Save Rock Creek Hills Park? Well, we sure tried!: April 2015

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

"The Montgomery County Planning Board recently told the school system to revise its plan for the Kensington site to save more forest area overall and specifically some larger trees..."

Please, read the Gazette article by Lindsay A. Powers.

Monday, April 13, 2015

“... we have what amounts to law enforcement authority over the forest conservation statute,” Anderson said. “... I don’t understand why you’re here at the eleventh hour saying [the Planning Board is] going to cause a major delay if [it] insists on a position which was advanced by our staff for the first time nine months ago.”

“You seem to be saying we were working collaboratively, but the problem is that we have what amounts to law enforcement authority over the forest conservation statute,” Anderson said. “I understand you have a disagreement with our staff but I don’t understand why you’re here at the eleventh hour saying [the Planning Board is] going to cause a major delay if [it] insists on a position which was advanced by our staff for the first time nine months ago.”

- from the article "MCPS And Planners Sparring Over Design Of New Bethesda-Chevy Chase School" by Aaron Kraut on BethesdaNow.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Building middle school on park site would be like "fitting ten pounds of sugar in a five-pound sack," says Shuman.

"We're talking about trying to thread a needle here, and fitting ten pounds of sugar in a five-pound sack, with this project."

-Mr. Richard (Craig) Shuman, Jr., Director, Division of Construction, Montgomery County Public Schools, at the 3/26/2015 Montgomery County Planning Board mandatory referral hearing for B-CC Middle School #2 on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park.

Listen:

Who Said That?

"When the [Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission] developed [Rock Creek Hills Park] in the early 1990s they accepted funds from the Program Open Space. This is a program managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to distribute funds from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to preserve open space. The use of Program Open Space funds was inconsistent with the reclamation terms of the transfer agreement under which the M-NCPPC took title to the property. This was the case since use of these funds places restrictions on future public use of parks, in contradiction with the terms of the original transfer agreement..."
– Dr. Joshua Starr, Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools.

From the MCPS Site Selection Advisory Committee Minority Reports:

The B-CC High School NAACP Parents' Council wrote that they "... cannot support the recommendation to build the new middle school in a potentially racially divisive and socially isolating location. ... We, therefore, ask the Superintendent and the Board of Education to decline to adopt Rock Creek Hills Local Park as the site for the new middle school."

The Lyttonsville Civic Association wrote that "...MCPS staff set inappropriate boundaries for discussion... ...MCPS staff cut off discussion to insist that a vote be taken before the committee had finished considering all their options. Staff ... made procedural rulings that affected the ability of some representatives to speak freely. Some representatives voiced concerns that they were being led to a predetermined conclusion."

Ms. Brooke Farquhar (Parks Department) wrote: "Costs were not thoroughly evaluated in the process and misinformation may have prejudiced the votes of committee members.... The process lacked a robust analysis. The potential sites should have been analyzed more thoroughly, based on detailed information that would allow consistent comparison across the sites."

Mr. Frederick V. Boyd (Planning Board) wrote: "[T]he rating process used for selecting sites did not provide a real opportunity to consider the community character and quality of life consequences of choosing a candidate site. ... [D]escriptions appear to have been written to enable easier consideration of some public sites..."