Update on Westbard Self Storage

Westbard Storage Moves Building out of the Buffer!

The latest submission from Westbard Storage have moved their proposed self-storage facility out of the stream valley buffer.  While this is cause for celebration, there is still much about the building plans that LFWA is not in agreement with.  

We are advocating for:

Treatment of surface run-off and vegetative areas that allow the water from the driveways and parking lots to soak into the ground.  

The Westbard Storage Facility stormwater management plan relies entirely on roof-top solutions for filtering the water while leaving the surface run-off untreated and flowing directly into the Willett Branch.  The primary goal of a good stormwater management plan is to return the water to the ground where it will be cleaned by natural processes and recharge the ground water. While green roofs have a lot of benefit to the environment, returning water to the ground is not one of them. Instead, the water is soaked up by the roof top plants and any excess is channeled into the storm drains.   

Wider Pathway into the new Willett Branch Park.

The Sector Plan specifically calls for a welcoming gateway to the new Willett Branch park.  The corridor between the building and the McDonald's that leads to the new Park, is only 18 feet wide.  There will be a sixty foot wall on one side and the McDonald's retaining wall on the other.  We feel this is too narrow to be safe or welcoming.  A 24 foot wide path would allow for plantings and a light to enter the area.  

The Westbard Storage Facility is the first test of the new Sector Plan and the first building to be approved on the banks of the Willett Branch.  We need to get this right.

Please send comments to the Planning staff and Permitting Department.  They need to hear from the public that the park is important and we want the best building we can have so that generations of residents can enjoy the new green space.  

Department of Permitting Services
Mark Etheridge, mark.etheridge@montgomerycountymd.gov,  Manager, Water Resources Plan Review

Montgomery Planning
Elza Hisel-McCoy, elza.hisel-mccoy@montgomeryplanning.org

Our comments from July 2 can be found at http://www.lfwa.org/updates/westbard-self-storage-threatens-stream-buffer  While the building has been moved out of the stream buffer, many of the comments are still unaddressed.

Thank you for your support on this,

Sarah Morse

Mow Your Leaves for a Better Environment!

Mow Your Leaves for a Better Environment!

Big piles of leaves by the curb, a certain sign of autumn and lots of fun for kids to jump in. What could be wrong with that? Not to be the Grinch Who Stole Leaf Pile Jumping, but everything. Leaf piles by the side of the road make their way to the creek where they decompose and cause nutrient bloom. Leaf piles left for pick-up mean no leaves around the base of your trees where they provide an organic blanket for the trees during the winter. Leaf piles in general mean you are wasting valuable nutrients for your lawn. If you leave the leaves, they will feed your lawn all winter long and in the spring, your grass will thank you.

So, this year, take a tip from Winterthur, the spectacular DuPont gardens in Delaware and mow your leaves right on the lawn.

From a Washington Post article

For more than 20 years, the gardeners at this expansive and famously leafy estate have been mowing leaves with (...) lawn mowers. The machines inhale the leaves, chop them into shreds and deposit them as the mower moves along. Engine noise is confined to the muted chug of the mower, not the incessant high-pitch whine of the leaf blower.And there are no bags to unhook and drag anywhere, just a confetti-like litter left on the grass. Ripped into morsel-size pieces, the flakes melt away in two or three weeks as microbes and worms do their work of enriching the soil.

It is such a simple system that (Chris) Strand, garden director, and Long, assistant garden curator, wonder why it hasn't caught on. They are certainly converts in their own gardens. "I spend a fraction of the time I used to spend raking and transporting leaves," says Strand.

This process is endorsed by none other than the Scotts Fertilizer Company. On their website, they recommend you

Take the grass catcher off your mower and mow over the leaves on your lawn. You want to reduce your leaf clutter to dime-size pieces. You'll know you're done when about half an inch of grass can be seen through the mulched leaf layer. Once the leaf bits settle in, microbes and worms get to work recycling them. Any kind of rotary-action mower will do the job, and any kind of leaves can be chopped up. With several passes of your mower, you can mulch up to 18 inches of leaf clutter.

