Two Important Upcoming Events

1. Public Meeting with EYA to Discuss EYA's Development Plans for the Chelsea School Site

This Monday, July 16th, EYA will be holding a public meeting at the Riggs Tompson historic house on the Chelsea School property (Pershing entrance).  The meeting will be quite short - only an hour - from 7pm to 8pm.  EYA is holding this meeting because the Planning Department requires them to do so.  We encourage you to attend to ask questions and get details on this overly dense development inside of our neighborhood.  EYA has, in the past, used this meetings as a PR stratagem to justify their actions and to argue that the community supports them wholeheartedly. 

Please tell EYA that they must save the mature tree canopy on the Chelsea
School site.  The canopy - consisting of mature trees nearly 100 years old - are both an
environmental and cultural treasure to the community.

Please attend and let them know that you have concerns and will be monitoring them.  The Chelsea School Task Force, appointed by SOECA, has identified several issues with the proposed development which are of great concern to the community.  The proposed development raises issues regarding stormwater management, loss of mature tree canopy (EYA plans to cut down 77 mature trees - some which have been alive for nearly 100 year), the undermining of neighborhood traffic protection plans, and endangering the historic setting around the Riggs Thompson house.  The County Council chose to ignore all of these issues when they approved EYA's proposed rezoning without giving us a chance for oral arguments.  This is one of your last, best chances to make yourself heard.

To view a slideshow of endangered Chelsea School Trees, please visit the following site:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/96552856/Endangered-Chelsea-School-Trees

2. Public Stakeholder Meeting on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

On Tuesday, July 27, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will be presenting its draft plan for our state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020.   The MDE is encouraging public comment on the plan as a whole as well as on the 65 control measures that comprise the plan, and welcomes any new ideas that members of the general public may have.

Attend the meeting at the Silver Spring Library to learn how experts think Maryland will be impacted by global warming in the coming decades, as well as how the state is hoping to slow down the growth of green house gas emissions in Maryland this decade.

What: Public Stakeholder Meeting on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction
When: Tuesday, July 17, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Where: Silver Spring Library, 8901 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910

More information can be found at: http://www.mde.state.md.us/programs/Air/ClimateChange/Pages/Air/climatechange/legislation/index.aspx/