Chapelgate Association: What to Focus On?

Residents of Chapelgate made great progress this week toward re-forming a community association in an effort to address a wide range of neighborhood concerns. 

But there remains—and may always remain—the question of exactly what the association should focus on. 

During an organizational meeting on Tuesday, residents raised concerns about everything from criminal incidents, to unkempt properties, to the speed of vehicles through the neighborhood. Ideally, the community group would be able to address all of these issues, but residents will likely still need to prioritize. 

Odenton-Severn Patch put a call out on its Facebook page and asked, simply: "What should the Chapelgate community association focus on?"

Most residents said public safety was a top priority, especially in the wake of a recent case of shots being fired at a home. They also said pushing for better maintenance of yards and common areas would improve Chapelgate's image. 

"I think if you take care of public safety and get rid of the bad apples and then focus on common area property maintenance and community events to get the community together a lot of things will work their way out," Murray Hunt, Jr. wrote. "I hope they have some luck. No community should have to deal with some of the problems they have had."

At Tuesday's meeting, some residents pitched the idea of bringing back a "street captain" idea to keep an eye on bad behavior, and said improvements in mobile communication will make things easier than in the past. (Former safety patrols used walkie-talkies and other more cumbersome devices.)

Amy Bruce said addressing the crime should be a top priority, but said the association could play a role in keeping properties nice looking. 

"Public safety is the biggest concern, but property maintenance is also a problem in Chapelgate," she said. 

Brian Parsons wrote that the association can push for better yard maintenance without drafting strict rules. 

"Property maintenance doesn't have to mean repainting your house or sealing your driveway," he wrote. "I'd be happy with people raking leaves, cutting their grass/trimming weeds and cleaning up trash from their yards and street on a regular basis."

But Shanna Nicklow said enforcing such things would be hard.

"Property maintenance is going to be a touchy issue," she said. "There are a lot of homeowners that are on lower to fixed incomes. You can't just start demanding things done or they will be fined/sued. If you want a nicer neighborhood with manicured lawns and, such then move. A safe neighborhood is the most important thing...the focus now should be safety."

Jennifer Blake wrote that many of these things would fall into place if the neighborhood held events so residents could connect with one another. 

"The more people are out and getting to know their neighbors, helping one and other, working together, showing care and concern for each others kids the other issues will begin to decrease," she wrote. "You never know what your neighbor is going through. Step out of your house and support your neighbors."

See also: 

• Chapelgate Residents Continue Push to Organize