Give your rake a rest, save the local government some money and help the environment all by mowing your leaves. It works for the Winterthur Estates and it will work for you. When spring arrives, you'll see great results. The leaf litter you mowed this fall will have disappeared. And your grass will look greener than ever.

And if your children need a pile to jump it, rake them one and when they're jumped out, put those leaves under your trees and around your shrubs - free and beautiful mulch!

Stop Raking Your Leaves - from the Washington Post, October 7, 2016

Stop Raking Your Leaves by Christopher Ingraham

. . . .According to Sam Bauer, a turf grass researcher at the University of Minnesota, the best thing to do with your leaves may be to forget about raking and bagging, and simply go over them with a lawnmower from time to time.

"The leaves have organic matter in them, you're adding good organic matter to your soil when you're not picking them up," Bauer said in an interview.

You don't need any special equipment to do this -- you can just run the leaves over with your regular mower. If your lawnmower has a side discharge outlet, where a bag or chute usually goes, just close it up, Bauer says. "What that does is it keeps the leaves in the housing of the mower and they get chopped up much more finely."

If you want to get really fancy about it, you can buy a specialized mulching blade for your mower that'll chop them up even more finely.

If you take this approach, the benefits to your lawn are two-fold. First, all the organic material adds good nutrients to your soil, which will help your grass grow better next year. Bauer says he sometimes hears from people worried that too much leaf material will alter their soil chemistry in a bad way. "To me, none of that is valid," he said. He's done some research into this, and found no evidence that too much leaf mulch will alter your soil in a way that hurts your grass.

The other great thing mulching does: It suppresses weeds. Bauer points to experiments showing that leaf mulch reduced the appearance of dandelions by up to 84 percent the following season. . . . .:

Great Lawn Fertilizer and Winter Habitat

The National Wildlife Federation states "In addition to becoming natural fertilizer for your soil, leaves that stay where they fall create “mini ecosystems,” according to another post by the group. Chipmunks, salamanders, earthworms, turtles and other small creatures live in the leaves or use them for food and nesting material, and butterflies and moth pupae like to spend the winter in the leaf layers."

University of Michigan Study Endorses Mulching

Here's another good article about mowing your leaves that sings praises to the value of mulching your leaves right on the grass.

http://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/index.ssf/2012/10/mulched_leaves_offer_food_prot.html

The author addresses the problem of oak leaves - hard to mulch, but with patience, they will shread.

Fine Gardening Magazine Encourages Leaving the Leaves

Mowing leaves into your lawn can improve its vigor, and unraked leaves in planting beds don’t smother shade-tolerant perennials
by Terry Ettinger

If you dread the annual fall leaf-raking marathon, I have good news for you: Raking and collecting leaves every autumn is a tradition without scientific basis. Research has proven that mowing leaves into your lawn can improve its vigor, and observation shows that unraked leaves in planting beds don’t smother shade-tolerant perennials.  Click HERE to read more.

Mediation Canceled for Cemetery Dispute

After six months and only two meetings, the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County has terminated the mediation process between Westbard developer Equity One (now Regency Centers), the County planning staff, and the Macedonia Baptist Church regarding the post-Civil War African American cemetery located on the banks of the Willett Branch behind the Westwood Tower Apartment. The developer, along with its partner in this project, the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) has proposed to build a parking garage and housing over the cemetery.  The goal of the mediation was to come to some agreement between all parties on how to prevent the further desecration of this hallowed land. 

We have no further information on what will happen to this sacred spot.  We would like to see the area become part of the proposed new Willett Branch Park, not only because of the sacredness of the land, but because it lies next to the stream.  We are asking that the county follow their own environmental guidelines and prohibit building in the 100 foot stream buffer.

Read a letter from the NAACP regarding the termination of the process HERE>

Background:

The cemetery has always been an issue for the Little Falls Watershed Alliance as it is located right in the heart of the proposed new park for the Westbard Sector.  It's in the stream valley buffer and lies between River Road and Westbard where the park spreads out and invites people to enter it.  Very early in the planning process, Equity One with their partner HOC, who leases the Westwood Tower Apartments, have wanted to build a parking structure in the buffer and on the cemetery.   Even before the new sector plan was developed, HOC stated that not being allowed to build a parking garage by in the stream valley buffer was a key impediment to their providing affordable housing in the Westbard Sector.  Click HERE to see a copy of the letter dated February 2016.

