EYA plans to cut down 77 trees on the Chelsea School property, including white oaks that are a century old. As you will see from our video, these are not small, decorative trees, but a surviving remnant of the forests that used to cover Montgomery County, and from which the neighborhood of Seven Oaks/Evanswood derives its name.
Trees are vital to the health of our local environment. According to Montgomery County:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/environment/documents/TreeCanopy_Report_MontgomeryCountyFinal.pdf
Tree canopy (TC) is the layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above. Tree canopy provides many benefits to communities, improving water quality, saving energy, lowering city temperatures, reducing air pollution, enhancing property values, providing wildlife habitat, facilitating social and educational opportunities, and providing aesthetic benefits. Establishing a tree canopy goal is crucial for communities seeking to improve their green infrastructure and livability. A tree canopy assessment is the first step in this goal-setting process, providing estimates for the amount of tree canopy currently present in a county as well as the amount of tree canopy that could theoretically be established.
Montgomery County also has laws and policies in place dedicated to preserving and protecting its urban forests.
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dectmpl.asp?url=/content/dep/climatechange/treelaws.asp
We understand that in order to build townhouses, EYA must cut down some trees, but what we do not understand is EYA’s unwillingness to consider preserving some of the most valuable trees on the property, trees that will improve the setting of the new development, block noise from downtown Silver Spring, screen buildings, and absorb stormwater keeping it from running into Sligo Creek. “Smart Growth” may sound nice in theory, but if it means clear-cutting the trees on the Chelsea School site, then it practice, it is not "smart."
Write to Robert Youngentob, EYA, 4800 Hampden Lane, Suite 300, Bethesda, MD 20814 and ask EYA to PRESERVE the trees on the Chelsea School property in Silver Spring.
