Your support is needed to protect Rock Creek Hills Park.

Heavy equipment has been used to bulldoze some of the woodlands of Rock Creek Hills Park:

April 12, 2014. (click image for full-screen)

The transfer of the park land appears to be unlawful. Litigation seeking to enforce the law and protect the park is pending. If this litigation is successful, then the transfer, and the recent destruction, will have to be reversed, and trees planted to remediate the damage.

Ongoing litigation has ongoing costs. Please consider renewing your gift and supporting the ongoing efforts to defend your park. Contributions of any amount are welcome.

If you value the park's serenity, the sanctuary, and green space; if you value the soccer games, lacrosse practices, sunrise exercise classes, and walks in the park; the playground, hockey rink, and tennis courts – or even just the right of a community to preserve its public green space from bulldozers – then please donate in support of this legal battle. You can click here to contribute to the park's legal defense fund.

Thank you.

The defense of Rock Creek Hills Park continues.

From the Rock Creek Hills Citizens' Association website:

Dear neighbors,

Last week, a three-judge panel of the Court of Special Appeals, in Annapolis, released a ruling affirming the decision of the Circuit Court in Rockville, to dismiss our litigation seeking to enforce the law and protect Rock Creek Hills Park. The panel did not rule against our arguments that the proposed conversion of the Park is unlawful; instead, their ruling was based primarily on their finding that the appealing parties lack adjacent property owner and taxpayer standing. Specifically, the Court of Special Appeals held that adjacent property owners lack adjacent property owner standing because the County's option to reclaim the land for educational use was not a land-use related provision.

This week, the RCHCA Board held an emergency meeting. After reviewing the court's ruling, and consulting with our counsel, we consider the findings of the Court of Special Appeals to be erroneous. This is particularly true given a March 27 decision of Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which reached the opposite conclusion in a different case that dealt with similar issues. Given this, we are preparing a motion for reconsideration, asking the Court of Special Appeals to reconsider their decision on our standing in light of the recent Court of Appeals decision, and to rule on the merits of our case. Failing that, we are prepared to file an application for Certiorari to the Court of Appeals; that is, we are prepared to ask our State's highest court to consider our case.

Your Board continues to believe that our case has considerable merit, and asks for your continued support in this matter.

Sincerely yours,
Jim Pekar - RCHCA President
John Robinson - RCHCA Litigation Committee