Petition to Oppose the Establishment of a Methadone Clinic at 1703 Madison Avenue, Baltimore, MD  21217

To: Baltimore City Council, the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals (BMZA), and Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, Madison Park Improvement Association, Druid Heights Resident Association, West North Avenue Development Authority,

We, the undersigned residents, property owners formally oppose the proposed methadone clinic at 1703 Madison Avenue, Baltimore MD  21217 for the following reasons:

1.Safety and Proximity to Vulnerable Areas: The proposed site is located within Walking Distance  a minimum of 3 minutes to 15 minutes of:

• Mount Royal Elementary and Middle School and Playground (13 minutes)
• Serenity Manor Adult Day Care(vulnerable adults ) 3 minutes
• Marlborough Apts. 1701 Eutaw Place (senior building) 3 minutes
• Linden Park Apartments in Bolton Hill (senior building) 6 minutes
• The Jordan Apartments 303 McMechen St. (3 minutes)
• The Unity Hall 1505 Eutaw Place (3 minutes)
• Payne Memorial AME Church 1714 Madison Ave (3 minutes)
• Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (6 minutes)
• Berea Temple 1900 Madison Avenue (3 minutes)
• All residents of Madison Park, Bolton Hill, Upton, Druid Heights (0 to 15 minutes)
• Arnold Sumpter Park, Bolton Hill (4 minutes)
• Eutaw median park, Bolton Hill/Madison Park (2 minutes)
• Lena K Lee park, Madison Park (5 minutes)
• CDC, Druid Heights (10 minutes)
• Little Bears daycare, Druid Heights (10 minutes)
• Shake & Bake Roller Rink, Druid Heights (7 minutes)
• Providence Adult Day Care (7 minutes)
• Penn North, Upton, State Center Stations (within 15 minutes)
• MICA, Bolton Hill (10 minutes)
• Junction of 83N onramp & North Avenue, Bolton Hill (15 minutes)
• Druid Hill Park (15 minutes)
• YMCA, Druid Hill (4 minutes)
• And many, many more.

We believe this poses an undue risk to the safety and well-being of children, senior citizens, vulnerable adults and residents in our communities.

2. Saturation of Services: Druid Heights, Madison Park and Bolton Hill, Reservoir Hill, Upton  and the 21217 zip code already hosts  9  addition treatment facilities. Adding another addiction treatment facility creates an unfair concentration of  addition services in a single area, contrary to city efforts to de-concentrate such facilities.

3. Inadequate Infrastructure and Traffic: Our neighborhoods lack the necessary parking and public transit capacity to accommodate the daily foot and vehicle traffic the clinic would generate, leading to increased congestion and illegal parking.

4. Zoning and Neighborhood Character: The clinic’s operation is inconsistent with the current zoning of this residential/commercial block and threatens the stability of local property values and the overall character of our neighborhood.

5. Request for Action:  We respectfully urge the Baltimore City Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals to deny the necessary use permits or zoning variances for this facility and to prioritize the safety and residential integrity of our communities.

What that 15-minute journey looks like 

OUR LOGO

Our logo is based on Madison Park Civil Rights Activist and Congressional Representative, Parren J. Mitchell's 1976 relection campain poster. 

In 1977, Parren Mitchell and his neighbors secured Madison Park designation by the Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation as a local historic district – the first in an African American neighborhood. The lead champion of the historic district was Michael B. Lipscomb, an aide to Parren Mitchell and office manager at the Congressman’s Bloomingdale Road office.

As said by the man himself of Madison Park :

"We have been working in this area since 1940 to clean it up and keep the intruders out, to keep it from being overrun by bars, sweatshops and storefront churches that stay a little while and then pack up and go. We want to make it purely residential by getting out all business.”