Following is a policy piece released by council at-large candidate Hans Riemer's campaign connecting transit, the environment and agriculture.
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As we pursue policy change at the national and global level, we must change how we live in Montgomery County to reduce our environmental impact. Here we have vibrant downtowns, leafy suburbs and rolling farmland, all coexisting symbiotically. A core challenge facing policy makers today is how to make sure that generations from now, families will still have the chance to live here with a high quality of life and make decisions for the future that will benefit people for generations to come.
Our environmental challenge is intertwined with our economic and fiscal challenge. As our tax base shrinks, we cannot support our schools and parks. We must bring new jobs and housing to Montgomery County without degrading our quality of life and environment. The key to the right balance is to focus jobs and housing around mass transit hubs, such as Metro stations. By redeveloping in areas that already are fairly dense, we can provide affordable housing and commercial space to attract new businesses without cutting into the Agricultural Reserve or changing the character of quiet neighborhoods. And by offering our residents the ability to live and work near public transportation, we can reduce the number of cars clogging our roads.
Changing our development strategy to prioritize walking, biking and public transportation:
We need new jobs and housing, but we are maxed out on cars. If every job comes with two parking spots and every house with three cars, no-one will be able to drive anywhere. We must change our plan for the future to prioritize walking, biking and public transportation in our new development projects, with a goal for downtown areas that half of all commuting trips should be walking, biking, or transit.
The goal of this change in strategy is not to force everyone to stop driving. Just the opposite -- it is the only way to make sure that people can still drive around the county. Change future development to reduce the number of new cars on the road while offering real alternatives that are better than driving will benefit everyone. We will get there by supporting Metro as a world class system, bringing new light rail with the Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway, protecting RideOn bus services, and building rapid transit routes on our commuting corridors county-wide.
Sustainable Agriculture:
Montgomery County is the only county in the region which still has the ability to produce a substantial amount of agricultural output, and increasing demand for locally-grown food, which is more healthy for our families and our environment, makes protecting the Ag Reserve more important than ever. As recently reported in the Washington Post, agriculture “contributes more than $243 million annually to the county economy, and local farms employ more than 10,000 residents.” We must strengthen protections for the Ag Reserve as we create better incentives to re-develop in areas that already have development outside the Ag Reserve.
Environmental Education:
At the volunteer level, the county can organize neighbors to go door to door and educate people about simple efficiency fixes, and even make some of them, such as weather stripping doors, right on the spot. There are also Federal grants to support this kind of work, and we should work harder to leverage that money into the county during tough budget times. We should focus on county educational programs to teach residents how to achieve long-term cost-savings from simple actions, such as insulating and sealing homes and buildings.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Hans Riemer: Working Together for a Sustainable Montgomery County
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Agriculture, Environment and Open Space Co-exist in the County – For Now
By Sharon Dooley.
This is the weekend of the Montgomery County Farm Tour and Harvest Sale. Several farms are open for tours, produce picking, sales or demonstrations. Take advantage of the opportunity to visit working farms and orchards and further the efforts of the buy local experiences. Yesterday one of the sites I visited was Butlers Orchards near Germantown. There one can find field fruits for picking such as blackberries or just picked vegetables from the fields for sale in the farm stand. Families unloaded from cars and children hurried to pick their choice of fruit. Let’s all hope that our elected and appointed officials ensure that this experience continues for residents of our county.
To get to this farm one must wander through a tucked away and beautiful area along truly rustic roads that traverse dense forests following meandering waterways with the occasional one lane bridge spanning the streams. Here, only moments from 270 and 355, the din from those bustling roads is not evident as the dominant sounds are those of birds, flowing waters and rustling branches. A youngster was spotting hopping across rocks in one stream as the sun glistened through the trees and the waters sparkled. Occasionally a meadow or farm field is spotted up from the narrow lanes that join the routes sometimes-steep inclines, where trees line the edge of the shoulder less roads. These roads have descriptive names such as Wild Cat or Davis Mill and all are urged to explore these quiet places while we can. Unfortunately, also noted, was a small cluster of luxury homes being built along Davis Mill – how long will it be before these homeowners will demand wider roads and straighter exits from their wooded hide-a-ways? How inappropriately sited this development seemed.
