BALTIMORE — It's a sort of natural oasis in the middle of an otherwise bustling city. That's what attracted people like Hillary Gonzalez and Ed Schneider to live in the Wyman Park neighborhood. Gonzalez has lived here for about five years, Schneider for more than 25.
When they heard Johns Hopkins University is planning to build a new 500,000 square foot AI facility, called the Data Science and Translation Institute, right across the street from their homes, they saw some red flags.
"How big the project is, the proximity to Stony Run, and the wildlife that lives in the area," Gonzalez said.
"So we're talking about a building with a footprint larger than the Baltimore Convention Center," Schneider said, pointing to the roughly 200,000 sq. ft. parking garage that's also planned.
For years, the state has poured taxpayer funds into stony run restoration projects, some of that work - mandated by the EPA to clean up pollutants.
"People who live in this area know just how much work has been put into Stony Run, into bringing it back to life," Gonzalez said.
"Who's gonna pay to upgrade the sewer system to accommodate this project? Are we gonna be paying again?" Schneider wondered.
One of Schneider's primary concerns is with the potential pollution and sewage runoff that will come first from the construction, and then from the hundreds of people that this building will accommodate every day.
"Stony Run flows into Jones Falls which flows into Chesapeake Bay. So what happens here can pollute the Chesapeake Bay," he noted, pointing to the far-reaching implications of any potential pollution. “This is an environmental issue about water quality. They’re gonna build this building that’s gonna be immediately adjacent to the park which drains directly into Stony Run, but Hopkins has not presented any water remediation plans to prevent stormwater pollution from the building as it’s being built, or after it’s built.”
Schneider is also concerned about potential plans to excavate to, or below, the level of Stony Run to lay the foundation of the building, and to build a tunnel underneath Wyman Park Drive. He wants to see hydrology studies done to show how the excavation studies might affect Stony Run.
Gonzalez is focusing on protecting the wildlife here, especially the barred owls who provide the soundtrack to her evenings, and could be driven away by the noise and bright lights.
“Up until this point, there haven’t been many disruptions. This is ideally the perfect environment for them," she said, pointing to instances where wildlife photographers using drones have caused the animals such intense stress that they died.
“So an owl that dies because of the stress of a drone, imagine what a large-scale construction site is going to do to them, so close to their nesting sites.”
Gonzalez says she brought up the Migratory Bird Treaty Act at a recent community meeting with Johns Hopkins University leaders. It's a federal act that was put in place in 1918, partially in response to Victorian-era fashion trends leading to the widespread slaughter of certain birds. According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources website, "many people do not know that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to disturb the nest any native bird without a permit."
“We did ask them at the last meeting and they did not have very much to say about that. To be perfectly honest, just my opinion, I don’t think they expected any of us to bring up the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But it’s a good thing I’m a birder,” she joked.
"We are in extremely close proximity to one of their regular nesting sites, which will be right next to where they're going to be planning [to build,]" Gonzalez added. "It is absolutely going to impact our quality of life, but the animals can't speak for their quality of life, so some of us have got to."
Gonzalez, Schneider, and other community members say they're not opposed to Hopkins expanding in general. In fact, they've supported other construction projects in the neighborhood in the past. But they say this one just crosses a line.
"Is it necessary to build near such a sensitive area? That's all we're saying. [...] “I would just like to hear from Johns Hopkins that they actually care about the environment as much as we do and they are actually taking that into consideration when planning this very large, very disruptive project," Gonzalez said.
"I want to see how Hopkins is going to prevent the obvious environmental damage to Wyman Park and to the Stony Run," Schneider said.
There have been a few community meetings hosted by Hopkins and Councilwoman Odette Ramos, during which people have had the chance to voice their concerns. Those meetings did lead to one change in Hopkins' plans.
The initial proposal called for 120-foot buildings, which would have required a zoning ordinance from Councilwoman Odette Ramos, since current zoning regulations limit building heights to 65 feet. Since the community did not support this ordinance, JHU decided to ditch that idea.
"I facilitated three meetings with JHU and community members over the course of the last five months. JHU provided some models and worked to answer questions, but there are still major concerns the community has," Councilwoman Ramos tells WMAR-2 News, citing concerns like the size of the facility, which she says, "doesn't seem to fit within the context of the community," and the several years of construction that will disturb the neighborhood. She also pointed out that Hopkins will have to conduct environmental and traffic studies.
A spokesperson for Hopkins sent the following statement to WMAR-2 News:
“Johns Hopkins University is excited to bring a world-class data science and AI institute to Baltimore. In addition to the extensive local investments the university will make throughout the construction process, the institute itself will bring new jobs and talent to the region. Hopkins will create hundreds of new jobs as part of the institute and for surrounding businesses - and spur new research, product innovation, startups, private investment, and jobs to fuel a Baltimore Tech Hub. Our vision is that researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and companies will look to Baltimore as the place to develop and launch products and companies based on data science/AI technology.
We appreciate the comments and feedback we have received from neighbors since beginning discussions in early September on the DSTI project. These invaluable conversations led JHU to move forward with a plan that calls for four stories along Remington Ave and within the existing 65 foot EC-2 zoning height allowance instead of requesting support for a taller building.
We look forward to continued engagement as the project design moves forward and will continue to be open, transparent, and responsive to the community.”
Read Hopkins' announcements on the new facility here and here.
