ANS Conservation Advocacy in the DC Region

A Web of Waivers and Exemptions Threatens Wheaton's Green Forested Buffer

Even though the County Council legislated special protection language for Wheaton's Green Forested Buffer when it approved the Wheaton Sector Plan last November, this forest remains in jeopardy.  Trees within this buffer protect adjacent neighborhoods from Westfield's Wheaton Mall, but the County government insists on allowing the trees to be cut down by Westfield and Costco for any reason, at any time, under the web of waivers and exemptions that the County departments have woven for Westfield.  Our coalition is doing everything in our power to save this five-acre wooded treasure, the last significant forest in the Wheaton Sector Plan area.  We are clearing away this cobweb to reveal that there is no basis for the waivers and exemptions, and to insist on full enforcement of our environmental laws.

 

 

Photo:  Large specimen tree in the Stream Buffer area on the Wheaton Westfield - Costco site.

Our County's Forest Conservation Law (FCL) applies to development projects that meet certain criteria, and that involve impacts to certain natural features.  One such natural feature that triggers the Forest Conservation Law is the presence of a stream on the site.  The FCL requires that developers who plan to cut down or damage trees next to a stream must submit a Forest Conservation Plan (FCP) to the Montgomery County Planning Department. 

 

A Forest Conservation Plan is a detailed map and text that shows the location and fate of each large mature tree, the extent of the planned construction activity that could destroy or damage certain trees, the exact location of the trees and forest areas that will be saved, and the method for saving them.

A stream does in fact exist in the forested buffer - it's the headwaters of Silver Creek, but the Planning Department is refusing to delineate the stream buffer and to require Westfield to file an FCP.  Silver Creek is acknowledged in the new Wheaton Sector Plan, and by the Department of Permitting Services (DPS), which issued a sediment plan and stormwater waiver to the Costco Mall project.  Last December, even Westfield's own engineers delineated the stream buffer on their Stormwater Concept Plan for the Costco gas station.

 

Westfield plans to discharge stormwater runoff for the entire Costco Mall Addition development project into the heart of the forest.  This requires destroying and damaging trees to construct a stormwater conveyance system that will empty into Silver Creek, Kensington Branch, Rock Creek, Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay.  Without an approved FCP, this construction could proceed unfettered without any oversight, essentially destroying the remaining forest's heart.

 

The Westfield-Costco Mall Addition is now under active construction, and the bulldozers are getting closer.  Audubon Naturalist Society and its partners have asked Planning Director Rollin Stanley to require Westfield to prepare a Forest Conservation Plan for this project.  Download 1.13.12 Letter to Rollin Stanley requesting Administrative Review of FCP Exemption 42011026E.  We've asked Rick Brush of DPS to revoke the Sediment Control Plan waiver his Department reportedly issued for this project, and to require Westfield to submit a full-fledged Sediment Control Plan.  We just don't understand why Montgomery County has woven this web of waivers and exemptions for Westfield and Costco, when doing so jeopardizes the last remaining forest and headwater streams in the Wheaton Sector Plan area -- natural resources that the County Council required to be specifically protected less than two months ago.

 

 

Anacostia Tributary Cleanup at Pope Branch in the District

Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and as part of our Audubon Naturalist Society observance of this important holiday, ANS Grant Writer Debra Prybyla and I took part in the Sierra Club Environmental Justice Program's annual cleanup of Pope Branch in the District of Columbia.  Pope Branch is a small, beautiful creek that runs through residential neighborhoods in Ward 7.  Debra and I joined with up to 100 other volunteers from colleges, high schools, civic groups and the surrounding neighborhoods to pull tires, plastic water bottles, styrofoam, and some "unmentionables" out of the creek and its banks and surrounding streets.

This annual event, held in honor of the late community activist Joseph Glover, was organized by Irv Sheffey for the Sierra Club Environmental Justice Program, with partners including Groundwork Anacostia (led by Dennis Chestnut and Vaughn Perry); and key staff of the District Department of the Environment and the District Department of Public Works.  

