Board Members Present: Michele Baskin (Secretary), Sam Solomon (Treasurer), Wynn Engle-Pratt (Vice President), Corey Jennings (President, on Zoom), Sadie Baker, Pete Morrill
Staff member – Amanda Rothschild
Total Attendees
~ 18 in person, ~ 15 Zoom, ~ 6 JHU
Start: 7:05
End: 8:30
Zoom recording: Passcode: m49CwD$&
Votes:N/A
Agenda
- Hopkins presentation on plans for their new building: Data Science and Translational Institute (DSTI)
- Presentation referred to by slide number in the details below.
- Comparison of DSTI As of Right Scheme and DSTI with Taller Buildings (slide 3 & 4) – same as November 18 Wyman Park neighbor meeting presentation (and Nov 15 GRIA Community Meeting presentation), 500,00 sq ft of space + parking garage, Taller Buildings requires a zoning variance envelope for height relief (20 ft back + 10 to street, 65 ft up, 45 degree slope to go up to 120 ft, 30 ft of elevation change from street to back of building, shown on slide 4)
- Initial Massing Studies (also from Nov 15 & 18 meetings) to include the more modular elements and rotating the spaces to be more organic and break up sight lines (slide 5 through 10)
- Massing Studies that Incorporate Feedback from Nov 18 mtg – (slide 11 – 18)
- Feedback from slide 11:
- Preference is to set face of buildings 40 ft from property line along Remington Ave
- Landscape connection/access between Remington and Homewood is secondary concern
- Opportunity for street activity along Remington Ave (coffee shop, etc.) should be explored
- Residents appreciate the sloped green hill along Remington Ave
- Gets building back to 40 ft from property + 10 to street
- Focus is to pull building closer into campus to increase step down as we get closer to Remington, reduces the visual imposition from the street for the residents across the street (slides 12 & 13)
- Reduces the green space between new building and other Wyman parcel building and extends zoning request to 130 feet height to create the 40 ft set back and maintain the 500,000 sq ft requirement (slide 14 – 16)
- Slides 17 – 19 demonstrate the difference between the original requested variance and the new variance request with the 40 ft set back and increased height
- Feedback from slide 11:
- UDAAP Meeting on Feb 1st – JHU will present Campus Master Plan with all of the requirements listed on slide 20 and demonstrated on slides 21 to 31
- The submission will include the plan with the 40 ft step back
- JHU hopes Councilwoman Ramos can present a bill for the zoning variance March 4th, penciled in for Feb 29th UDAAP too if needed to reflect changes requested in the Feb 1st meeting
- JHU will be asking for letters of support from GRIA and Wyman Park South
- Planning on a Feb 5th meeting with Wyman Park South hosted by JHU – once date and location is confirmed, communication will go out to GRIA and community to allow for additional participants
- Q&A:
- What keeps you from building up to the new max of the zoning but not do the step back? – A: The zoning request specifically locks in the set back, the angled step back as well as the height, so the building will be constrained to those limits, not possible to have a 130 ft high building right up on the property line.
- Is it possible to preserve more of the campus opening into greenspace along Remington with the new 40 ft push back? A: That will really be up to the design to see what they can design within the zoning envelope. (There does not seem to be agreement about the additional 20 ft setback versus green space access)
- Is the 40 ft setback unchangeable now or is it still possible to go back to the 20 ft setback and increase the greenspace access again (the original presentation basically)? A: We are doing our best to see what consensus can be had amongst the closest affected neighbors along the project and are open to including more participants in the Feb 5th meeting.
- Where did the 40 ft come from, could it be 30, 35? A: It really was simply doubling the existing 20.
- Has there been any pushback about tearing down the Chiller building along Remington to make either the As-of-Right or Taller building? A: No, not at all.
- RemFest 2024 Updates!
- We have a date! Saturday May 11th from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm
- The festival area will still be along Remington Avenue from 27th to 29th streets, and along 28th from Remington Row up past the 7-11.
- We are trying to secure a second stage for more family friendly programming as well as increase the number of craft and food vendors. Stay tuned for announcements about vendor applications soon.
- Community Cleanups for 2024
- Continue to be on the 3rd Saturday of each month
- Please reach out with thoughts on future location clean-ups