In February 2017,  the planning board refused Equity One permission to build on the cemetery until a cemetery delineation had been done.  Macedonia Baptist Church, as the descendant community, was to be involved in the delineation process and determination of how the cemetery should be honored. The time table given at the meeting was to revisit the plan in April 2017.  In March 2017, the County hired the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County, to mediate the process.

From the Washington Post, March 17
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/montgomery-county-looks-to-mediator-to-resolve-westbard-cemetery-dispute/2017/03/17/ded6528c-0b4a-11e7-93dc-00f9bdd74ed1_story.html?utm_term=.59912d9c78ba#comments

Montgomery County will hire a mediator in an attempt to resolve an emotionally charged dispute over the search for a lost African American cemetery that has pitted a Baptist church in Bethesda against planning officials and a real estate developer.

The cemetery is believed to be under land north and northeast of the Westwood Tower Apartments on Westbard Drive. The area includes a paved parking lot and driveway. Records describing an early 20th century cemetery on the site were discovered by county staff in the process of evaluating a proposal for new construction from Equity One. The New York firm recently merged with the Florida-based Regency Centers Corp.

In a letter Thursday to Montgomery Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda), said “added measures” were necessary “to assist those who believe their ancestors were buried on this site.”

Equity One hired a cultural resource firm to conduct a study of the site, but members of Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road objected to having the consultants work for the developer. The church has also said it wants to see a memorial and museum at the site honoring the black community that lived in Westbard from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.

County Planning Director Gwen Wright agreed to hire two independent anthropologists chosen by the congregation to serve as peer reviewers. But Wright and the anthropologists have not been able to come to terms on the scope of their work.

Leggett and Berliner recommended that the Planning Board, church leaders and county representatives sit down with a mediator.

“Because the community remains understandably concerned about the process thus far, we agree that it would be wise for us to pause for a moment, bring all the parties together to address the various concerns that have been expressed and seek a solution,” they wrote.

Native Plant Sales

A garden full of plants native to Maryland is a great way to reduce stormwater pollution while providing habitat and food for butterflies, birds, and pollinators.

I just got news of two native plant sales.  They are not close, but not that far and worth it for all natives.

In Howard County, Lauren’s Garden Service – Native Plant Nursery is having a fall sale!

September 23rd from 10am – 1pm
3575 Sharp Rd
Glenwood, MD 21738
Lauren’s Garden Service Native Plant Nursery is having a sale. Come shop a variety of native perennials, shrubs, and trees at our nursery! We also stock a variety of garden accents, including containers, baskets, trellises, and torches. Experienced gardeners will be present to help you with your selection and answer any questions you may have. Can’t make this sale? See more events on our website: http://www.laurensgardenservice.com/2017-events All plants are locally native to Howard County and locally grown. 

And in Annapolis, Cape Conservation Corps Sale

October 7, 9am-12pm
Cape St Claire
1223 River Bay Road
Annapolis, MD 21409
Many of us are interested in including more native plants in our yards… but it is hard to find them at our nurseries! And the best time to plant in our region is fall … but most plant sales are in the spring. We at the Cape Conservation Corps in Cape St. Claire, Annapolis area are holding a Native Plant Fall Festival, featuring hundreds of native shrubs, perennials and grasses that you can plant right now. We’ll have experts on hand to help with your selection, plus speakers on pollinators and native plants – even an observational bee hive so you can see native bees at work! 

And of course, there is always Herring Run Nursery, a project of Blue Water Baltimore.
6131 Hillen Road
Baltimore, Maryland 21234
Visit their website at https://www.bluewaterbaltimore.org/herring-run-nursery/

Westbard Self Storage Threatens Stream Buffer

The latest threat to the proposed Willett Stream Valley Park is the Westbard Self Storage facility to be constructed behind the McDonald's on River Road on what was the Galway property.  The plans call for a 58 foot high building -190,000 square feet in all.  The building is sited with one corner in the stream valley buffer.

