Hellbent in Hillmead

Neighbors of Hillmead Park in Bethesda want additional green space. Advocates for the homeless want additional housing. Why can’t both sides get what they want?

The saga of Hillmead Park began two years ago. Phyllis Piotrow, who lived on a 1.3-acre property next to Hillmead Park off Bradley Boulevard, planned to sell her property and move to New Hampshire. Neighbors blocked her plan to sell the property to developers, so Ms. Piotrow sold it to the county for $2.5 million instead. The county intended to add the property to the adjacent 4.3-acre Hillmead Park but questions arose about the fate of Ms. Piotrow’s residence. The county had been experiencing trouble finding homes for large homeless families, so the Department of Health and Human Services proposed using the Piotrow residence to house a 14-member homeless family. The family would be required to pay 30% of its income in rent. The remaining one acre of the property not occupied by the house would be added to Hillmead Park.

The neighbors revolted against that idea. They want the house demolished and all the land added to their park. In a column yesterday, Marc Fisher quoted two emails to the County Council on the issue:

“I simply cannot believe that anyone with an IQ above that of a retarded chicken would seriously consider putting a welfare brood sow and her 13 kids in a $2.5 million mansion paid for by the taxpayers of this county,” [Rockville resident] Winston Dean wrote to council members.

“May I suggest that you let the poor family live next to you and you let us tear down the [Piotrow] house at Hillmead citizens' expense and . . . let the earth be green,” wrote Hillmead resident Myriam Gaviria.

Hillmead residents should feel fortunate. My neighbors just up Georgia Avenue have been trying unsuccessfully to get the county to purchase Montgomery College property for parkland for more than a year. Instead, they have been told to cross six busy lanes on Georgia Avenue to get to another park with no crosswalk and no traffic light. Hillmead residents already have a park and the county spent $2.5 million to expand it.

Ms. Piotrow’s 3,300-square-foot former home is a single-family dwelling in a single-family neighborhood, so retaining it does not change the physical character of the existing neighborhood. Because only one family is involved, there will be no significant traffic impact on Bradley Boulevard or the rest of Bethesda. The county has not proposed using the residence as a halfway house for criminals or substance abusers. The Greentree Shelter for homeless families has been located near Hillmead since 1983 and has not ruined the neighborhood. And at least one acre of the 1.3-acre lot will be added to the 4.3-acre Hillmead Park, so the neighbors will receive more green space. So if new development, traffic and crime are not problems and public green space will expand, what could possibly remain as an issue? Just take a wild guess.

Council Member Roger Berliner would like to demolish the Piotrow residence. Council Member George Leventhal would like to use it to house the above-mentioned homeless family while adding the rest of the site to Hillmead Park. Both proposals will be considered tomorrow and the council members are lining up on opposing sides. And so we have one park, one family and lots of Hell in Hillmead.