A local developer has taken steps to make sure that Baltimore’s bulk trash drop-off facility on Sisson Street will never be relocated to an industrially-zoned parcel on Falls Road, as city officials proposed last year. Seawall Construction announced on Thursday that it has a contract to ac quire two parcels that Potts Callahan currently uses for equipment storage, 2701 and 2801 Falls Road, about four acres in all. “Today, Seawall is excited to announce that it has put 2801 and 2701 Falls Road, both properties owned by Potts Callahan, under contract,” the company announced in a press release. A purchase price and time frame for the transaction have not been disclosed. The land at 2801 Falls Road is where city officials last summer said they wanted to move the city’s Sisson Street Citizen Drop Off Center so it can be sold for potential redevelopment. Potts Callahan representatives have told city officials that the land is available because they are moving their operations to another location in the city.  Seawall has submitted a proposal to the Baltimore Development Corporation to replace the Sisson Street facility with a grocery store-anchored commercial development, but BDC officials have not accepted its proposal. The plan to move the drop-off facility from 2840 Sisson Street to the Falls Road property drew strong public opposition because the land is in a floodplain and located along a picturesque stretch of the Jones Falls Valley. Mayor Brandon Scott formed a 13-member task force to help him decide how to address the city’s bulk trash and hazardous waste disposal needs and the panel is still meeting to finalize its recommendations. The task force has ruled out recommending that the Falls Road property be used to relocate the drop-facility. According to its announcement, “Seawall began discussions with the ownership of the Potts Callahan properties” after the task force members said they didn’t want the drop-off facility to move there. “These sites represent a rare opportunity to rethink how this critical corridor connects the neighborhood of Remington to the Jones Falls River and the broader valley,” Seawall said in its announcement. “Rather than advancing a predetermined plan, Seawall will initiate a community-led visioning process to explore what this stretch of Baltimore can become, together.” Through this eventual purchase, “Seawall is working to ensure the community-led efforts to protect the Jones Falls Valley from industrial uses are realized,” the company said. “This purchase represents a commitment to the community from Seawall to never use this Falls Road site as a trash transfer facility, and for this site to be reimagined and match the ambitions of city residents.” “We commend Seawall’s efforts to prevent future industrial uses from endangering the Jones Falls Watershed and for listening to the community,” said the Greater Remington Improvement Association Board, in a statement. “We will continue our work to promote the greening of Remington and the protection of the Jones Falls” the board added. “We reiterate our position that the closure of the Sisson Street Drop-Off Center is the best way to realize the full potential of Remington, the Jones Falls, and Baltimore City as a whole.” ...read more read less