Skip to main content

Sound the Alarm! Again.

 

It appears that some of the CA Board Members continue to plug away, by any means they can, to stop the Inner Arbor plan for Symphony Woods. They tried doing it on the sly and got caught. Now they're putting it on the agenda.

Here's their plan: to claim that the Inner Arbor Trust has made a material change to the concept design plan and therefore needs approval from the Board for design change.

Why? Because, according to the rules in place, if the change is deemed to be material and not approved, the trust could be found in breach of the easement agreements.

What does that mean to us? It could very well lead to a halt of the project, a court battle, loss of potential funding by the county or private donors.

The truth is that the plans for the park are not inconsistent with the concept plan. To give you some examples, a material change would be something like the addition of a petting zoo or a soccer stadium.

It is disheartening that we have to keep going back, over and over again, to remind a narrow minority that the majority of our community wants this park, believes in this park, and can't wait to see it take shape at the center of Columbia. But we do. It seems almost prophetic that I uttered these words as recently as May:

"I have attended multiple CA Board meetings to speak in support of this park. I will keep coming back as often as necessary, and I am not alone."

Julia McCready (CA Resident Speakout: May 28, 2014)

If you have come before, come again. Bring a family member, a neighbor, or a friend with you. If you haven't come before, now is the time. There is nothing more valuable in a community than the voices of people gathered to fight for something.

As for me, I'm pretty sure my comments will begin like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...