Montgomery County Environmental guidelines dictate that no building may be done in a stream valley buffer as stated below:

i. The guidelines treat streams as sensitive areas needing protection from the negative consequences of development, and therefore prohibit buildings in stream buffers; only necessary, minimized infrastructure is allowed. (p.17)

ii. Exceptions must meet five tests: that reasonable alternatives to encroachment do not exist; encroachment has been minimized; existing sensitive areas such as buffers, streams, and floodplains are avoided; the proposal is consistent with the preferred use of the buffer; and the plan includes compensation for any buffer loss. (p.19)

Letters Needed Now:

As you know, Little Falls Watershed Alliance has been working to support a new park for the Westbard Sector - the Willett Branch Stream Valley Park.  The park will feature a naturalized Willett Branch and a restored stream buffer.  We cannot do this alone.  We are asking surrounding communities to join us in supporting the park and opposing this new building in the buffer.

Below is our letter to the Planning Staff outlining our concerns and opposition to the Westbard Self Storage.  If you could take a few minutes to send your own letter, it would go a long way to helping the cause.  Please feel free to use our language.

Westbard Redevelopment in Holding Pattern

It's been a long time since we have updated people on the Westbard development and where the process is. While much has happened since January 2017, the Westbard redevelopment is in a holding pattern and it's been on hold since the Planning Board hearing, February 23, 2017. At that time, the Planning Board approved the Equity One/Regency Centers Sketch Plan minus the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) property which includes the Westwood Tower apartment building and the surrounding parking lot. The HOC property is the site of African American Cemetery that was destroyed in the 1960s. A cemetery delineation is planned for the site and NO decisions on what will be built in the area can be made until the cemetery issues is resolved.

The next step in the planning process is a Preliminary Plan approval. Equity One submitted a Preliminary plan for the development in late 2016, but the plan cannot be approved until the HOC property is resolved. There is no timetable for approval at this time and the Plan is still being reviewed by the planning staff, county permitting departments and other interested agencies.  

The naturalization of the Willett Branch and creation of a Willett Branch Greenway is the major public amenity in the plan.  The new park is still a main focus of the development process and there are ongoing discussions with Montgomery Parks and the Planning Staff on what the park should look like and how buildings will be sited in relation to the new creek.   

Recommendations for Building on HOC Property Postponed until Cemetery Delineation
Little Falls Watershed Alliance, along with neighborhood civic groups oppose any new building in the stream buffer as it would threaten the health of the restored creek. Environmental guidelines in Montgomery County specify that creeks need 100 buffers to protect their health; this will be especially important to ensure the success of the naturalization. The major bone of contention is the proposed six-story addition to the Westwood Towers sited behind and beside the building within 25 feet of the creek at some spots. To “keep eyes on the Willett Branch,” it was the planning staffs’ suggestion that the addition include three levels of apartments over a three-story 150-space parking garage.

Moreover, HOC property is also the site of an early African cemetery which was bulldozed and covered over in the 1960s when the Westwood Tower Apartment was built. There is overwhelming evidence to believe that the bodies were never removed from the area. The planning board approved the staff recommendation that this parcel be removed from the any decisions about building in Westwood until cemetery delineation can be done and the issue studied properly. Equity One has committed to doing the delineation.

Depending on the outcome of the cemetery delineation, Equity One could be permitted to continue with the plans for the six-story building.  So this is an area that we are watching closely.  Surrounding communities and the Citizen’s Coordination Committee for Friendship Heights are also unified in their opposition to building in the stream buffer and cemetery grounds.

Church Leads Charge for Cemetery Delineation
Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church (MBC) located on River Road by Clipper Lane, the descendant community for the cemetery, have been leading the charge to make sure that the cemetery delineation is completed in a meaningful way. They have been actively advocating for preservation of the land as sacred space regardless of the outcome of a cemetery delineation. The MBC has been holding weekly protests at the Planning Board and Council Building to call attention to the issue. 

Since December 2016, the MBC has been in discussions with the planning department regarding the cemetery delineation process. Commonly, the applicant, i.e., the developer, is responsible for a cemetery delineation study. Due the sensitive nature of the project, the MBC asked for a central role in determining who would conduct the cemetery delineation study and how it would be accomplished. Communication between the Planning Staff and MBC has broken down over this issue. Although background studies have been done regarding the property, the field work necessary to determine if there are any human remains is temporarily halted until all parties can come to an agreement on MBC's role in the study and who should fund the work.

