Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

She made it clear she wasn't interested in being re-elected, or serving her community. She should just resign if she hates the job so much.

Surprised to hear Luedtke show up like that. She usually is staunchly in favor of public safety and security.

Her talking points and attitude made clear that she thinks having 16+ severely mentally ill/addicted patients living next to a school while they are in the throes of their illness such that they require 24/7 residential treatment just isn’t a risk or a big deal at all. Moreover, she made clear that she thinks voters with concerns—including those currently living near a similar facility who can point to actual incidents/issues that have happened—are just cruel or clueless NIMBYs.

She made a comment that parents should be more concerned with school violence than this facility. That’s when everyone realized she was trying to divert attention (at best) and perhaps shame/scold voters who aren’t supportive.

She’s a politician…married to a former politician who was an advisor to Gov. Wes Moore. Of course she’s pro-business. This Florida based big business has likely thrown money her way for her next campaign.

Write to the CE and all council members. Tell them the county needs to find a way to handle this. They can incentivize the business to move elsewhere. Tell our elected leaders that we need common sense leadership now. Several of these folks will be running for County Executive soon enough. Make clear that we won’t forget this ridiculous lapse in leadership. They also must fix this zoning law moving forward. Eight patients/people with significant issues should not be permitted in a SFH—particularly when run by a for-profit business with multiple staff. It’s just too many. Four people in a 4 bedroom house with a 24/7 staff presence seems like a sensible upper limit for a nonprofit operating in a SFH in a residential neighborhood…and even that scenario doesn’t belong next to a school.

Anything bigger shouldn’t be in a neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:Some news coverage by WTOP:

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2025/03/maryland-residents-outraged-over-drug-rehab-facility-near-montgomery-co-school/

Wow! Kudos to the community for showing out and turning up!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

She made it clear she wasn't interested in being re-elected, or serving her community. She should just resign if she hates the job so much.

Surprised to hear Luedtke show up like that. She usually is staunchly in favor of public safety and security.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

She made it clear she wasn't interested in being re-elected, or serving her community. She should just resign if she hates the job so much.

She won’t resign, and she likely has higher political aspirations.

Her husband worked for Governor Wes Moore and held an elected position at the state level himself.

If she doesn’t fix this, then voters will need to be reminded of her failure as well as her attitude.

Ditto for Craig Zucker who lives in the neighborhood impacted by this (a stone’s throw from the school). He could do something to help at the state level, and he could voice something at the local level.

These two elected “leaders” have been silent publicly. And Councilmember Luedtke opted to insult her constituents at the meeting last night rather than take a stand and attempt to lead.

There must be better options for leaders.

Local politicians don't care. Voters in this county vote for the same types of politicians over and over. It's clear MoCo local politicians are more concerned with their own political aspirations than with actually serving the population.

Some news coverage by WTOP:

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2025/03/maryland-residents-outraged-over-drug-rehab-facility-near-montgomery-co-school/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

She made it clear she wasn't interested in being re-elected, or serving her community. She should just resign if she hates the job so much.

She won’t resign, and she likely has higher political aspirations.

Her husband worked for Governor Wes Moore and held an elected position at the state level himself.

If she doesn’t fix this, then voters will need to be reminded of her failure as well as her attitude.

Ditto for Craig Zucker who lives in the neighborhood impacted by this (a stone’s throw from the school). He could do something to help at the state level, and he could voice something at the local level.

These two elected “leaders” have been silent publicly. And Councilmember Luedtke opted to insult her constituents at the meeting last night rather than take a stand and attempt to lead.

There must be better options for leaders.

It was such an unpolished performance of a local politician-- kind of shocking to see. She could have feigned empathy while laying out the pain points and why nothing could be done-- but she didn't even do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

She made it clear she wasn't interested in being re-elected, or serving her community. She should just resign if she hates the job so much.

+1
What she made clear to me that she does not care about protecting the community needs.

There was a very good discussion in the Olney neighborhood Facebook group, but the moderators, always censoring, turned comments off.

Anonymous wrote:At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

She made it clear she wasn't interested in being re-elected, or serving her community. She should just resign if she hates the job so much.

At one point in the meeting, a community member brought up the point that the county won’t talk to the community. They will only discuss certain aspects with Dawn Ludke and to ask her. But when the community asked her, she angrily replied that she would not break privileged information to answer our questions!

