Email sent to Chief, Public & Community Relations at VA Maryland Health Care System R. David Edwards, on 2/21/2024.
This is a community relations situation. We need the proper representatives from the VA to publicly establish the fact that the VA & Baltimore County, along with (fully qualified and experienced) leased developer Sam Himmelrich are not messing around with developing Fort Howard until they are able to build low-income subsidized housing on the former hospital grounds. It is publicly explained as proposed county code/rule/law being designed so that the county can place low-income housing there without rezoning, permits, or with input from council members or the affected United States Citizens. Supposedly, the developer will be able to bypass everything that everyone else has to do to develop housing. That is asinine!!
When the VA fired the 1st lessee (International Super Scammer) John David Infantino from the lease, Infantino declared that he was not legally obligated to follow building codes/rules/laws. Later, he sued the USA (including taxpayers you and me) over it. I have a court report of the case, which states that Infantino was required to follow all codes/rules/laws. Surely that applies to the new developer, also.
Plus, most low-income people will not move there, due to them needing to be close to bus service, stores, etc. It is nearly a 5-mile walk out of the former VAMC to the nearest store; along a two-lane road without sidewalks. Bus service for the area was barely used until it was canceled back in the 1990s.
Numerous people are unreasonable about this. They are asking for support to stop the VA campus from being rezoned from 1 living unit per acre up to 500 living units; relying on the false information that the VA either wants to have low-income Section 8 in there or the residents will be wealthy nonvets. The property sure as hell can be an upscale gated community. I vehemently oppose either type of development.
The greatest fears in the area community are that new housing will become a thriving illegal drug market. They believe some new residents, and drug addicts going there to buy, will be all over the area to steal from sheds, rob vehicles, do burglaries, rape people, get into arguments, start fights, and so forth. I know the community well, from the 1950s up to today. I love Fort Howard and its nearby neighborhoods.
Himmelrich Associates is taking care of the property with grass cutting, fallen tree removal, and full-time security, along with various fixes & upgrades to the infrastructure. They have studied the property and are creating potentially sensible plans for its rebirth to veterans' uses, but cannot commit to proceeding with development work unless they will be able to make enough money to pay for the project.
I cannot recall if I read this or heard it from County Councilman Todd Crandell that the zoning changes were made to be a bargaining point, to bring the numbers of proposed future residents down from the outlandish 1,400 living units that Infantino, then the 2nd not qualified lease signer Tim Munshell had pushed for. Going up to being zoned for several hundred living units is what the situation is about, which may be the only sensible course of action.
The VA created a community nuisance of the VAMC grounds. The place was left unguarded during the Infantino years, plus most of the time Munshell held the lease. Lots of people believe that the place is abandoned, consequently, they feel free to explore, photograph and video (YouTube) all through the broken-into buildings. There have been tons of people "partying" on the grounds. Some people vandalized buildings for the power feelings of committing destruction. Others stole saleable metals, etc.
Eight arson fires were set, destroying millions of dollars worth of houses, including the most valuable 1900-era homes luxuriously built for Army officers to enjoy living on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay and Patapsco River. There have been at least 60 people locked up for trespassing on federal land. Mostly young men in their 20s, who now have arrest records that might disqualify them from employment, college scholarships, and more. Many of whom were benignly enjoying the place.
Sociopath deluxe John Infantino's development promises led his multitudes of scam victims in steering their lives to soon be living or working at a nicely developed Ft. Howard Veterans Community. I know of two who sold their homes then had to move to lesser places. John David conned many people out of housing deposits, and the State's Attorney ordered the money returned. Has it been repaid?
The VA owes America a written apology for failing to find qualified developers and then allowing the destructive failures, along with waterfront weather rotting buildings, to grow worse for 20 years. Therefore, I declare that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs is obligated to make something positive for veterans and the adjacent communities. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
In my mind, the people responsible for the Fort Howard VA property development fiasco are guilty of MANSLAUGHTER! You know full well that if the first developer - International Super Scammer John D. Infantino - had been legitimate and developed the property, it WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVING SOME SUICIDAL VETS SUPPORT & REASON TO LIVE LONGER. That would be vets living there and others who are - RIGHT NOW - DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED, ANGERED AND DEPRESSED FROM KNOWING THE PROJECT HAS BEEN A HORRIBLE FIASCO FOR OVER TWO DECADES. I know these facts from in-person and online communications.
About the States Attorney and Infantino:
https://davidrobertcrews.blogspot.com/2016/05/ft-howard-scam-website-back-online.html
(not on email admin edit 2/22/2024) An excerpt from the court report: Def.'s App'x 44, Article 17.B. Accordingly, if a state or local government imposed taxes on FHSHA's (Fort Howard Senior Housing Associates, LLC) interest in the property, FHSHA was obligated to pay such taxes and the VA did not have the power under § 8167 to exempt FHSHA from paying state or local taxes. ...the court agrees that the Lease required FHSHA to obtain Baltimore County's approval for the development of the property. If FHSHA knew that it would have to construct 1,300 units rather than 550 units to make the Lease viable, FHSHA was required at a minimum to try to get permission from the County to build more than 550 units. The undisputed facts show, however, that FHSHA never sought a variance from Baltimore County. To the contrary, FHSHA decided not to seek a variance, but instead sought only an exemption from local land use rules. See supra n. 15. A request for an exemption is not the same as seeking to comply with local land use requirements through the variance process or otherwise. Because FHSHA bore the risk under the Lease for complying with Baltimore County's density requirements and failed to even attempt to comply with Baltimore County's zoning code, it cannot show that its failure to construct the CBOC (Community-Based Outpatient Clinic) should be excused because it could not finance the project. FHSHA simply failed to fulfill its obligations under the Lease. As such, the court finds that FHSHA's impossibility defense fails as a matter of law.16"
No comments:
Post a Comment