Sixteen months after the County Council approved downtown Columbia's redevelopment plan, the Columbia Association previewed its plans for Symphony Woods, the largely wooded, 40-acre property at the core of the redevelopment.
Residents crowded into CA headquarters Thursday, June 16, for a pre-submission community meeting about the development of the CA-owned park situated between Little Patuxent Parkway and Merriweather Post Pavilion. The project is the first moving forward in the long-awaited redevelopment.
Charlie Bailey, of Mahan Rykiel Associates and Jan Clark, CA's landscape architect, presented development plans for the park, fielding questions and suggestions from residents in the standing-room-only crowd.
The first phase of development could begin as soon as the spring of 2012 and be completed by the following fall. Subsequent phases have not yet been planned.
Residents at the meeting raised a variety of concerns about the plan.
James McMahon, of Wilde Lake, was worried the cost of the project would lead to higher CA assessments.
"Do you have the money to pay for it without raising our assessments again?" he said. "If you don't know, we're in a recession right now. We need to think about that."
Clark and Jane Dembner, CA's director of community planning, did not say how much the project would cost, or how much money was allotted for it. Clark did say the project would be funded through CA's capital budget, and by a state grant.
CA was awarded a $250,000 grant from the state last year for the development project, and an anonymous donor matched that contribution. The board approved $1.2 million of its 2011 capital budget for the development, and another $1.4 million in the 2012 capital budget.
Janet Henry, of Long Reach, wondered if the plan included public restrooms. Clark said a "placeholder" building that would eventually include restrooms was planned, but there were no plans for restrooms in the first phase.
Henry urged the project team to reconsider that approach. "If I may be so bold, you should rethink it. It's a critical part of making the park usable for more than an hour or so," he said.
The proposed development includes improved walkability and better access from Little Patuxent Parkway by way of an entrance plaza and improved crosswalks. It also includes a centralized fountain and parking.
Elements like the multi-use pathway connecting Howard Community College and the planned Blandair Park will also be part of the revamped Symphony Woods in the future, Bailey said.
Russ Swatek, former Long Reach representative to the board, asked for more specifics concerning what would be included in the first phase.
Clark and Bailey said the first phase would consist of the entrance plaza at Little Patuxent Parkway, a large central plaza, intersecting pathways, lighting and benches.
The fountain would not be installed until future phases, but might include a stage, Bailey said, and be 60 feet in diameter.
CA Board Chairman Michael Cornell, the River Hill representative, noted that the project was initially envisioned by James Rouse at the beginning of Columbia.
"It's really exciting for this generation to be involved in helping to complete a plan that was started in the middle part of the last century," Cornell said.