Left to Right:  Debra Prybyla and Diane Cameron of Audubon Naturalist Society, and Irv Sheffey, Sierra Club Environmental Justice Program.

 

 

In the photo below, from left to right:  Barry Carey, DC Dept. of Public Works; Dennis Chestnut, Groundwork Anacostia, and Diane Cameron.

Though  the day was cold, the coffee and handshakes were warm.  We saw old friends and made some new ones, including University of Maryland Landscape Architecture Assistant Professor Vicky Chanse.  Vicky is working with her students to do community engagement for green infrastructure projects in the Anacostia Watershed.

Debra and I filled up about 3 large bags with trash.  We didn't find too many plastic disposable shopping bags, which I attributed to the successful DC bag fee legislation.  And I found Pope Branch itself to be enchanting with its curving bends, sand bars with ripple features, and evidence of lots of raccoons visiting the creek.  Photo below:  Debra Prybyla at Pope Branch.

 

 

 

Quest to Protect Wheaton Green Forest Buffer Continues

Yesterday, Audubon Naturalist Society sent a letter to Montgomery Planner Amy Lindsey, requesting a recall of her agency's decision to grant a Forest Conservation Plan exemption to Westfield Corporation for their Wheaton Costco Mall Addition.  Given that construction has already begun for the Wheaton Costco project, the need to protect this green buffer is urgent.  We asked her to respond by this Monday, January 9.  

 Download 1.5.12 ANS ltr attchmts to A Lindsey requesting a recall of FCP exemption for Costco Mall Addition (1)

Protecting this buffer -- the last forested tract in the Wheaton Sector Plan area -- is a priority for not only ANS, but also for Friends of Sligo Creek and Rock Creek Conservancy, and local residents of Kensington, Wheaton, and Silver Spring.  I cc'd my letter to Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier.

  In late November, the Montgomery County Council approved strengthening changes to the Wheaton Sector Plan to protect this buffer, and to encourage County officials and Westfield to work together to enhance, restore, and expand this crucial natural resource.

But, Montgomery County planners have not yet recalled (reconsidered) their decision to exempt this project from doing a Forest Conservation Plan (FCP) under our Forest Conservation Law.  Though the process of doing an FCP does not guarantee tree and forest protection from damages and losses, it enables such protection to happen by mandating thorough documentation of specimen trees, steep slopes, forested areas, streams, wetlands, and other natural features.  

Having hiked through the Wheaton Green Buffer several times, I have seen evidence that all such elements are present in this buffer.  For instance, here is a photo of a specimen tree in the heart of this green buffer area.  

Yet, the application for an FCP exemption submitted last July by Westfield indicates otherwise; it did not indicate the extent of forest and tree cover, and said nothing about specimen trees (e.g. large trees of a minimum Diameter).

More recently, Westfield's engineering firm, Bohler, submitted a stormwater concept plan to the Department of Permitting Services for the Costco gas station proposal that shows delineation of a stream buffer within this green forested buffer area.  (See page 4 of our letter to Amy Lindsey; this is a copy of the stormwater concept plan showing delineation of a stream buffer within the green buffer area.)  

I frequently hear complaints about the perceived high cost of green infrastructure retrofits, from managers and engineers.  But what about protecting the green infrastructure that we already have, so that we don't have to invest in retrofits in the future?  What we need in this case is full enforcement of environmental law, and the environmental provisions of the Wheaton Sector Plan.  

Through such enforcement, the public doesn't have to spend money later to attempt to re-create and re-engineer the flood protection, pollution filtration, community protection, and beauty that naturally forested and vegetated areas give us.

These are some of the reasons why the FCP exemption must be recalled, and why Westfield and its contractors must be required to accurately document, protect and preserve this resource. 

 

 

Montgomery County Green Street Initiatives

So many good ideas suffer from being isolated and held in separate siloes, when they are so much more powerful when combined with other good ideas.  Such is the case with a whole basket of good ideas: Smart Growth, Revitalization of older suburbs, health and walkability, small business support, and green streets that are people- and stream-friendly.

