Monday, February 17, 2014

Farquhar Middle School "deal" before Planning Board Feb 20, 2014

Note the Farquhar Middle School land "swap" is no longer a swap. MCPS will own both pieces of property. 

Planning Board Agenda: 
A. Mandatory Referral review of land acquisition and change in use. MCPS is acquiring approximately 17 acres of parkland on Batchellors Forest Road in Olney located adjacent to the current school site to redevelop Farquhar Middle School, which will be combined with the 18 acre site currently housing the school. The combined 35 acres will be developed for use as a school and a park. 
Staff Recommendation: Approval 
B. Release of Rural Open Space Easement granted to M-NCPPC by Pulte Home Corporation on approximately 17 acres of land dedicated to M-NCPPC as parkland as a condition of Batchellors Forest Site Plan No. 820080190/A located on Batchellors Forest Road in Olney adjacent to the Farquhar Middle School. 
Staff Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
C. Abandonment of Deed of Dedication granted by Pulte Home Corporation to M-NCPPC on approximately 17 acres of land as parkland as a condition of Batchellors Forest Site Plan No. 820080190/A located on Batchellors Forest Road in Olney adjacent to the Farquhar Middle School in exchange for Perpetual Use Easement to be granted by MCPS to M-NCPPC over 18 acre site currently housing the adjoining Farquhar Middle School.
Staff Recommendation: Approval with Conditions

http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2014/documents/FinalStaffReportFarquharMiddleSchool_002.pdf

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From the Planning Board memorandum, here is all the legal work that is going to need to take place for this MCPS "deal" to be completed:

Implementing this complex arrangement requires the following actions, some of which are part of this review before the Board, and some that require the Board’s supplemental review as the proposed development moves forward: 

1. MCPS must acquire by eminent domain the underlying fee to the 17 acre parkland site that Pulte Homes dedicated to M-NCPPC as a condition of its development approvals for the Batchellors Forest subdivision; 
2. M-NCPPC must abandon the dedication; 
3. M-NCPPC must release the Rural Open Space (“ROS”) Easement that Pulte Homes granted to it as a condition of its development approvals for the Batchellors Forest subdivision based on the Release of ROS Easement Policy approved by the Board on May 9, 2013; 
4. MCPS must grant both a Perpetual Use Easement and an ROS Easement to M-NCPPC over the existing school site as consideration for the abandonment and the release; 
5. MCPS and M-NCPPC must enter into a Joint Use Agreement to establish the terms and conditions of joint operations for the new park site, specifically access and maintenance of jointly used facilities; and 
6. MPCS must construct both the new school facilities and the interim park: 
a. consistent with the concept plan submitted with this mandatory referral, and 
b. consistent with the bid documents for such improvements as approved by the 
Planning Board, as the Board will review in a later mandatory referral for 
construction of the school and interim park. 

9 comments:

  1. If this project were to move forward Thursday, it would not be eligible for state funding. I hope the BOE, Council and County Exec are ready to pay the entire bill.

    Good thing there aren't budget issues or someone might actual pay attention to these details.

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  2. What makes you think it's ineligible for state funding?

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  3. Better question, what makes you think it is?

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  4. Mr. Kimmel,
    This is obviously no longer a swap and the legal proceedings are extensive. It would be great if you could explain what you think is going on with this property, because it has gone way, way beyond anything that was originally suggested.
    Thanks.

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  5. It's a swap in uses across the park and the school site. Nothing more than was originally suggested. Students still avoid 2 years of cross-county busing, and the community gets its new park a lot sooner than county budgets would otherwise allow. The extensive legal proceedings aren't of my making, you'd have to talk about the opposing family about that.

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    Replies
    1. No, actually the legal proceedings are not the neighbors issues. Neighbors don't make land use laws. You are fooling yourself if you think this could happen with out extensive legal work.

      It is an extremely serious land use issue to change the status of the Pulte land! What's the cost to taxpayers of all of this? There is a total cost, and it will be a known number that the public can use to evaluate the wisdom of undertaking an extremely complex land use issue when the new school could have simply been built on the existing site.

      Delete
    2. And by the way, changing the status of the Pulte land impacts every single homeowner to the subdivision - you know - all the people that haven't moved in yet! That's a lot of deeds that are impacted by this.

      Delete
  6. Mr. Kimmel

    Where is the proof of funding?

    What's the saying about a building only being as strong as it foundation..

    http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/09/fact-check-board-got-fact-or-fiction.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe someone from PSCP (http://www.pscp.state.md.us/) or the County can confirm the funding?

      Delete

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