Residents, council miffed over stalled Long Branch plans

While both the County Council and residents agree Long Branch could use more investment, they admit stimulus is needed.

‘‘We really had a hard time grappling with whether to form a new [advisory] group, but decided that there needed to be more favorable market conditions for redevelopment,” Long Branch Advisory Committee chairwoman Cynthia Rubenstein said in a telephone interview Thursday, adding that the yet-to-be determined Purple Line transit route and the uncertain status of a medical office building on Arliss Street and Flower Avenue make it difficult to plan for the commercial area.

The Long Branch Advisory Committee, which includes residents, business owners and other stakeholders, was established by the county in 2006 for a two-year period to continue the work of the Long Branch Task Force. The task force had a similar purpose and similar final report as the committee, which called for dozens of recommendations dealing mainly with improving Long Branch’s neighborhood center, bounded by Piney Branch Road, Flower Avenue and Arliss Street.

‘‘The report was pretty typical of a government report. ... There weren’t any startling revelations,” Rose Crenca, a longtime Long Branch resident and committee member, said in a telephone interview Thursday. ‘‘I’ve been at this since the 1960s.”

County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park said at the at the council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development committee meeting on Thursday that it was ‘‘criminal” that it has been taking so long to see major change in the community. Studies have been conducted yet ‘‘nothing gets done,” Floreen said.

At the same meeting, County Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park said better coordination was needed between county agencies. He shared Floreen’s frustrations that projects have stalled despite available funding, such as a bridge that would connect the Long Branch Community Center to the Long Branch Library.

The bridge, which was initially just for pedestrians, has been delayed because the county Parks Department requested that it be designed to accommodate cars, said Roylene Roberts, manager of Long Branch redevelopment projects with the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

At a Feb. 27 event recognizing the final report from the Long Branch committee, County Council members were more reserved and expressed their support in moving things along in a neighborhood they said was often forgotten by the rest of Silver Spring.

Others pressed the four council members who attended the community meeting on specific problems, with one Long Branch resident getting into a heated debate with County Councilman George Leventhal.

Aat Muys, a member of the Long Branch Civic Association, demanded the county do something about what he said was an increase in loitering day laborers. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park blamed the increase of men on a lack of jobs for them and a poor economy, and refuted Muys’ claim that immigrant advocacy group Casa of Maryland was part of the problem.

Andrew Kleine, a board member of Casa and a member of the Long Branch committee said Casa was working on getting day laborers to use their laborer center rather than congregating outside of businesses.

‘‘It’s not the majority, but a minority that are causing problems, with trash in the park and public inebriation,” Rubenstein said the next day. She said the day laborer issue comes up periodically. ‘‘But even the presence of a small amount of those things signal to some people that this is a broken window.”

Long Branchrecommendations

Highlights of recommendations from the Long Branch Advisory Committee:

Prioritize redevelopment of the neighborhood center, bounded by Piney Branch Road, Flower Avenue and Arliss Street.

Encourage a Purple Line station near the neighborhood center.

Strengthen code enforcement, positive policing.

Increase staffing, funds for the Long Branch Library and Long Branch Community Center.

Create a Long Branch community report card that could better show quality of life trends.

To view the committee’s report online, go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov⁄content⁄dhca⁄LBAC_Report_2008⁄long_branch_advisory_committee_report_rev.pdf.