County Executive Ike Leggett has recommend mediation to help move the process along. Mediation meetings with MBC, Equity One and the Planning Staff should be starting soon. 

Originally the Planning staff expected to brief the Planning Board on the results of the cemetery delineation study by mid-May. That was pushed to June 9, but that date has recently been rescinded. As of this writing there is no new date.

Preliminary Plan Submitted
Development requires three stages of planning board decisions – the sketch plan, the preliminary plan and site plans. The plans go from general to very specific. Each plan is reviewed by the planning staff and county departments for compliance with county codes, regulations and the Sector Plan. The first submission is the sketch plan – this is where the developer gives a sense of what they want to do and it is reviewed to make sure it’s legal and conforms to the County’s zoning regulations and vision for the area or Sector Plan. For example, the sketch plan cannot show town houses if the area is zoned for single family. The Preliminary Plan gets into the details – building heights, traffic lights, road alignments, stormwater management plans. Finally, the site plan is the final design.

Equity One submitted their Preliminary Plan in November, 2017. It was reviewed by the Department Review Committee (DRC) in early January and the DRC submitted comments. Equity One is required to address these comments before the preliminary plan can be approved by the Planning Board. No hearing date has been set for the preliminary plan, nor has there been a call for public comments or a staff report.

Preliminary Plan Fails in Environmental Issues
Environmental issues are addressed in two major areas in the preliminary plan – stormwater management and forest conservation. Equity One is asking for a 65% waiver to treating stormwater on site. The plan was rejected by the Department of Permitting. It should be noted that the Sector Plan specifically calls for NO waivers for stormwater management. The Sector Plan also calls for a stormwater buffer between the proposed town houses on what is now the Giant Food parking lot and the Kenwood Place Condominiums. Equity One’s plan does not show this buffer. They are also proposing to remove trees in what is designated as a Forest conservation area.  

Equity One has not submitted new plan or responded to the staff comments in a meaningful way at this time.

LFWA Website Has History Information
Little Falls Watershed Alliance History Committee has done considerable work researching this subject. We have found that historical documents that would normally prove that the bodies which had been interred there were appropriately removed and reburied when the Westwood Tower building was developed are either sketchy or nonexistent. Further there is much oral history suggesting the bodies are still in the ground under the asphalt and fill from the construction of the apartment building. 

You can find more information about the River Road African American community on our website at http://www.lfwa.org/updates/equity-one-do-cemetery-delineation-westbard-site 
and at 
http://www.lfwa.org/westbards-forgotten-history-plantations-emancipation-and-jim-crow-era

Staff Recommendations for Sketch Plan online.
If you want to read the staff recommendations, they are online at http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2017/documents/item9_StaffReport320170010postcs-signed.pdf
Additional slides presented at the meeting can be seen at
http://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Sketch-Plan-presentation-2-23-17-Latest-Official.pdf


  
  

Montgomery Parks Wants Your Opinion

Parks of the Future: Voice Your Vision Campaign initiatives:

Montgomery Parks Wants Your Input!
Help us plan the “Parks and Recreation of the Future,” by sharing your ideas on what you’d like to see in your community. Visit MontgomeryParks.org to submit suggestions and take a brief survey.
Click HERE to take it today:

      http://www.peakdemocracy.com/4211

There is a translate button on the bottom of the page for groups who may feel more comfortable reading the information in their native language.
Take the survey and tell us what you think!  Visit MontgomeryParks.org.

Background:

Montgomery Parks is seeking public input into three separate but related park projects, via a Parks of the Future Campaign. The projects in this campaign include the 2017 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan (2017 PROS), the Energized Public Spaces Functional Master Plan (EPS) and the Capital Improvements Program(CIP).

2017 PROS Plan and EPS

With the state supported Vision 2030 Strategic Plan as a cornerstone, Park Staff is seeking opportunities to present the 2017 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan Update and a new parks functional master plan to address the need for parkland in the highest populated areas of the county.

