Community Environmental Concerns about White Oak Science Gateway Plan

July 28, 2014

The Honorable Craig Rice, President

Montgomery County Council

100 Maryland Avenue

Rockville, Maryland

Dear Council President Rice and Members of the Montgomery County Council:

As civic leaders in Montgomery County, we strongly support economic development in the White Oak area, and we welcome the additional quality employment opportunities and community amenities that the White Oak Science Gateway (WOSG) Master Plan envisions.

We are concerned, however, that the proposed Master Plan does not incorporate sufficient protection for the sensitive and fragile natural environment in the Plan area. If stringent and effective stormwater, site design and restoration requirements are not built into the WOSG plan, water from large storms funneled off of large buildings, structures and other impervious surfaces will continue to overwhelm minimal Environmental Site Design (ESD) stormwater devices, and continue to gouge bigger and deeper gullies into Paint Branch Stream Valley Park, degrading Paint Branch, the Anacostia River, and the Chesapeake Bay. As now written, the White Oak Science Gateway plan falls far short of integrating the remedial actions and ‘beyond compliance’ stormwater management that is needed to turn the tide on this devastating pollution problem in the White Oak area.

We urge that the WOSG Master Plan incorporate the strongest possible and most effective environmental protections for this very large plan area.

Specifically, we call on the County Council to address, in the WOSG Master Plan, Montgomery County’s need to comply with the stormwater and watershed restoration requirements of current Federal, State and County laws to meet all Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for the Anacostia watershed portion of the County.

We request that the WOSG plan create a step-by-step framework to achieving the allocated stormwater loading reductions in the White Oak area of middle Paint Branch through site-by-site land use planning and design requirements, including ESD stormwater management and conveyance designs that go beyond compliance, in order to reduce runoff from larger storms from existing and new impervious areas.

We further request that, in compliance with current water resource laws and mandates, Montgomery County fully catalog and create a remedial action plan to remedy the problems created by existing development in the WOSG plan area, including the gullies in Paint Branch Stream Valley Park in the section south of Tech Road and East of Route 29.

We further request that the County Council establish an effective reforestation and tree canopy increase goal (such as that suggested in the Planning Department’s tree canopy study conducted with the University of Vermont) and create a plan that is embedded within the WOSG Master Plan, to meet that goal. To be effective, the tree canopy plan within the WOSG must include property-specific goals.

Thank you for your consideration of our views.

Alan Bowser, President, Park Hills Civic Association

Woody Brosnan, former President of North Woodside Montgomery Hills Citizens Association

Lydia Sullivan, Kensington, Maryland

Chris Richardson, Vice President, Park Hills Civic Association

Keith Sanderson, Rockville, Maryland

Harriet Quinn, Vice President, Woodmoor-Pinecrest Citizens Association

Barbara Hoover, Potomac, Maryland

Tony Hausner, Past President, Indian Springs Citizens Association

Kathy Westra, Silver Spring, Maryland

George Zokle, Silver Spring, Maryland

Peggy Dennis, Potomac, Maryland

Jean Cavanaugh, President, Seven Oaks - Evanswood Citizens Association

Diana Conway, Potomac, Maryland

Larry Dickter, Vice President, South Four Corners Citizens Association

Sherry Bonner, Silver Spring, Maryland

Michael McDonough, President, Woodmoor-Pinecrest Citizens Association

Dave West, Former Vice President, South Four Corners Citizens Association

James Anderson, Silver Spring, Maryland

Bernadine Karns, President, Calverton Citizens Association

Jim Zepp, Northwood - Four Corners Civic Association

June Henderson, Silver Spring, Maryland

Danila Sheveiko, Kensington Heights, Maryland

Tracy Jacobs, Silver Spring, Maryland

Kathleen Samiy, Past President, Seven Oaks - Evanswood Citizens Association

Angie Gilp, Silver Spring, Maryland

Jay Elvove, Vice President, North Hills of Sligo Creek Civic Association

Kit Gage, President, Friends of Sligo Creek

Ann Vorce, Silver Spring, Maryland

Tom Armstrong, Secretary, Seven Oaks - Evanswood Citizens Association

Virginia Sheard, Kensington View, Maryland

Barry Wides, President, North White Oak Civic Association

Anne James, Timber Oak Citizens Association

Carole Ann Barth, Past President, Montgomery County Civic Federation

Paul Guinnessy, Secretary, Park Hills Civic Association

Michael Gravitz, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Barry Wides, President, North White Oak Civic Association

Linda Keenan, Silver Spring, Maryland

Dr. Charlotte Coffield, President, Lyttonsville Community Civic Association

Peter Murtha, Silver Spring, Maryland

Sharon Dooley, Upcounty Action

Pablo Blank, Rockville, Maryland

Sylvia Tognetti, Silver Spring, Maryland

Diane Cameron, Conservation Director, Audubon Naturalist Society

Paula Bienenfeld, President, Montgomery County Civic Federation

James Graham, President, Neighbors of the Northwest Branch