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BMZA approves community center with daycare, art studio at 1025 East Monument Street
Summary
The Baltimore City Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a conditional use to convert 1025 East Monument Street into a community center with accessory daycare, art studio and office space; applicant cited CHAP approval and accessibility upgrades.
A three-member Baltimore City Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals voted unanimously April 7 to grant conditional-use approval for a proposed community center at 1025 East Monument Street.
The board’s interim executive director, Justin Williams, said planning recommended approval. Planning staff told the board the proposal designates the principal use as a community center occupying about 83% of the building, with an accessory daycare taking roughly 4% of the floor area and neighborhood commercial art studio and office space comprising the remainder.
Shemica Godley, owner and the applicant representing Esley Architect, told the board the property — acquired in 2021 by the Village of Love and Resistance (commonly called VOR/BOLAR) — has been vacant for more than a decade and that converting it to community use would benefit neighbors. “Providing occupancy to an existing structure that has been vacant for more than 10 years is a benefit to the community,” Godley said during testimony.
Godley said the project includes an infill structure to house an elevator to provide handicap access and that the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) approved the exterior changes on Oct. 31, 2025. Project manager Garrett Houston said the daycare plan includes on-site outdoor open space sized to serve about 12–13 children, which he said meets licensing open-space requirements.
Board members applied the Schultz v. Prit standard as required for conditional-use review, adopted planning’s findings and voted yes. Chair Leland Shelton and the other members indicated they found no extraordinary adverse impacts beyond those normally associated with these uses in the zoning district.
The board’s written resolution will be drafted in the coming weeks and mailed to parties of record; parties wishing to challenge the decision may follow the appeal instructions included with that written decision and pursue circuit-court review if they choose.
The decision was unanimous (3–0).
