Baltimore Community Action Partnership, GEDCO take the lead.
The state of Maryland is funding two community planning efforts to focus on the intersection of Woodbourne Avenue and York Road as well as the nearby Northern Community Action Center.
The city held three community meetings in May to gather input on potential changes at the center, which is at 5225 York Road. The sessions kicked off the public planning process that is being funded through a $300,000 grant that could lead to a “phased-in project to broaden the use” of the center “to increase opportunities for health care, educational and social enterprise uses,” according to state budget documents.
The center is just a block south of the Family Dollar parking lot. The future of that site will also be considered in a $300,000 planning study, in this case managed by the Govans Ecumenical Development Corp., better known as GEDCO.
Both planning grants were secured by Democratic Sen. Mary Washington, whose 43rd Legislative District takes in all of York Road and Greenmount Avenue from North Avenue to Towson.
“We’re working very, very closely with Sen. Washington’s office to reimagine the space, reimagine what resources the community would like to see in this space,” said Debra Y. Brooks, director of the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success.
“We currently have our Community Action Partnership in this space up here and then housing [assistance] downstairs,” Brooks said at the April 21 meeting. “But we know in the past, this space has been used in many different ways.”
She said the space had been seen as “a community hub at one point,” with tenants ranging from a doctor’s office to a farmer’s market.
“And so we’re just really re-imagining and thinking about what could be used along with the Community Action Partnership, how else the space can be used in the evening or weekends to be a resource to the community writ large,” she said.
Community members have suggested a range of potential uses, such as a small police substation where officers could stop in to eat lunch, a help desk where residents could get identification cards and access government services, and a daycare center. Several ideas focused on youth services, such as mental and behavioral health counseling, tutoring and job training. One suggestion was classroom space that could be used to link apprentice programs with nearby businesses.
Depending on which ideas are adopted, existing spaces may be reconfigured or new ones could be added through construction.
“After these meetings, we’re bringing in a consultant to do some feasibility studies around the use of this space as well as some design work,” said Janelle Penney, chief of staff in the family success office.
GEDCO’s grant is “for preliminary planning, including predevelopment and feasibility studies” for “transit and anchor institution oriented residential and commercial development.”
State budget documents refer to two alternative locations for the development. One is described as the “Markets on York,” which would include the Family Dollar site as well as the adjacent structure on the corner of Sheridan Avenue and York Road.
The other is described as the “Woodbourne Avenue Four Corners Project,” which could take in the Family Dollar site as well as the other structures bordering the intersection of Woodbourne and York.
GEDCO says that its planning process will include the “York Road Partnership and other stakeholders,” such as the city, the York Road Improvement District, Invest York Road, Healthy Neighborhoods Inc. and community members.
“There’s a lot of activity on the corridor right now,” said GEDCO Executive Director Nichole Battle. These range from Loyola University Maryland’s redevelopment of the former Sherwood Ford property to the south all the way up to the revitalization of the “old Diner site” in the 5800 block of York Road.
The upcoming planning process will be a “collaborative” effort that will take into account all of the work along the corridor and look “to see how these projects fit in,” she said.