A Unified Body of Civic Associations Founded To Enhance the Quality of Life in the Kensington Area

MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS (NUMBER OF HOMES) CAPITOL VIEW PARK (330) GARRETT PARK CITIZENS ASSOCIATION (325) KENGAR (110) KENSINGTON ESTATES (425) KENSINGTON HEIGHTS (724) KENSINGTON VIEW (125) PARKWOOD (925) ROCK CREEK HILLS (660) ROCK CREEK PALISADES (1,700)

Coalition of Kensington Communities

May 14, 2012 TO: FROM: Montgomery County Council (via email) Coalition of Kensington Communities

The Coalition of Kensington Communities (CKC) is a unified body of Kensington-area civic associations with the goal of enhancing the quality of life in the Kensington area. The CKC works with local governments to address issues of development, design, recreation, transportation, pedestrian accessibility, and economic growth affecting greater Kensington. Currently, the CKC membership includes 9 civic associations, representing 5,354 single-family households. This letter is written in opposition to the Board of Educations April 17, 2012 recommendation to site BCC Middle School #2 at Rock Creek Hills Park in Kensington. The CKC outlined its opposition to the use of this site for a middle school last fall, and our concerns remain today. We recognize the need for additional middle school capacity in the BCC cluster, and are in support of building an adequate middle school to accommodate the clusters needs. However, the CKC is opposed to replacing Rock Creek Hills Local Park with a middle school for the following reasons: 1. The Council should not vote on a site selection that was based on an unfair, flawed process that failed to objectively evaluate criteria on all of the possible sites. The lack of basic facts and information, including accurate cost estimates for the proposed sites, made it impossible to gauge the relative overall merit of the competing sites. We believe that a decision in the publics best interest requires such an evaluation. 2. What is the compelling public interest and rationale for building a school that does not meet the minimum objective criteria of the MCPS selection process? It is unreasonable to waste taxpayer money on an inadequate school today that fails to meet the majority of MCPSs criteria, with the potential of needing a third middle school because the chosen site is too small to accommodate future growth (as suggested by the BOE at its April 17 meeting). In addition, the destruction of the highly used fields at Rock Creek Hills Park represents a significant loss of recreation opportunities in our Downcounty community. 3. Why is it in the long-term public interest for MCPS to ignore the recommendations of the Montgomery County Planning Board, which does not support the decision to take Rock Creek Hills Park from the Parks Department to build a middle school? The Planning Board has identified serious concerns about the site selection process that led to this decision, including an inability to adequately compare and contrast impacts and costs between the top two candidate sites, Rock Creek Hills and North Chevy Chase parks. The Planning Board has said it is willing to discuss the much larger NCC Park in order to minimize impacts on park users. We ask that the Council not commit funds to this site yet, to allow time for M-NCPPC to enter into discussions with the BOE to negotiate an alternative that would enable the county to meet both school and recreational needs, and would not dismantle the highly utilized Rock Creek Hills Park. Copy: Isiah Leggett, Montgomery County Executive Shirley Brandman, Montgomery County Board of Education President Franoise Carrier, Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board