Local residents are upset with how Hopkins is planning to significantly expand its Montgomery County Campus.
In November, the Montgomery County Council will vote on the proposed expansion, which is part of the creation of a national center for scientific and medical research known as a "science city," which supporters hope will bring industry and jobs to the area.
"These firms and institutions are basic industry for Montgomery County and are one of our most important competitive advantages," Montgomery County Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter.
The Planning Board passed the proposal in July.
"The proposed plan is one of water spilling helter-skelter across a flat surface rather than a concentration of new growth into a vibrant city center," said Joe Alfandre, the sole planning board member to vote against the proposal, in a statement to the press.
Some in the community are worried that the planned development, which will take place over the next 30 years, will bring with it sprawl and increased traffic.
"I am horrified at the complete lack of consideration this plan shows for the residents of all surrounding neighborhoods. These plans would destroy the quality and flavor of life for us all," wrote Susan Feidelman, a resident of Montgomery County for over 30 years, in a petition opposing the development.
Petitioner and Washington Woods resident Chad O'Neil wrote that while he was not opposed to development, "there must be a mechanism in place to preserve our area."
Several petitioners threatened to move from the area if plans went forward.
Hopkins has specifically been criticized for its plans to create a housing and commercial complex for over 15,000 people on the 108-acre Belward Farm estate.
Hopkins Real Estate purchased Belward Farm for below-market price in exchange for ensuring that the site would be used for, "agricultural, academic, research and development, delivery of health and medical care and services, or related purposes only," according to the deed.
David McDonough, senior director of development oversight for Hopkins Real Estate, said that the University's plans are fully compliant with the deed.
"The key issue is what the deed states," he said.
"The relevant restriction[s] in the deed... only address use. They do not address density, height or architectural design."
But Donna Baron, coordinator of the Gaithersberg-North Potomac Rockville Coalition, felt that the increase in population and traffic caused by the complex will destroy the community.
"We have seen the entire area developed over the years but nothing will be more destructive to our community and our lifestyles than the massive development planned for Belward Farm," she wrote in a letter to Hopkins President Ronald Daniels in August.
In an earlier letter written in July, Daniels wrote that Hopkins was, "committed to enhancing the vitality of the communities in which we have an active presence."
Baron wrote that if the University were truly committed, then, "the original intentions of the deed [would] be enforced. Belward Farm [would] be a minimally intrusive educational or medical campus that will continue the legacy of the 100 year-old Civil War-era farm and will be in scale with the surrounding community."
Developers feel that Hopkins is being disproportionately criticized.
"This is not just a plan that is about Johns Hopkins. We are talking about a 900-acre parcel of land that is owned by many individual property owners," said Elaine Amir, director of the Hopkins Montgomery County Campus.
"Hopkins is just one of them and the Belward Farm is only 108 acres of that total 900 acres."
Supporters of the plan are convinced that increased traffic can be avoided.
"Everyone agrees that having too much traffic is not a good thing," McDonough said.
The proposal includes creation of a mass transit line called the Corridor City Transitway. McDonough hoped that this would create a transit-friendly community that would, "allow more people to live near their work and more people to get out of their cars."
Construction of the project will follow a staging plan, which requires elements of the proposal to be completed only after transportation plans are in place.
"With the combination of mass transit and the staging plan, it can build without causing adverse traffic impacts," McDonough said.
Both McDonough and Amir felt these elements will help reduce sprawl, a major concern of many residents.
"This is a transit-oriented development where you have the greatest densities surrounding mass transit stations and where you integrate housing and retail and labs and classrooms into a walkable community," McDonough said.
But Hanson, despite his vote in favor of the plan, felt that the proposal could have been improved but was restricted by what is already located on the property in the area.
"We could have created a more compact plan with a stronger and more diverse center if we were starting with vacant land," he wrote.
"We had to work with a number of constraints, primarily resulting from the existing land uses, such as office and research parks, that were built on the premise of almost 100 percent auto commuting."
While County Executive Isiah Leggett also supported the plan, calling it a "model for sustainable development," he recommended a two million square foot reduction in the commercial density of the proposed Life Sciences Center.
He said he hoped that this would reduce the number of new roads that will need to be built.
