Reply to BCC Middle School Site Selction number 2

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Keep it coming, Kensington crowd. Still gotta wonder why you guys are so hell bent on keeping the school out of your neighborhood. Can someone please explain?

And btw, still time to find a new argument to cover your NIMBYism. Arguing that the school should be at Lynnbrook because (you think) the Parks department favors it there is like saying we should have the Solid Waste department determining the curriculum: they have a relevant interest, but not a determinative one. Parks don't pick my schools, and neither does one very insular neighborhood. And btw, word has it that the Parks department doesn't oppose RCH as the new middle school site... just the neighbors.[/quote]

When KJH closed, the site was divided, and over 1/3 of it was transferred to HOC, along with the separate access road to the site.  The remainder was transferred to Parks after considerable study by Planning. That study concluded, among other things, that the site had "severe topology," and that the infrastructure in the neighborhood was not suitable for modification to sustain intense dual use development.

In addition, at the time, 2 Council Resolutions and an Executive Order, all of which are referenced in the transfer agreement between Parks and the County, enumerated significant site use concerns surrounding compatible dual use, traffic limitations, preservation of the natural features, and where construction is to take place on the site.

In light of the foregoing, the county arrived at the elder care facility-park scenario as the best balance.  Now, however, as the community faces an addition to the balanced dual use of the site, none of these issues is being addressed.

Then, there's the development of the site.  Two regulation soccer fields were developed with specific federal and/or state funds, which carry legal restrictions on converting the land from park use.  At the last SSAC meeting, MCPS announced that it sees no obstacle to using the site.  I'm not so sure. The law in question says that land "acquired or developed" with the funds in question may not be converted from park use without going through some rigorous processes.  Given MCPS' track record, I suspect they're screwing up this issue, as well, and will be costing us more tax dollars as it fights the issue in court.

Anyway, you can dump on the Kensingtonians all you want, but if you're honest with yourself, I think you'd have to admit that, under the same circumstances, you would be fighting just as hard as they are fighting.[/quote]

Honestly I would not.  I've already said the park in my neighborhood should be considered (although I don't agree it's the only reasonable spot for a school, and I don't appreciate people from Kensington saying it is).  It would never occur to me to sue MCPS over siting a badly needed school, much less on a site that MCPS owned and allowed to be used as a park.  It's not MCPS who will be costing us tax dollars to fight the issue in court-- it's the people who are trying to make a federal case out of it.

I think in the last selection process MCPS left people with the impression that they could be bullied out of selecting a specific site and unfortunately now people are making that their game plan, but don't try to justify it as being reasonable or that anyone would do the same.[/quote]

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