Today, Kaid Benfield of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) posted a piece on his blog that combines these ideas, in his report on the Montgomery County Planning Department's partnership with leading edge urban designer Peg Staheli of SvR.  (Full disclosure:  I consult to NRDC on local stormwater issues, and am a former NRDC staffer.)  Kaid's post highlights Montgomery's plans, based on Peg's designs, to do a green makeover of Fairland Road on the County's east side, and Marinelli Road in Rockville.

I attended Peg's October lecture at the Planning Board in Silver Spring and found it to be informative and inspirational.

Our Department of Environmental Protection has already been building green street retrofit projects in several neighborhoods, including Arcola Ave. in Silver Spring in the Kemp Mill area, in conjunction with our Department of Transportation.

Here is a photo I took this fall of a streetside rain garden on Arcola:

 

 

This NRDC post is one of the first I've seen to link the concept of suburban redevelopment and smart growth, with green stormwater infrastructure and walkability. 

As we watch our portfolios and pensions shrink, and we Baby Boomers are now expected to work until we are 70 years or older, there is a silver lining:  most of us will want to build walking into our daily routine to help us stay in shape and get to our jobs without driving.  I believe that job-creating small businesses will want to locate where more people want to walk and bike, rather than to drive.  Increasingly, such desirable neighborhoods are in the older "inner core" suburbs that have rebuilt their streets to be greener, tree-lined and shadier, and more stream-friendly.

Montgomery County has invested in Westfield - will Westfield now invest in us?

On Tuesday, November 29, the Montgomery County Council will vote on the Wheaton Sector Plan.

Sector Plans are a type of Master Plan, and they matter because they determine the land use pattern of our neighborhoods and communities.  One of the most contentious parts of the Wheaton Sector Plan is the Westfield District - the Westfield-Wheaton Shoppingtown Mall, and the communities that surround it.

Montgomery County gave Westfield Group $6 million to help them bring Macy's department store to Wheaton.  In order to fill the space left when Hecht's vacated, Westfield is bringing in a Costco store, with the help of a $4 million County grant. $2 million of that grant was appropriated this fiscal year by the County Council and given to Westfield.

By the time the Costco redevelopment project is built, Montgomery's taxpayers will have given $10 million to Westfield over a ten-year period - and that doesn't count the tax breaks and other forms of financial largesse that Montgomery has given and will keep on giving to Westfield.

What are we getting in return for our investment in Westfield-Wheaton?  The answer to that question is not clear, but the Wheaton Sector Plan could help to answer that question by expanding and fully protecting the green forested buffer in the Sector Plan's Westfield District.  

Even without the proposed Costco gas station -- which community, environmental and watershed groups oppose - the Costco redevelopment is a large non-transit-oriented commercial project that will have many negative impacts.  On the positive side, the Wheaton Sector Plan is a chance for the County to ensure that the negative impacts are well-buffered and that the Westfield District connects walkers and cyclists to downtown Wheaton and the metro station in a safe, comfortable manner.  The current Sector Plan has walkers and cyclists sharing the Ring Road with the increased car and truck traffic that the Costco will bring.  This is neither safe nor comfortable, nor environmentally sound.  

Environmental, watershed, and civic groups, including Audubon Naturalist Society, Anacostia Watershed Society, Friends of Sligo Creek, Rock Creek Conservancy,  are asking the Montgomery County Council to require the permanent protection and a moderate expansion of the existing 5-acre forest buffer between Westfield's Ring Road and the surrounding community.  

We have asked for a 20-foot expansion of the buffer into the current parking lane on the Ring Road.  This 20-foot expansion could be a multi-functional green infrastructure permeable pavement travelway for walkers and cyclists, that is bordered on either side by trees and rain gardens.  We are asking the Montgomery County Council to codify this buffer protection and multi-functional green infrastructure buffer expansion in the Wheaton Sector Plan text and maps.