Yet, I was reminded that some of this forested area is being considered for yet another highway – one that would carry the traffic from the mid-county highway (soon to be linked to the ICC) from its current terminus in Montgomery Village up through the Brink Road areas to near Clarksburg. It would go again through stream valleys and Seneca Park, while some routes would continue this passage through some of the virgin forests just described. Areas in the Dayspring retreat center, where meadow habitats and lively flowing waters are now protected, would be threatened with destruction. The county has placed signs at spots along Blount Road and other places noting the potential for this highway. Some potential routes would cross waterways in a dozen or more areas and would change the natural resources, degrade water quality and destroy plant and animal life in large measures. This is not stewardship of the environment – a phrase too often tossed around in political circles these days, but given lip service frequently.
Recently I was among those requesting that the Maryland National Capitol Parks and Planning Board delay planned construction in the western area of Clarksburg near 270 because of the potential damage to the Seneca Creek watershed generally (because of impervious surface runoff among other concerns) and the Ten Mile Creek area specifically. Ten Mile Creek – to those of you who are down county – is an actual ford – where the stream waters are often flowing over the road surface. The testimony from Diane Cameron of Storm water partners can be read here and is representative of comments submitted.
The decision was taken to indeed delay this construction; environmentalists throughout the area applauded this action.
The county has spent millions of dollars to restore and reclaim some of our down county creeks and waterways, so it is a real positive note to see that the planning board took this proactive stand. Now – it is hoped that the council will continue to approve this delay despite demands by builders to the contrary. However we cannot just stop there and applaud; the community must remain vigilant and stop allowing channeling of streams as has happened with negative effects in Clarksburg already along with other sensitive areas in the county. Affected communities need to question claims that this actually protects the streams. It has been demonstrated many times that the straight stream is not the most effective way to direct water flow.
In previous County Council testimony, contractors have noted that they are not always following the county water standards. Recent storms have sent mud and water flowing out from the construction sites along the ICC. Large tracts along the path of this monster highway have been cleared and are now clear-cut with no remaining undergrowth to hold storm waters. A recent article in the Washington Post noted the huge culverts and massive bridges that are being built over sensitive areas of the upper Rock Creek and Lake Need wood Park areas. The environment was supposedly protected with a runway for deer and other small animals. These structures were created which keep the traffic flow above the natural beauty below - supposedly minimizing the negative effects of this three Billion dollar highway. How much nicer could it have been if these natural areas had not been disturbed at all?
Now back to the Farms and the upper county areas of beauty and quiet reflection. Is there will in this county to keep these forests, vistas, and farms and nearby crops? Is there a critical mass of those who would speak up for protecting what we have and keeping the Buy Local movement alive? Are the powers of those who would work to build highways at the cost of life quality and protection of the environment and our heritage greater than those who would protect our current choices for moderate growth? This question gives the county a clear choice and whatever choice is made can provide a critical tipping point for county residents, not just for ensuing decades but also maybe for the entire metro area. Can we – should we ever have to – sustain our growth and provide for food, energy, education, employment, transit and shelter for those who will live here?
Friday, November 07, 2008
In the Shadow of Sugar Loaf
By Sharon Dooley.
The fiddlers were a-fiddlin’, the banjos were a-playin’ and the grapes were being stomped on a beautiful country day. The crowds were sippin’ and clappin’ and enjoying the fresh country air. Where in the world were these events happening: California wine country? Nope, it was right here at the upcounty Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard along Comus Road in Montgomery County, which stands literally, in the shadow of our own Sugarloaf Mountain.
On this recent weekend, the vineyard held its annual grape stomp, wine tasting event and vintage wine sales. At the same event, in a special ceremony, Montgomery County’s Countryside Alliance awarded its’ annual Royce Hanson Award to Peg Coleman. Peg is a well-known author and educator, a preservationist and keeper of the countryside integrity, and a guardian of the special natural resources that are the mainstay of the upcounty agricultural reserve. She is a quiet farm oriented person who effectively spreads her messages about this special portion of Montgomery County. Her award was well deserved and cheerfully applauded by the hundreds of attendees, which also included some elected officials.
