Most likely it will be on December 4th. The next step is for the community to prepare a document explaining why we are opposed to this development and develop a unified/coordinated position to take at the new hearing. To be most effective, relevant documents should be submitted to the Planning Board about week before the hearing. This will become part of the packet the Planning Board will review before the hearing.
If you are interested in being involved with the community response, please contact either myself, Rob Harkins, harkhick@erols.com, or Kathy Michels, kbear@nih.gov. Because time is short, we will need to get moving on this as soon as possible.
On Friday October 31 I dropped off the refiling of reconsideration request for the Blue Ridge-Channing Drive at the old Nairn property.I had emailed this twice to, Mr. Tariq A. El-Baba, Associate General Counsel Office of the General Counsel Montgomery County Department of Park and Planning, and had also faxed the copy with the signatures.
When I meet with Mr. Tariq A. El-Baba he told me that the request will be heard. I was told that this should happen sometime in the next 2 weeks. No date has been given and I will follow up with him on Wednesday.
He told me that I or the Ro's or the Kurylas's from Blueridge did not have to actually be at the meeting with the Planning Board. I expressed my concern about that I told Mr. el-BaBa that I will be there and will try to get everybody there.
The only people who can speak at this time only are the Ro, Kurlas and Harkins family. But I think that this would be good if we could get as many people to come to this meeting to show even more of our support.
I was also told that the planning board will approve to move on to the next round. This is because the last two requests that have been submitted had also been passed to the next round. The reason for the other cases were because of the notification process. So it was just not "our" zoning issue.
Again as soon as I know the date I will be sure that notice is given. Maybe we can try to get volunteers NOW so we can be ready if we are not given a lot of time.
A letter from a Park and Planning lawyer dated September 23, 2003 was sent in response to our Civic Association petition (which contained over 100 signatures from the neighborhood)). The lawyer's letter did not address any of our concerns and denied that we had a right to ask for a new hearing because
"Pursuant to the Board's Rules of Procedure, Section 11 (Reconsideration), in order toconsider a request for reconsideration in this case, the Planning Board must have received any such request by June 20, 2003 (within 10 days of the opinion mailing date)."After reviewing the Park and Planning web site, brochures, and reviewing Section 11 of the Board's Rules of Procedure, we are finding that the 10 day limit is not published anywhere accessible to the public, including their brochure on community participation in the planning process. In addition no one has received the mailed Park & Planning opinion letter.
Recently, Mr. Rob Harkins (Channing St.) visited Park and Planning to review their files for the Nairn property development. While reviewing the files, he found that he was not on the list of individuals to be notified of the Planning Board's meeting of May 22, 2003, even though he was clearly a "person of interest" under their definition (he spoke at the first hearing in 2002).
In addition several individuals shown on the notification list did not receive a notification letter. The files contained no actual letters to individuals or evidence that letters were sent. Rob was advised that because he alone was not even on the notification list, he alone should go take legal action to get a re-hearing. A letter is now being prepared formally requesting a new hearing on behalf of those who were not notified but who should have been. This letter will also address the fact that several "people of interest" assert that they did not receive any notification even though they were on the official notification list.
The Sligo Headwaters Civic Association and the
Upper Sligo Civic Association have prepared a letter protesting the
notification process and requesting a new hearing on this development.
The complete letter is here.