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Monthly
News Highlights
April
1999
A Victory Restraining Vicious
Pitbulls
Neighborhoods can be terrorized by vicious
dogs. Sometimes they roam freely. Sometimes they are on the end of a leash held
by someone who uses them as a weapon to intimidate people. However, when the
Animal Control Inspector shows up, the dogs are in the house.
In the Rossiter Avenue neighborhood, the
children of the 500 block of Rossiter Avenue were afraid to play in their yards
because of three pitbulls who lived on their street. The dogs had been trained
to be fighters.
In 1998, the Animal Control ordinance of the
Baltimore City code was amended to allow residents to take action when
confronted with vicious dogs. With the representation of the Law Center Pro Bono
Project Director, Amelia Lazarus, the residents on the block
filed affidavits with Animal Control. The dogs were impounded. As a result of Ms
Lazarus' diligence, the Vicious Dog Hearing Board was created. This case was
their first hearing. It took five hours and included 31 exhibits and 13
witnesses..
By this time, the dog owners had moved, but
still, the Board found the three dogs to be 'vicious' under the definition of
the law and placed substantial requirements on the owners, e.g. the dogs had to
be neutered, they could not be given away or sold, and they had to wear 'basket'
type muzzles when not in the house or an enclosed yard.
Good job Amelia and the residents of Rossiter
Avenue!
Community Bill of Rights - Update
To have clout, communities need the ability to
go to court, in their own name and right, to address the nuisance conditions in
their neighborhoods. Who better, than the residents, knows the problems and can
monitor the remedies?
The Community Bill of Rights was first enacted
in 1996, after four years of effort by the Law Center. (Md. Ann. Code, RP §14-123.)
However, the requirements for a community to be eligible to use the law were so
restrictive, hardly any community in the City qualified.
This year, as a result of the hard work of Bryan
Alston, Paralegal at the Law Center, we have succeeded in having the
General Assembly amend the definition of community association. Assuming the
Governor signs the bill, as of October, 1999, a community need only meet
reasonable requirements, including having at least 25 households as dues paying
members, to have standing under the Community Bill of Rights.
Turning a Problem Into a
Positive
The residents of Boyd/Booth continue to work
long and hard to re-claim their neighborhood from drug dealers and thugs by
addressing public safety and re-building their community.
As part of their strategy, the first focus area
for development are the 1900 and 2000 blocks of Hollins Street. The community -
with the help of housing developers, City agencies, and the Law Center - plans
to address each house in the focus area to transform the entire area into an
attractive location for home buyers.
The owner of a key property in this focus area
sought zoning approval to re-open a corner grocery store. The community feared
that this enterprise could feed directly into re-kindling the open air drug
market on that corner.
Residents recognized that a store on that
coroner could be a positive contribution to the redevelopment effort; it did not
have to fuel illegal activity. Represented by Law Center Staff Attorney Kristine
Dunkerton, residents entered into negotiations with the owner for a
mutually beneficial solution.
In exchange for the community support, the
owner agreed to restrictive hours of operation, defensible space initiatives -
such as a video camera and flood lights, and to make the video film available to
the Police and the community, as well as other improvements. Furthermore, if
there is a dispute as to whether the owner is fulfilling the agreement, he has
agreed to submit to binding arbitration or be subject to court action.
Finally, the Board of Municipal Zoning appeals
included the agreement as stipulations in the zoning resolution allowing him to
re-open the store. This means these requirements will be in place no matter who
owns the store in the future.
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Last Updated:
September 25, 2006 ©
2006 Community Law Center, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland
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The Community Law Center, Inc.
