residents protest plan to build in county open space

Key County Council members say they are not interested in building a new school at Blueberry Hill Park in Derwood, but are considering using part of a 12-acre meadow recently incorporated into the county's Legacy Open Space program near Washington Grove.

A new elementary school is needed if a build-up around the Shady Grove Metro Station is to occur. The proposed Shady Grove Sector Plan would more double the current housing density level, clustering 5,400 to 6,350 more residential units in the Shady Grove area.

Approximately 7,800 people live in the Shady Grove sector, an area of about 2,000 acres surrounding the Metro station, just outside of Rockville city limits and including parts of Gaithersburg and Washington Grove.

Park and Planning officials and most residents support locating the school on an 8.5-acre site on the Casey at Mill Creek property tucked between Interstate 370 and the town of Washington Grove.

But building the school on part of the adjacent meadow would be cheaper for the county than spending an estimated several million dollars to buy the 8.5-acre site from the developer.

The county would have to purchase the meadow on the Casey property, rather than receive it for free in dedication, because of changes to the Gaithersburg Vicinity Master Plan during a 1985 revision.

Park and Planning voted in December to designate the 12 acres as Legacy Open Space, a multimillion-dollar initiative to preserve natural and heritage resources.

Using a portion of the Legacy Open Space meadow, created through protracted negotiations involving the developer, the town of Washington Grove and Park and Planning, would undercut the "good faith" efforts to preserve the land, Washington Grove Mayor John Compton told the council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee on Monday.

During the negotiations, the town agreed to allow higher density residential clustering as a trade-off for the preservation of the meadow, which borders the historically designated town.

"What we're seeing here are plans that we saw three years ago," Compton said. "Those plans were completely unacceptable to the town of Washington Grove and represent a substantial and credible threat to the character of our community. And frankly, I'm appalled at even seeing them being considered by this committee."

Included on the list of school site options are two plans that would either swap a portion of the meadow for all or part of the school site or use a portion of the meadow for the school site.

The council should stand behind Legacy Open Space, said Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D), whose District 3 includes the Shady Grove planning area.

Armed with posters, stenciled with slogans like, "Goodbye Open Space," about 30 Washington Grove residents appeared at the Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee worksession in support of preserving the meadow, which they consider an essential buffer from a recently approved development plan for the Casey property.

Councilman Steven A. Silverman (D-At large) of Silver Spring, who chairs the PHED Committee, said no decision has been made about the meadow or other site options under consideration.

"I think it's a pretty broad brush statement to suggest that we are incapable of taking a look and balancing a variety of community interests," he said. "We do it all the time."

Facing a budget strained for adequate construction capital, Silverman said purchasing the 8.5-acre tract would involve "extraordinary" costs.

"It would be, in my opinion, completely fiscally irresponsible for us not to look at all of the options we have before us," he said.

The reality is, Councilwoman Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton said, that there is not enough money in the Legacy Open Space fund to buy all the land identified for acquisition.

Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park then questioned the adequacy of the 8.5-acre school site negotiated with the developer, saying the school system normally requires 10-acre plots.

"You're absolutely right. This is not an ideal site," replied Planning Board Chairman Derick P. Berlage, a supporter of the sector plan. "The school system has said that this is adequate, but it's not ideal."

Park and Planning officials said the challenge is finding a good site.

"We looked everywhere else in this planning area for acceptable sites and all are equally problematic for a variety of reasons," lead project planner Karen Kumm said.

Praisner suggested that staff look at a more urban school setting closer to the Metro.

Kumm said planning staff had examined possible school sites close to the Metro. Planners decided the ideal location would be in a section north of the Metro and south of Shady Grove Road that is not certain to be converted.

Rather than locate the school -- a lynchpin of the new development -- around the uncertain relocation prospect, planners chose to go with the Casey at Mill Creek property, she said.

"With all due respect, in the process of making other decisions, you've narrowed our options," said Praisner, who encouraged planners to look at other county-owned options for a school site.

The PHED Committee agreed not to tap all of the Legacy Open Space meadow if they chose to build on that site.

During its discussion, the committee appeared to reject the option of building the school on a wooded portion of Blueberry Hill Park off of Redland Road.

"I don't think Blueberry Hill plays," Floreen said.

The council has received more public reaction about the park than any other aspect of the sector plan, all of it in opposition to building a school on the site, staff reports say.

Derwood residents fear the county would place the school site at Blueberry Hill Park, which is a cheaper option, but one that would remove park space serving their community.

"We're going to take Blueberry Hill off" of the table, Silverman said.

Compton immediately questioned how the council could treat Blueberry Hill differently than the Legacy Open Space meadow.

"The committee's inclination, at least at this time, is not to locate a school at Blueberry Hill," Silverman said.

In other business, the committee also discussed the proposed relocation of much of the county-owned, industrially zoned land around the Metro station in favor of a multi-use housing development.

Totaling 91 acres, county holdings include a Park and Planning maintenance facility, several Department of Public Works and Transportation facilities and a county school system food service facility.

The county's solid waste transfer station would remain within the planning area, but plans are under way to relocate its outdoor yard waste holding area, the cause of much of the foul odors associated with the station, to 700 East Gude Drive near Rockville.