Northwood News ♦ April 2006

An Important Victory for North Four Corners Park

By Carole Barth

In February, we testified at the County Council’s public hearing on Park and Planning’s CIP (Construction Improvements Program) budget.  NFCCA definitely stood out among all the groups asking the Council to spend more money.  We presented the Council with a giant “check” for $5.8 million:  the cost of Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s proposed soccer field and parking lot.  (Note:  MNCPPC has since increased the estimated cost to $6.1 million.)  Thanks to those who came out to show support or otherwise helped, I think we made an impression.

The action then moved to the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) Committee.  Over several sessions, this committee reviewed the entire CIP in some detail, asking questions of MNCPPC staff.  I attended these sessions and sent a number of emails offering information to counter what Park and Planning staff said regarding North Four Corners Park and the additional arguments they submitted in writing.  At one meeting, I was invited to discuss our community plan for the park.  All in all, the PHED committee devoted a great deal of time and effort to our little park.

At its final session, the PHED committee decided to strike the CIP language stating that a soccer field will be built on the addition.  The Committee directed MNCPPC to develop a range of alternatives to be reviewed by the Council in two years.  These alternatives are to include a fuller exploration (including cost estimates) of a more natural, “greener” park design for the addition.  They will probably also consider an alternative suggested by Council member Praisner.  She suggested putting in the large soccer field and parking lot on the addition but removing the existing youth field from the older section of the park.  (The old field would then be reforested.)  MNCPPC has also been directed to thoroughly consider other possible sites and reassess the need for soccer fields.

Park and Planning was not happy with this outcome, and they fought putting any work into a natural design for the addition.  However, the Committee pointed out that the final decision is the Council’s, and they would prefer to make a decision not based on numbers “pulled out of the air.”  It is expected that the full Council will ratify this decision as we go to press.  In addition, after the budget is done, the PHED committee will review the Land, Parks, and Preservation Plan, which is MNCPPC’s justification for wanting to build 88 more soccer fields (equivalent to 4.5 more soccerplexes) in the next 14 years.

This is an important victory, but the “war is not yet won.”  We will need to stay involved over the next two years to see that genuine alternatives gets developed.  We will need to continue to pursue management and enforcement issues (trash, invasive plants, overuse of the existing field, parking violations).  And, of course, we will need to let the Council know which alternative we favor.

Moreover, over the three years we have been embroiled in this fight for North Four Corners Park, it has become clear that our experience is not isolated.  Many communities are suffering from park overuse issues.  Many communities have faced a seemingly unstoppable MNCPPC staff “juggernaut.”  NFCCA is being asked to share our knowledge and experience with citizens throughout the county who are demanding greater accountability from Park and Planning.

So stay tuned.  In the meantime, if you can, send a thank you to the PHED committee (Council members Silverman, Praisner, and Floreen).  Then celebrate with a walk in the park.   ■