Royce Hanson, Planning Board Chair, presented the award – for which he had been the first recipient. He was noted to have been the “Father of the Agricultural Reserve” more than 25 years ago, when this area was first set aside, then marking about 93,000 acres of parkland and farmlands and several towns and villages. The original protected area encompassed about one-third of the entire land in Montgomery County. In his remarks he described how this section sets the county apart, even from aloft, as a spot where the prominence of lights in a continuous march down the East Coast is dimmed. He mentioned the importance of ensuring protections for this fragile area, still being threatened with development. He noted how the trees clean the air for all in the county. Sand Mounds and their misuse were also mentioned as a tool that could be used to further fracture the separate peace of this upcounty area of refuge. This topic is yet to be clearly defined by the County Council and this lack of resolution hangs like a sword over the Reserve. There are many who fear that the Ag Reserve will die the death of a thousand cuts as the acreage around the periphery is continually challenged with special requests to add another building or two or more. Limiting the numbers of housing roofs in the Reserve as well as discouraging fragmentation of agricultural lands are both vital concerns in the area. Other discussions have focused on equity for farmer property owners in the form of selling rights for development instead elsewhere in the county in exchange for not developing lands in the Reserve. In an era of fewer county and developer funds, will these options be still in play?
This is a special set-aside where the air is clear and the clamor of the crowded highways is missing. When one looks to the sky one sees the hawk and eagle in flight, not the shadow of high rises. These are the lonely roads where you may end up behind a thresher as you drive along, amid the fields of corn, hay, or soybeans and pass by painted fences corralling grazing horses and nearby stables. On this early autumn day, in the nearby forests, the leaves were starting to change; their colorful array twinkled in the sunshine. One must wonder if this area will still remain a treasured place where we might be able to celebrate the 100th or even the 50th anniversary of its’ special protections.
Sharon Dooley hopes that those of you in the down county who have never explored the beauty of these upcounty areas - will take that country drive –someday soon – while we are still protecting the land here.
Friday, April 18, 2008
We can again breathe…
Written by Sharon Dooley
Sharon Dooley is the Legislative Director of Upcounty Action.
Many of us who live in the Olney area and others across the upper Montgomery County regions who could not vote in the District 4 Council race are now breathing freely again. With the Democratic primary won by Don Praisner, we are confident that the prudent fiscal and moderate growth policies voiced by Marilyn Praisner will continue to be heard in the council chambers, if he defeats the challenger, as expected in May.
Mike Knapp’s comments that the last election was not about growth were echoed by Nancy Navarro as she made the point that growth is contained here. I differ with this opinion significantly and consider it misguided, perhaps even naïve. Growth policy and land-use decisions are an important part of county governance whether it is for in-fill development or in redevelopment of an older neighborhood. Bad decisions made in zoning or in Master Plans can change the character of a community, so these selections must be made carefully. Growth is cyclical as well, since economies have cycles, just as communities do and we need to plan for both good times and downturns.
Our county’s future growth is most likely not going to be in areas that mimic the plans for new towns such as Clarksburg, but rather in areas where we have settled communities that are becoming more urban. As a county we are growing and will continue to grow – the concern is in which ways will we change? Important questions will have to be asked and answered. Sometimes the knowledge is held in which questions are asked. I submit that the following are some that will need clear answers soon:
• How many stories do we wish to see built for our urban apartments and/or high-rise city office buildings?
• How much development can be supported in our Metro centers?
• How does the BRAC affect our down county roads and transit?
• Will there be affordable housing for these new workers should they choose to move here?
• Where will we get the necessary infrastructure funding as the modest growth continues and tax revenues decline?
• Will we be able to hold the line on class sizes as the county changes?
• Will the transit plans for the CCT and Purple lines be a real part of the transportation futures here?
• How long will we be able to hold the preservation of the Ag reserve as we see attempts at encroachment continue?
There are 93,000 acres approximately in protection in the Agricultural Reserve at
this time; farmers want to be able to have the equity they hold in their land pay
off; several proposals regarding development rights and land trade-offs are
suggested and being studied. These decisions need to be carefully considered
by our elected officials who are tasked with maintaining a viable county into the
future. It is hoped that now we can be confident that the air will remain
breathable, that forests will grow, and agriculture will continue to be a vibrant
part of Montgomery County’s tomorrows.
