A special Roland Park Civic League board meeting was scheduled for Oct. 14 at Roland Park Elementary/Middle School to discuss the Keswick Multi-Care Center's plan to develop 17 acres of Baltimore Country Club green space. Oddly enough, many Roland Parkers and others areawide were invited not only by the host (the Civic League board) but also by the guest (Keswick) and the seller (BCC).

I hope all those invitations translated into a rousing turnout of Roland Parkers equal to the number of signs that line community streets, hang from trees and houses, in car and store windows and on green islands the Olmsted Brothers purposefully left among converging roadways.

Every week since BCC announced the proposed sale, more and more Roland Park residents have protested. First they turned out by the hundreds to a July 1 meeting. Children painted sheets as signs for fences and windows. Homeowners made more with markers and poster board.

For the first time in neighborhood history, protest banners hung everywhere. "No Keswick!" and "Save the Park in Roland Park" signs dotted the green. Wagons, bikes and children sported the message at the community Fourth of July parade. Residents filled the library steps at another July meeting and were joined in protest by leaders of the North Baltimore Neighborhood Coalition and the National Olmsted Society.

T-shirts were printed for the mayor's neighborhood public forum in August, where Roland Parkers again were supported by other city residents. New signs sprang up all summer.

Central to the issue is the proposed zoning variance for property that's been zoned R-1 since the earliest days of city zoning. Guilford and Homeland, zoned later and without "business blocks" (aka the Petit Louis shopping center, the ONLY commercial space within the technical boundaries of Roland Park), have perpetual residential covenants, but R-1 is what protects Roland Park.

While some from Keswick and BCC argue that the underlying R-1 zoning would remain unchanged, that is a matter of semantics. It is like saying the land under our houses is still wilderness. Bosh.

Yes, BCC has a right to sell its property. The seller can sell to whomever it wants, but the buyer cannot do whatever it wants with the land. Community residents also have the right to protest when developers try to switch to a usage and density not permitted under R-1 zoning.

Moreover, if a zoning variance were successful in Roland Park, a dangerous citywide precedent would be set.

What has been a stunning assault on Roland Park has turned into a galvanizing force. Dozens of residents, young and old, already overscheduled with demanding professions and volunteerism, have dedicated thousands of hours to research the current proposal and articulate increasing neighborhood protest to the mayor and City Council.

Roland Park has sounded the cry that city neighborhoods do matter -- not just Roland Park, all city neighborhoods.

By the time the Oct. 14 meeting is over, I hope city leadership has clearly demonstrated strong support of residential neighborhoods.

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