
11:58 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
Sullivan, first of all, in the land of the Internet, all caps is considered shouting. Sorry you are too lazy to use the shift key. Second, you feel about this school the same way long time residents who lived west of I-83 felt when your stinking development was built in the first place. For many years that area was not open to water and sewer service until a certain developer wanted to build his massive development, which, by the way, is responsible for many students in the school system. Your beef should be with the developer that donated land for a school near property he wound up using for condos instead of donating it closer to the single family homes and townhomes that supply most of the school aged kids. The county would have to spends six or seven figures to buy land for a school elsewhere in the York Road corridor. That's why developers of large acreage are required to provide land for schools and recreation.
john sullivan
11:46 am on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
ED.
DUH, IF I KNEW ABOUT THE PROPOSED SCHOOL 2 YRS. AGO WHEN WE MOVED IN & THAT THERE WERE SO MANY BIGOTED AND/OR IMMATURE NEIGHBORS/SNOBS WE WOULD NOT HAVE MOVED HERE. KEELTY DID IT FOR A PURPOSE ... A GIVE & TAKE. "YOU LET ME DO THIS & I'LL GIVE YOU THIS".
DID YOU MEAN THE REQUIRED LOCAL / ACTIVE/PASSIVE OPEN SPACE. "STINKING DEVELOPMENT" ? WHAT AN ADULT STATEMENT. YOU BORE ME.
Ed
2:48 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sullivan, the point is some people feel about the entire Mays Chapel development the same way that you feel about the school. Should have never been built. And as others have said, a school has been planned there for more than 20 years. Again, your issue is with your developer and your real estate agent, NOT the county of the BOE. And given you comments about the neighbors, you seem like a very bitter man.
Ed
2:49 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
...county OR the BOE.
john sullivan
9:29 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
"MR. ED"
NO, MY COMMENTS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORS PERTAIN TO THOSE WHO'S PATCH COMMENTS WERE "STINKING SCHOOL", "UGLY COMMIE BLOCKS" , " TO LAZY ..... TO USE BOTH CASINGS", OLD PEOPLE ARE AGAINST EVERYTHING", ETC. ALL OF THOSE COMMENTS REALLY ADDRESS THE ISSUE DON'T THEY?
NICE TRY "MR. ED"
john sullivan
9:46 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
TO ED, STEVE, TT & WHOMEVER :
IF YOU ADD YOUR EMAIL I WILL GLADLY EMAIL YOU THE 1/24/04 RECOMMENDATION ABOUT THE FEASIBILITY OF A SCHOOL AT M.C. FROM PAM C. CARTER OF THE BD. OF ED. TO J.ROBERT HAINES, BD. OF ED ATTY. HINT ... NOT A GOOD RECOMMENDATION.
Dagney Taggert
11:20 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
JOHN SULLIVAN, I THINK I'D PRETTY SAFE IN SAYING THAT WE ALL TIRED OF LISTENING TO YOU RANT. YOU BORE US. WHY DON'T YOU JUST MOVE? LET ME GUESS, YOU BOUGHT YOUR CONDO AT THE HEIGHT OF THE HOUSING BOOM AND NOW YOU'RE UNDER WATER AND CAN'T GET OUT. AS I ALREADY STATED, YOU AND/OR YOUR REALTOR DIDN'T DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE WHEN YOU BOUGHT YOUR HOME AND YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF. FOR THE RECORD, I'M NOT TOO LAZY TO USE PROPER CASE; MY CAPS ARE SCREAMING AT YOU TO SHUT UP.
john sullivan
1:01 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
DAGMAR
LET ME GUESS YOUR AGE ..... 16? CONFUSED,UNHAPPY,REBELLIOUS & DISGRUNTLED TEEN? "SHUT UP"..... WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY??? SO GLAD YOUR NOT TOO LAZY. YOU'RE DULL & BORING. SIGNING OFF, WILL ONLY RESPOND TO EDUCATED RHETORIC.
Ed
5:18 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
I'm 55 years old, if that matters. I just deal in the facts and Dagney has the facts correct. He may be dull and boring; you are annoying. Call the Keelty company and complain to them. They are the cause of your heartache, not the BOE, not KK and not the county council.
john sullivan
12:48 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
MR. ED,
NO, IT DOESN'T MATTER. AGAIN, READ MY TUESDAY, 2/12 9:46 P.M. COMMENT/INFO TO YOU (& 2 OTHERS) WHO APPARENTLY EITHER DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE MEMO OR HAVE A PROBLEM ABSORBING IT ...... CONCERNING THE BOARD'S OWN RESEARCH THAT M.C, WAS NOT A GOOD LOCATION FOR A SCHOOL. TO DATE I HAVE RECEIVED ZERO EMAILS. SO TALK ABOUT ANNOYING !
Ed
9:27 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
If MY age doesn't matter, why did you go out of your way to guess that Dagney was 16? What a tool.
Ed
9:17 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
You honestly think I'm giving my e-mail address to a nut job who screams in all caps on here? No thanks, you are not to be trusted. Besides, any other site likely would require purchase of land in or near a residential area. I believe schools have been built on most of the previously identified school sites in the north-central section of the county. The whole idea behind keeping the land at Mays Chapel as open space was to have it available for a school site when needed. Now it's needed. As a taxpayer I do not want my money being used to purchase additional land when a site is already available. As I've said before, water and sewer should never have been extended west of I-83 along Padonia Road. It was, and the people that live there have to live with the fact that Keelty and the county planned for a school there as far back as the 1980s, in part because of the kids that Mays Chapel added to the school system. If that is a problem, you should not have moved there.
john sullivan
11:11 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
YOU CERTAINLY HAVE A FIXATION WITH CAPITAL LETTERS & SCREAMING. PERHAPS YOU HAD A SAD CHILDHOOD. IN ANY CASE YOU CHOOSE TO REMAIN IGNORANT OF THE SUBJECT. LET ME REPEAT THAT. YOU CHOOSE TO REMAIN IGNORANT OF THE SUBJECT & ARE ARE AFRAID OF LEARNING THE 2004 FACTS. SO, "MR. ED" I AM NO LONGER WASTING MY TIME WITH A SAD SACK LIKE YOU. YOUR SAME OLD, SAME OLD REPETIONS ARE STALE. I WILL NO LONGER INTIMIDATE YOU. I HAVE MORE INTELLIGENT IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO. I HOPE YOU OVERCOME YOUR ILLNESS. GO SCREAM AT THE WALL. YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS. SO LONG!
Ed
10:21 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Sulli, it's not that I choose to remain ignorant of the 2004 report, its that I don't CARE about the 2004 report. You, apparently, choose to ignore the fact that before Baltimore County foolishly allowed water and sewer to be extended west of I-83 along Padonia Road, that area was sparsely populated and mostly rural open space. If Mays Chapel had never been built, there might not even be a need for another school in north-central Baltimore County. And by the way, for what its worth, I had a great childhood with great parents, great friends and a terrific education. :-)
Dagney Taggert
10:39 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
You know what Ed? This guy is a moron. He's insulted everyone who doesn't agree with his opinion. He resorts to name calling and bullying. Notice he's stopped mentioning all the 'facts' he's been trying to cram down everyone's throats. As for you John Sullivan, I'm a woman, I'm 45 years old, I've got two kids in Pinewood Elementary and I hope very much at least one of them will be attending the new school that will be built in May's Chapel. And by the way, since you're so busy telling everyone else how ignorant they are, you might want to Google Dagney Tagert. Maybe you'll learn something. I've had enough of this. I'm convinced you have nothing intelligent to add to this discussion.
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