Ruling lets Johns Hopkins University move forward with research campus

From The Baltimore Sun: A family that sued Johns Hopkins University over its plans for high-rise buildings on donated land near Gaithersburg, Md., will appeal a judge's ruling that has cleared the way for the institution to move forward with the development. The relatives of Elizabeth Beall Banks—who with her family sold 108 acres of her family's farm to the university more than 20 years ago—say they will appeal the ruling, which removes all restrictions on the development of the property. Hopkins intends to use the Gaithersburg site for a research institution. The family argued in its lawsuit that the land sale was made with the expectation that no high-rise development would take place. The university contended that building heights were never spelled out.

EARLIER... September 2012...from The Baltimore Sun: A family that sold 108 acres of land near Gaithersburg, Md., to Johns Hopkins University 23 years ago has gone to court to block the school's development plans for the site. Elizabeth Beall Newell and her siblings sold the land to the university for $5 million, but imposed some conditions, including that the land be used for research or education purposes. Johns Hopkins has proposed building a 4.7 million-square-foot research and development campus, including high-rise buildings, on the property, and the family contends in the lawsuit that the plans violate the agreement. The university argues that the original contract contains specific language about the sorts of work that can be done on the land but does not spell out building heights or other specific development standards.