Reply to Petition about residential treatment ctr by Greenwood Elementary

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't disagree with you in theory, but as an advocacy campaign this needs some work.

First of all, lose the talking points about property values. That's muddying the waters and making it look like student safety is an afterthought rather than the point of the campaign.

Second, focus on this case as an example of the needs for better laws county-wide. As the law stands, this company is absolutely within its legal rights to be where it is. So the point is to change the zoning/regulations, not just to "save" this one elementary school.

Third, why are you listing BoE as decision-makers? Is the theory of change that you could get them to pressure the County? That's a dicey proposition, as there is not really any love lost between BoE and County Council. [/quote]

The best advocacy strategy is to lawyer up, but this for-profit FL-based company is big and savvy enough to have retained and conflicted out at the usual suspect firms.

Agreed re: talking points about the inappropriate nature of having any such facility border a school—particularly one of this size and scope. MCPS should have visibility on this, as should the Board of Education. Nobody is foolish enough to think they have the power to stop this, but a multipronged advocacy strategy should include visibility by all pertinent stakeholders—and ideally some concern and advocacy. At a minimum, mcps and the county should be negotiating with the company to erect a high quality privacy fence AND landscaping.

Agreed RE: changing the zoning laws moving forward. But the advocacy strategy for the moment should be retaining counsel to prevent this 16+ bed facility from moving forward. The County Executive and County Council exercise their authority in myriad ways when they are so moved, yet they seem to feel powerless here. Strange, no?

Re: home values - the entire neighborhood will be impacted by such a large and obvious acute treatment facility. Why? Because who will want to buy into a neighborhood that feeds into Greenwood? Who wants their kids on a playground bordering this? And that’s why everyone that feeds into this school should care.

Lastly, this will continue to happen across our county. Why wouldn’t this FL-based company continue to build and operate oversized facilities in neighborhoods unless someone pushes back? [/quote]

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