The Energized Public Spaces Functional Master Plan (EPS FMP) for Parks in Mixed Use and Higher Density Residential Areas, will allow park planners to quickly adapt to changing park needs in some areas of the county, particularly in areas where growth in residents and businesses is forecasted.  Both plans will help predict future needs to better determine how to put the right parks in the right places and steward our natural and cultural resources.

CIP

We will also present details of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to inform the public of future needs and interests they may wish to pursue.

In all, the three plans require public knowledge and input to improve services to county residents. The linking of the projects will improve park survey opportunities and record public comments.

Equity One to Do Cemetery Delineation at Westbard Site

Little Falls Watershed Alliance has been calling for a cemetery delineation near the Westwood Tower site and we are pleased to announce that it.  Equity One will fund a study by the  Ottery Group .. We are also pleased to welcome the Macedonia Baptist Church to the process.  Macedonia Church will act as the descendant community for the project.  They will be working with Montgomery Planning, Equity One and the Ottery Group to ensure that the work is being done to the highest standards.  Also involved in the process will be Dr. Rachel Watkins, Professor of Archelogy at American University and Dr. Michael Blakey, Professor of Archelogy at the College of William and Mary. They bring a wealth of expertise in African American cemetery evacuation and archeological work.

Decisions about the proposed parking garage for the rear of the Westwood Towers Building will be affected by the results of the delineation.  At this time, Equity One is asking for a six story addition to the building that would include three levels of above ground parking and three of residential units.  The building would come within 25 feet of the creek in places, , would cover a large area of the former cemetery parcel, and would leave little room for public access to the proposed Willett Branch park.  Advocacy is needed to ensure that the cemetery is recognized and honored in the new development and that buildings are appropriately sited to allow maximum stream buffer for the new Park.

Background:

The area of River Road between Little Falls Parkway and Ridgefield Road was the home to a vibrant African American Community.  The community was established after the Civil War by freed slaves area and thrived for about 100 years until the residents were displaced by the current development.  The community included a school, businesses, farms, a church and a large cemetery.  The Macedonia Baptist Church is still there today, but the cemetery was bulldozed in the early 1960s to make room for the parking and driveways of the Westwood Tower building.  Oral history and lack of documentation regarding removal of the graves suggests that there are still human remains on the property.

The Cemetery:

In 1911, White’s Tabernacle #39, a Tenleytown lodge of a national African American benevolent association, bought land for a cemetery along the Willett Branch as their cemetery in Tenleytown was being displaced by a new road.  The graves were moved in 1921, after getting permission from Congress.  The cemetery was used for local burials until 1940s and oral history tells of cemetery processions heading up Outlet Road to the grave yard.  It was sold in 1958 to the nephew of a local developer.  There is no record of what became of the graves or what became of White’s Tabernacle #39.  While no buildings were built on the parcel, it is used as a driveway for the Westwood Towers and as surface parking for surrounding businesses.

What is a Cemetery Delineation?

The Westbard Sector Plan describes a cemetery delineation as follows:

The standard methodology for delineation of unmarked graves involves conducting a geophysical survey, most often with ground penetrating radar. Based on those results, mechanical stripping of the upper soil layers is often necessary to confirm the presence or absence of graves. If, as is the case on these parcels, the ground is paved, the asphalt would be removed in a test area and the upper soil would be removal and area examined, and the asphalt replaced after the work is completed. An example of mechanical stripping of the soil to discover a cemetery underneath can be found at Freedmen’s cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, where unmarked graves were located below fill layers.  (Sector Plan, Appendix, page 104)

The cemetery in Westbard is undoubtedly below many feet of fill.  The previously hilly area was considerably regraded to allow for the Westwood Shopping Center, level surface parking, and Westbard Avenue.  The asphalt will have to be removed as well as a layer of fill before ground penetrating radar will be effective.  There also need to be mechanical stripping of the layers in several places.   The work is expected to be done this Spring.

Additional information can be found on the cemetery in the Westbard Sector plan appendix or on the LFWA website at http://www.lfwa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/cemetery_packet_from_sector_plan_and_appendix_without_title_page.pdf

Contact the Macedonia Baptist Church at AfricanCementeryProject@MBC-Bethesda.org for more information on the Church's River Road African Cemetery Project.