Greater Remington Improvement Association 4/9/10 statement on 25th Street Station Development (4/9/10)

First, we value and support small businesses in Remington and the surrounding area, and we want to help them remain strong and vital in the community.  We realize that a lot of people are opposing the Wal-Mart, and we understand and respect their concerns. We never tried to deter or discourage them from organizing in any way. However, there is not a clear consensus among Remington residents regarding Wal-Mart or any other store proposed for the site.

Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible when sharing the community’s concerns. It would be irresponsible of us to disregard all of the comments and suggestions we’ve heard – during four months of meetings, canvassing, fliering, emailing, and so on – from many of our fellow neighbors, especially long-time residents whose families have lived here in Remington for many generations.

GRIA, the Greater Remington Improvement Association, learned about this project last November. Throughout November and December, we met with the development team, attended the site walk-through, and started doing independent research about the nature and history of big box development in urban environments. We also met with our community partners, such as the Charles Village Community Association (CVCA) and Old Goucher Community Association (OGCA).

In January of this year, GRIA held four extra meetings in addition to our monthly one, which were open to all residents, in which we had maps, diagrams, small discussion groups, and presentations about the project. During this time we collected surveys, canvassed the neighborhood, emailed residents, and gathered as much information and input as possible, which we documented and have used in drafting letters of recommendation about issues concerning all Remington residents. At the end of January, we democratically elected members to a task force committee that would meet with the development team and other neighborhood groups for the duration of the development process. This task force committee is chaired by GRIA member Judith Kunst.

GRIA’s task force committee is working closely with delegates from CVCA and OGCA to collect residents’ concerns and comments and draft consensus-based letters of recommendation regarding traffic, jobs, safety, aesthetics, transportation, urban context, and other areas of concern. 

When talking with Remington residents – at gatherings, in conversations on the street, in emails, through surveys, etc. – GRIA learned that there wasn’t (and still isn’t) a clear consensus on the Wal-Mart nor any other tenant proposed for the site. Therefore, GRIA did not directly focus on the Wal-Mart as part of our efforts to make the site more green, walkable, safe, and beneficial to Remington and the surrounding neighborhoods. Advancing any position about the tenants of the site without a consensus from neighbors would have been irresponsible of us as a community group.

We have also been in close contact with City Council members who have a stake in our area, and by meeting with them we learned that the Council remains mostly positive about the overall project and sees it as a potential asset to the city. We want to enact a strategy that has the long-term interest of Remington at mind, and working with the City is a major component of building a strong, effective, and most importantly, sustainable neighborhood group. By building good working relationships with the City and with other community associations close to Remington, we feel we are strengthening Remington and winning several benefits for our fellow neighbors, including job opportunities, calmer traffic, and safer streets.

The planned unit development and community agreements being proposed provide for obligations on both sides and a foundation for an era of cooperation between developers, retail tenants, and the community – an era which will ultimately provide the benefits of green, urban-friendly development and much needed growth opportunities to the thriving Remington community.

Requests for information regarding GRIA’s work on the 25th street Station project should be directed to the 25th Street Task Force Chair, Judith Kunst, at JAKunst@gmail.com.