I also have written to Westfield Corporation Senior Vice President Clive Mackenzie requesting the same commitment - to protect and expand the green forested buffer,  as part of Westfield's investment in our community and our green infrastructure - watershed restoration efforts.

 

County Executive Leggett persists in turning Nick's Organic Farm into Soccer Fields

Today is Thanksgiving Day, and like many other Americans, at least part of my meal will be organic food.  My family and I buy (and grow) organic food whenever possible because we don't want to load our bodies with pesticides.  Nor do we want to pollute our drinking water supplies with pesticide runoff from conventional farms.  Montgomery County has a nationally-and internationally-known working organic farm:  Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac.  But its lease to use County land runs out in a month -- on December 31, 2011. And County Executive Leggett plans to kick Nick off of his farm and replace it with some soccer fields.  

The Potomac Almanac  is reporting that on the same day (Wednesday, 11/16/11) that supporters of Nick's Organic Farm rallied in Rockville and presented close to 50,000 petition signatures to County Executive Leggett, a spokesperson for Mr. Leggett, Patrick Lacefield, said that the County was moving forward with the bidding process for conversion of the farm into soccer fields.

Mr. Lacefield noted in the Potomac Almanac piece that a quick look showed that about 2500 of the 49,000 petition signatures were people from Montgomery County.  If this is indeed the case, then to my thinking it's a sign that not only do thousands of Montgomery residents strongly support the preservation of Nick's Organic Farm, but so do tens of thousands of people from around the country and around the world.

The organic food industry in the U.S. and around the world has been growing by leaps and bounds. Consumer demand for organic food has experienced double-digit growth over the past decade, though demand for organic food has slowed down due to the recession.  Still, the USDA estimates that the organic retail sales in the U.S. were valued at $23 billion in 2009.

Where is Montgomery County's commitment to preserving our existing farms?  Nick's Organic Farm may not technically be part of our Agricultural Reserve, but it is a gem of a working farm.  Its ability to produce seed crops without pesticides means that it is helping to keep our Potomac River drinking water supplies flowing clean.

Please  call County Executive Leggett and ask him to Save Nick's Organic Farm - and to find another more appropriate place for the soccer fields.  Ike's number is:  (240) 777-2550.

 

 

Nick's Organic Farm Supporters to County Executive Leggett: Please Save this Farm!

On Wednesday, November 16, 2011, about 50 supporters of Nick's Organic Farm, including Nick himself, rallied in Rockville in the rain, and presented over 40,000 petition signatures to County Executive Leggett.  We urged Mr. Leggett to preserve this famous 31-year-old, 20-acre organic farm.  

Audubon Naturalist Society Executive Director Neal Fitzpatrick and Maryland Conservation Associate Dolores Milmoe are strong supporters of farmer Nick Maravell.  ANS wants to see Nick's Organic Farm remain in production, both for the organic seeds that it produces, and the clean water supplies that it protects.

Montgomery College Ecology Club President Rebeca Rodriguez spoke at the rally.

Montgomery College Ecology Club President Rebeca Rodriguez speaks at the November 16 Rally in Rockville in favor of preserving Nick's Organic Farm -- instead of building soccer fields on that site -- while Anita and Sara Shor listen.  Ms. Rodriguez noted, "We have a nationwide issue when it comes to our food system, and having organic farms in our community is extremely beneficial to our health if we truly take advantage of them."

 

 Rebeca Rodriguez' speech was inspiring to me, and I reprint it here with permission:

As the President of the Green Club at Montgomery College Rockville Campus, I speak on
behalf of my club members and the students that find this issue to be critical. This issue
caught the Green Club's attention because not only is this farm a great source of education
but it is the only organic seed farm that we have in the state. With the overwhelming support
that we received during a petition-signing event, we all agreed that we do not need over
500 soccer fields, let alone pay-to-play soccer fields. Supporting local businesses and
organic farming is on the agenda of our community. We have a nationwide issue when it
comes to our food system, and having organic farms in our community is extremely
beneficial to our health if we truly take advantage of them. Saving this organic farm is a
great way to attack the food system crisis on a local level. We have received great support
from individuals across and outside the country. This farm is a gem that has been
underestimated, but if you look closely you will find that it shines the brightest in the eyes of
my peers and thousands of other supporters that agree that this organic farm is a
necessity because it provides sustainable food sources and positive environmental
impacts such as reduced runoff and erosion including improved water quiality. We should
benefit all of Montgomery County's students by making Nick's farm into an educational hub
where people can come and learn about local and sustainable food, agriculture, the
organic soil, water and environment that sustain us. Why build four pay-to-play soccer
fields when kids go to the free soccer fields that their school already provides for them?
The community is demanding this farm that cannot be placed elsewhere -- unlike a soccer
field. I represent the students at Montgomery College, we are part of this community and we
demand this educational resource for our future. Thank you.

Following the speeches, we trooped up to the Executive Office Building, second floor offices of the County Executive, and we delivered over 40,000 petition signatures to Joy Nurmi, an aide to County Executive Leggett.  In the picture  below, Joy's hand is on the stack of 40,000+ signatures urging the saving of Nick's Organic Farm, and next to her is organizer Sara Shor and Nick Maravell.

 

 

To get active on this issue and to learn more, visit the Nick's Organic Farm web site.

 

 

A fuller picture on saving the last Green Forest Buffer in the Wheaton Sector Plan

Late on Friday, I received a helpful piece of information from planner Khalid Afzal of the Montgomery Planning Department - he sent me an email to let us know that the green forest buffer area currently is approximately 5 acres in size and ranges from about 30 feet to 200 feet in depth.

Here are two graphics that show the location, extent and shape of the last green forest buffer in the Wheaton Sector Plan.  The first was made by ANS staffer Dolores Milmoe, with help from Kensington Heights resident Danila Sheveiko - it shows the forest buffer outlined in yellow dashed lines, along with other key aspects of the Costco project and its proposed gas station.

The second graphic was done by Danila, and it shows the extent of the forest buffer outlined in green, and the two extensions of the buffer, Outlot B and Mount McComas, that were sold by Westfield corporation recently to developers.  They comprised about one-half of the forest buffer area, so with their development the community's and watersheds' buffer protection is cut in half -- from a roughly ten-acre forest buffer, down to only about 5 acres.

A growing coalition of civic and watershed leaders is requesting the Council's help in permanently protecting and expanding this green forest buffer through specific language and map revisions for the Wheaton Sector Plan.

For more information:  contact me at dcameron@audubonnaturalist.org

View this photo

View this photo

 

Wheaton Sector Plan - The Council supports protection of the last forest buffer in downtown Wheaton.

 Yesterday, Tuesday Nov. 15, 2011, the Montgomery County Council held a worksession on the Wheaton Sector Plan.  Below is my thank-you letter to Council President Ervin and the other councilmembers, regarding their support for adopting watershed restoration of Sligo Creek and Lower Rock Creek as core Sector Plan Objectives.  

The Council also gave its support to the goal of protecting and preserving the last remaining forested buffer in the Wheaton Sector Plan area - and they directed me to work with Planner Khalid Afzal and Council staffer Marlene Michaelson on green buffer area protection language that all can accept.  The green forested buffer in question is adjacent to the "Ring Road" at the Westfield Wheaton mall.   I am now working on the following:  

1) Finding out the size of this forest buffer - how many acres does it comprise at present?  I requested the help of Montgomery County Planning Department staff in determining this fact, but in an email to me yesterday from Mr. Afzal, my information request was denied.

2) Suggesting specific language revisions to the Wheaton Sector Plan that will ensure that this crucial forest buffer is expanded and permanently preserved, so that it provides adequate protection for the community and for the two watersheds that it drains to -- Sligo Creek (Anacostia) and Lower Rock Creek.

