It has only been a few months since I assumed the role of president of the Murray Hill Residents Association and we have been extremely busy attending meetings and City Council sessions. I would ask anyone who takes the time to read our Murray Hill Monitor to PLEASE HELP us. Murray Hill and Spa View Heights have about 800 homes but MHRA has only 189 email addresses and memberships. We NEED MORE MEMBERS to strengthen our voice in the City of Annapolis. Your new or renewed membership also will help fund our newsletter and the community events that are planned for 2012. Help me reach our goal of 400 members in 2012!

The Executive Board works very hard attending City Council meetings and opposing proposed ordinances that might not be in the community’s best interest. You can join us on the Executive Board by becoming an Area Representative for your immediate neighborhood. We currently have three openings. Please email me at mhra.president@gmail.com for more information. We need your support, and welcome your input! Please contact your neighbors and encourage them to join or at a minimum send us their email address, so we can keep them informed on local events.

Here are some of the issues that MHRA has have been working on:

• Sidewalk Ordinance
• Reopening of the homeless shelter on West St.
• Development project proposed at West and Southgate
• Restaurant Week planning input
• Main Street Annapolis Planning Committee
• Pending legislation
• Annapolitans For a Better Community (meetings planned for February 29 and March 27 at 7:00 PM at the Maryland Hall auditorium). This is a new group trying to form committees to tackle the tough issues of the “Fiscal Health” of the City of Annapolis.

Our next General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 8 at Maryland Hall starting at 7:30. Our featured speaker will be Mayor Josh Cohen. Please come and participate in Q&A with the mayor. We will also hear from Mindy Cherches Nelson, a representative from the SPCA. Please plan on attending.

Thank you,

Curtis DeStefano

mhra.president@gmail.com

What is the Circulator?

The FREE Circulator trolley will loop through downtown from Westgate Circle to Memorial Circle:

The Circulator trolley will loop from the Westin Annapolis Hotel at Park Place, along West Street, making stops at Southgate, Knighton garage, the 7-11 and Cathedral Street, traveling around Church Circle and stopping at the Circuit Court building. It then travels down Duke of Gloucester Street, stopping at the historic City Hall on its way to St. Mary's Street, stopping near the Marriott Annapolis Waterfront Hotel. The Circulator also makes stops at City Dock, the Market House and at the corner of Francis Street.

The Circulator trolley will then loop up Main Street, around Church Circle, passing the Governors Mansion, as it travels to West Street, stopping near the Gott's garage (convenient for the Visitor Center and the Arundel Center), before returning to the Park Place garage via the O'Callaghan Hotel and the Loews Annapolis Hotel.

If you are getting on, just raise your hand and one of our courteous drivers will stop and pick you up.

What days and times will the Circulator trolley operate?

Sunday through Thursday – 6:30 a.m. to midnight
Friday and Saturday – 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.

The Circulator has a 10-minute headway, which translates into an average wait between shuttles of about six minutes.

The new owner of 43 Lafayette Avenue (the former JP Food Market, run by the Pak family and, in recent memory, the Shaw Food Market, run by the Baar family) is pursuing approval to convert the building to residential use (apartments). The first-floor apartment may be configured as a live/work space to include an office in the basement. To address concerns from neighbors that the building could revert to commercial use, the owner is proposing to add a land covenant to restrict the use to noncommercial unless the overlying zoning were to change. The building was constructed between 1908 and 1912 as a bakery and has been included in the Annapolis Historic District, along with the adjacent Polling house, since the 1980s. The project at 213 West Street (the old Evening Capital–Darden’s site) received site design approval from the City early in January. The developer has submitted demolition and grading permits and expected to close on the property on January 30. Construction is expected to begin as soon as possible once all permits have been secured.

The townhouse project at Greenfield Street and Spa Road is currently on the market as an approved plan for 19 town homes.

The City’s Planning Commission has reviewed proposed Ordinance O–32–11 and recommended a set of standards for outdoor and rooftop dining in the City. In the MX Zone (Inner West Street), these conditions address hours of operation, alcohol service and noise. More on this at our February 8 meeting.

The City Dock Advisory Committee has been studying a reconfiguration of the area near Memorial Circle to reduce traffic congestion, increase public space, and improve pedestrian access. Computer simulations of the peak congestion periods for several proposed configurations were shown at a presentation on January 19. You can learn more about the committee’s work by going to the committee’s link on the City website . Those interested in the proposed garage on the school property on Compromise Street are referred to the committee’s garage subcommittee’s report, and its numerous caveats, found at .

• Proposed Sidewalk Fund Ordinance — MHRA President Curtis DeStefano testified before the City Council on November 14, 2011, against a proposed ordinance (O–39–11 “Repealing the Sidewalk Fund”) that, if passed, would make property owners financially responsible for the maintenance of the public sidewalks adjacent to their property. At a second hearing, on November 28, MHRA Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee Chair Robert Worden also testified against O–39–11, bringing the results of the MHRA summer 2011 sidewalk survey to the council’s attention. After the two public hearings, the City Council referred the draft ordinance back to its standing committees for review. Once committee review is complete, the City Council may take further action but nothing is scheduled at this point.

If you would like to subscribe to the automated email announcement list for MHRA, send an email to mhra.president@gmail.com with the subject line "subscribe MHRA-Announce".

If you did not renew your dues at the picnic in September, please make plans to renew them at the next membership meeting. Additionally, we have included a membership renewal form and return envelope with this issue of the Monitor. This will also be an opportunity for you to provide us with new or updated emails, which we will add to our email database. We hope to increase electronic communication to all of you.