Letter from Marc Elrich Regarding the EYA Proposed Plan

Marc Elrich was one of only three County Council
members who voted to grant the Seven Oaks
Evanswood neighborhood's request
for oral argument against EYA's proposed
development on the Chelsea School site. 

In response to a Seven Oaks Evanswood resident's open letter to the County Council expressing disappointment that the majority of the County Council refused to grant the Seven Oaks Evanswood Citizens' Association's ("SOECA") request for oral argument against EYA's application to rezone the Chelsea School to the second densest zoning available for townhouse development,

Marc Elrich - one of only three County Council members to vote in favor of SOECA's right to be heard - stated the following:

"I too was dismayed by the outcome of the vote...I have had serious concerns about this development all along, and I did not believe that the changes sufficiently addressed my concerns.  I believe that the approved plan violates the intention of the North and West Silver Spring Master Plan.  The proposed project of townhomes is too dense given its proximity to the adjacent single-family neighborhood. 

The master plan for the area included a conscious decision that the buffer between the R-60 zone and the more dense zones would be along Cedar Street; that is, the single-family detached homes along Cedar Street which were recommended to be special exceptions for non-resident professional offices (some are still owner occupied).  In fact, during the master plan process, there was some discussion about allowing townhomes along Cedar Street but the decision was made to leave them as they are now.  The idea was that when one drove by them, they looked like part of a single-family neighborhood. 

The reclassification of the Chelsea School property eliminates that buffer and violates the conscious decision stated in the master plan that the transition between the CBD and the R-60 zones would be on Cedar Street.  Furthermore, I believe that the Hearing Examiner's decision did not sufficiently protect the environmental and historic resources in the area." [Emphasis added]

It is a shame that other County Council members, including another former citizens association president, Nancy Floreen, as well as Craig Rice, Hans Reimer, Nancy Navarro, and George Levanthal, chose not to respect the recommendations of the North and West Silver Spring Master Plan.