As I read the article on Red Maple Place in The Baltimore Sun (”Red Maple Place is the wrong project for East Towson,” Feb. 23), a few things occurred to me.
It seems criminal to disrupt the quiet and peaceful community, has existed for well over 100 years. Sounds to me like previous governments were only interested in increasing the value of the tax base by replacing historic small family dwellings with major buildings, which might add more to Baltimore County’s tax income. But I would strongly question how much Red Maple Place is going to add to the tax rolls.
I would think county government would take a lesson from other urban centers that have destroyed quiet low-density, single-family dwelling communities in favor of high rise, high-density, multi-residential buildings. Often, these high-rises in economically challenged areas have been the incubators for crime. It took Baltimore 50-plus years to finally learn what a misstep those high-rises were.
I can only hope that Baltimore County will allow East Towson, a truly historic African-American neighborhood, to continue without the addition of Red Maple Place and choose to support it with more of the services and infrastructure given to other communities.
Sarah Riley, Timonium
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