Since one of the first steps in protecting a land parcel, is knowing its size, the refusal of the Montgomery County Planning Department to make this measurement - when they have staff who are ready and able to do this with their Geographic Information System tools - makes no sense.

 

Here is my thank-you letter to the Council:

November 15, 2011

The Honorable Valerie Ervin, President

Montgomery County Council

100 Maryland Ave.

Rockville, MD

Via email

Dear Council President Ervin and Councilmembers,

Thank you for your support for strengthening the community protection and environmental aspects of the Wheaton Sector Plan.  Based on today’s Council worksession, my understanding is that there are three places in the Wheaton Sector Plan where the Council supports stronger and more specific environmental provisions:

• At the bottom of page 7, the text will be amended to indicate that Wheaton "contains portions of the Sligo Creek (of the Upper Anacostia) and Rock Creek Watersheds."

• On page 10, the environmental overarching principle will be amended with the underlined statement:

The natural and built environments can be improved through development that reduces energy consumption, contributes to the restoration of Wheaton Branch of Sligo Creek, and the Silver Creek tributary of Rock Creek and provides better stormwater management, greater tree canopy, and walkable streets.

• On page 48:  Regarding the existing green, forested buffer area along the Westfield Ring Road, I pointed out to the Council today that the first step in achieving the restoration of Sligo Creek and Rock Creek and their Wheaton tributaries, is to protect and expand this existing green buffer area.  Based on the discussion at today’s Council worksession, my understanding is that the Council supports our request for strengthening and clarifying language to be added to the Wheaton Sector Plan on this point, and that we need to work out the language that all parties, including the Planning Board and staff, the Council and its staff, and Audubon Naturalist Society can support and accept. 

 I am now working with Marlene Michaelson and Khalid Afzal to clarify and strengthen the Sector Plan on this provision;  I am hopeful that we can work out language in the next couple of days that all parties can support that will: 

* permanently and clearly protect this buffer through easements or equivalent or stronger legal tools, and

       * expand this buffer by a certain numerically-defined increase (we requested a 20-foot width increase in the buffer area), in order to provide improved watershed protection and restoration functions and improved community protections.  

Thank you again for your support for making environmental protection and restoration clear and strong elements of the Wheaton Sector Plan.

Yours for clean water and healthy communities,

Diane Cameron                                                                                                                                                      Conservation Program Director                                                                                                                                Audubon Naturalist Society

 

 

Wheaton Sector Plan - restoring watersheds requires protecting forest buffers

Tomorrow morning, 11/15/11 at 10:25 am, the Montgomery County Council will hold a worksession on the Wheaton Sector Plan.  I will be there -- and I urge others who care about the creation of a walkable, convivial, green downtown Wheaton to attend this worksession. 

For over a year now I have joined with grassroots activists along with Friends of Sligo Creek and the Rock Creek Conservancy, to advocate for watershed restoration through the redevelopment decisions that will be determined by the revamped Wheaton Sector Plan.  Today, the staff memo on the Wheaton Sector Plan recommended inclusion of one of our major "asks" - which is that the restoration of Sligo Creek and Rock Creek watersheds (specifically, Wheaton Branch of Sligo Creek and Silver Creek tributary of Rock Creek) be inserted as an explicit, core objective of this Sector plan.

We applaud this recommendation, since it will encourage greater use of green infrastructure:  green roofs, permeable pavement, and larger street trees.  These are technologies that reduce polluted runoff and enable the beneficial reuse of captured stormwater; they can carry ancillary benefits like higher local property values, more vibrant street life yielding more shoppers at downtown stores, and other improved social and economic indicators.

We also continue to request that the Council amend the Wheaton Sector Plan to require that the existing forest buffer along the Westfield Wheaton mall Ring Road be expanded and protected.  We have provided a one-page fact sheet that shows the existence of this crucial forest buffer - and the fact that it is not currently protected by Conservation Easements. 

Download Existing Conservation Easements in the Vicinity of the Westfield Wheaton mall.

Download WSP letter to Council President Ervin from ANS-FOSC-FORCE-8-31-11-1