WECA Neighbors –
There are updates below which will be of interest to many of you, including Mayor
and Council election results. This is also an early reminder to mark your
calendar for the November WECA meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 19th
at 7pm at the Rockville Presbyterian Church. We’ll send an agenda as the date
draws closer. But in the meanwhile, please see the items below from WECA
President Noreen Bryan.
Rockville
Mayor and Council Election Results
The votes have been
tallied, and Bridget Donnell Newton won re-election as Mayor (for a 4 year
term) and the following four individuals were elected as Councilmembers (also 4
year terms): Beryl Feinberg, Julie Palakovich Carr, Mark Pierzchala, and
Virginia Onley. This new Mayor and Council will begin its duties with its
inauguration on November 15, 2015. All
citizens of Rockville are invited to attend the swearing-in ceremonies which
will be held at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater beginning at 1 pm. A number of events and topics will proceed
quickly once the Mayor and Council take their seats. This message addresses issues of particular
interest to the West End neighborhood.
Update
of Rockville’s Master Plan
The Master Plan is
of great important because it sets the vision and policy for the future of the
City and our neighborhood. The update
of the Master Plan was initiated by the City in a Kick-off meeting in May
2015. City staff has indicated that
they will be looking for inputs from the neighborhoods by early in 2016. As President of WECA, I am forming a
committee to develop the West End’s position on the Master Plan, in particular
how it affects our neighborhood. If you are interested in participating in this
committee, please get in touch with me at noreen1945@yahoo.com
or 301-762-1256.
Chestnut
Lodge- Application to build Townhouses to replace the Main
Building destroyed by fire
The Historic
District Commission (HDC) will review the application again on November 19,
2015. Changes that were provided to the
Planning Commission, but never reviewed by the HDC, will be addressed at that
meeting. Thereafter, a presentation will
be made to the Mayor and Council by the developer on Monday, November 23,
2015. In an emergency meeting of the
WECA Executive Board on September 3, 2015 a resolution was adopted in
opposition to the proposed townhouses with a recommendation that other
alternatives be investigated. In
addition, an on-line petition in concert with the WECA position was created by
the WECA committee and approved by the Board.
The petition allows neighbors to weigh in. Please go to:
Relocation
of the Confederate Statue
In July, Montgomery
County Executive, Ike Leggett, decided that the Confederate statue, which is
currently located east of the historic Red Brick Courthouse, would be removed
from County property. To enact this decision, the County filed a request to
remove the statue with Rockville’s Historic District Commission (HDC). The application was unanimously approved by
the HDC in its meeting on September 17, 2015.
Subsequently, the County has asked the city of Rockville to accept
ownership of the stature. The previous
Mayor and Council deferred the decision on ownership because the implications,
including the financial responsibilities, were unknown. It is likely that the new Mayor and Council
will address the question of ownership of the Confederate statue in one of its
first meetings.
In parallel, the
County has filed an application with Rockville’s HDC to relocate the statue in
Beall-Dawson Park, which is owned by the City of Rockville, including all the
buildings in the Park. Various County
activities, including the Montgomery Historical Society, are tenants in
buildings located in the park. The
application from the County recommends a specific location within the park near
the intersection of East Middle Lane and N. Van Buren Street. Signs are posted in the park announcing that
the application for relocation in Beall-Dawson Park will be considered by the
HDC at a public meeting on November 19, 2015.. Citizens will have the opportunity to
share their views on the location of the statue at this meeting. Please check
Rockville’s website for the HDC agenda and the estimated time for the review of
the application. Agendas are usually
posted in the week preceding the meeting.
