I oppose the construction of a 4-level, 800-900-unit self-storage facility in the neighborhood adjacent to Maryvale Elementary School, less than 250 feet from school grounds, and within the legally designated school zone. The City of Rockville Planning Commission, Mayor, Council, and Planning Department must keep the promise of the East Rockville Neighborhood Plan and support our effort to "retain our existing sense of identity as a quiet, secure, residential neighborhood" and "reduce the impacts of industrial properties on the East Rockville community." Please do not approve the EZ Storage Facility.
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I don't believe I am in favor of a self storage facility adjacent to Maryvale Elem.
ReplyDeleteBut to characterize this as a "quiet, secure, residential neighborhood" is far from accurate. Grossly misleading.
Today the school property is bordered on two sides by industrial parks, including one immediately adjacent to the playground. The school allowed holes in the fence to go unaddresed for years and all sorts of industrial litter to lay within 10 feet of the fence. Including, I clearly recall, a gasoline tank that had been removed from a car by an auto repair facility directly next to the school on the north side less than 10 feet from a hole in the fence.
I think its great for the community to come together to fight to have the school in the best neighborhood possible. But a Storage Facility is not necessarily worse, more undesirable, or less safe for the children than what currently borders the school property.
Personally I think the school is today in an inappropriate location for an elementary school.
There are inappropriate locations and then there is the failure of MCPS to protect their current locations.
DeleteCase in point, Roscoe Nix Elementary School is now located right next to two abandoned community pools with holes in the fencing.
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2014/09/county-wants-bigger-cell-tower-next-to.html
The only way to access this pool property is through the MCPS elementary school property so it is not as if MCPS hasn't noticed this incredibly hazardous condition at the edge of their parking lot. The pools is overgrown and the fencing is breaking apart without repair.
Should we move the school or protect the neighborhood? Should the BOE be actively engaged property owners speaking up for neighborhood conditions or should they be taking themselves out to dinner on MCPS credit cards?
While a 4-story (1 story below ground) behemoth that is MUCH larger than the structure being replaced would certainly be out of place in that location, the neighborhood could do much worse as far as tenants for that location. The developers have taken steps to put the driveways on the street (corner location) that is not where children would be walking to school, and once the facility is built and the construction traffic is finished, it's not likely that it would generate any more traffic than some of the other businesses already nearby, including Cropp-Metcalfe and Sav-a-Tree, both of which have multiple trucks that use First Street in that area.
ReplyDeleteIt's partly a zoning issue in the City of Rockville, too. Having a residential pocket on the other side of some of the industrial area makes for a unique situation where kids are walking through an industrial park to get to school. I can't think of any other area of the county where that takes place. And while 2 side of the school are bordered by the industrial park, the other two are indeed residential, with mostly single-family homes.
I'm not necessarily opposed to the storage facility there, but I also wonder if there aren't better uses for that spot that would benefit the community while still "fitting" into the neighborhood.