Nobody’s asking her to break privilege or to break the law, but only asking for answers.

Can’t wait until they start putting these for-profit facilities in Potomac, Bethesda, Kensington, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“I am more concerned with physical violence between students at the schools” -Dawn Ludke

Unbelievable.

She couldn’t care less about the students or the voters who live Nextdoor.

This county council lacks commonsense and prioritizes developers/businesses (like this Florida-based business) over residents and kids.

An addiction facility prioritizes the community. You don't think we have addicts right here? They are much more likely to hurt people while actively using. Give them a chance to heal in a skilled facility.

And yeah, I agree with Dawn. The violence against kids in schools is a much bigger issue than a 16 bed facility. But I guess that doesn't (yet?) affect your home values the way you think this facility will.

Greenwood is a sweet little school in a small neighborhood. There’s no violence happening among the students.

The Florida-based business isn’t entitled to turn a profit by running a large scale facility next to a school. They can put it somewhere else…like two minutes up the road on farmland.

Look, you keep saying "Florida based business" like it is going to change the zoning laws by power of invocation. If you want political support (either from elected officials or those of us reading this thread), tell us how the County can retroactively rezone land that has already been sold, and not end up at the losing end of a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

Buy them out and give them a sweetheart deal or incentive to relocate elsewhere.

#Politics
#Duh

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“I am more concerned with physical violence between students at the schools” -Dawn Ludke

Unbelievable.

She couldn’t care less about the students or the voters who live Nextdoor.

This county council lacks commonsense and prioritizes developers/businesses (like this Florida-based business) over residents and kids.

An addiction facility prioritizes the community. You don't think we have addicts right here? They are much more likely to hurt people while actively using. Give them a chance to heal in a skilled facility.

And yeah, I agree with Dawn. The violence against kids in schools is a much bigger issue than a 16 bed facility. But I guess that doesn't (yet?) affect your home values the way you think this facility will.

Greenwood is a sweet little school in a small neighborhood. There’s no violence happening among the students.

The Florida-based business isn’t entitled to turn a profit by running a large scale facility next to a school. They can put it somewhere else…like two minutes up the road on farmland.

All of health care makes a profit in this county.

And how many large residential healthcare facilities are in SFHs in residential neighborhoods?

Where there is a will, there's a way. Let's face it, the county just doesn't want to act, whether its about zoning, or permitting, or maybe (just maybe?) some basic common sense. With the loopholes you could even say they want to encourage this type of activity. Why should anyone want to buy a home in Montgomery County if it turns out businesses can take over their neighborhood? First one property, then two, three, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is this company was sharp. They figured out the loophole in the zoning laws. They targeted these properties. They closed on the deal. There’s literally nothing that can be done retroactively. That’s called smart business. Any lawsuit to try to get some sort of injunction is just burning money.

IMO, all this vitriol and energy needs to be re-focused on: (1) making sure this doesn’t happen again; (2) enforcing any HOA covenants if possible; and (3) making sure this facility toes the line once it opens and making sure the County is prepared to swoop in with quick and harsh enforcement if not. Antagonizing county officials now when there is literally nothing that can be done is wasting political capital.

Yes, it was wildly inappropriate for the owners of this business to build near a school. But they took advantage of the zoning in place for that site, saw an opportunity, and pounced.

If this goes unchecked it will happen again. Once it opens, it will be the “norm”.

Montgomery County will never swoop in. They don’t care about children which is why they let this happen and why Dawn Ludtke could care less.

Advocacy is not called “antagonizing county officials”. It is advocacy to people not doing their job.

Again, tell us what elected officials should do here. The land was purchased legally, under existing zoning. What mechanism do you want County Council to use. Be specific.

OPEN THEIR MOUTHS AND STAND UP FOR CHILDREN.


Is that specific enough for you?

NP. No it’s not. What should they do. Again, everything was done in accordance with the law. There is no power to retroactively undo this.

And while people are afraid, there really isn’t anything that people have said beyond their own worries that anyone has pointed to as dangerous. There are group homes all around, maybe even in your neighborhood, that people don’t even know exist.

Please link to the license application for this company.

Please link to the registration for this company to do business in Maryland.

Please link to the inspections certificates for these homes.

Everything done in accordance with “law.” Prove it.