Leggett: No Preferential Treatment Given to Country Club

On Monday, Montgomery County Council Members Roger Berliner (D-Potomac and Bethesda) and Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring) told County Executive Isiah Leggett that the county's and state's agreement with the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase regarding the path of the Purple Line through the club's golf course smacked of "preferential treatment," Patch reported. 

While the agreement had been made last June, the council members did not learn of it until the end of September.

But, on Monday evening, Leggett issued a response, published by The Washington Post:

"Please be advised that County government has already been working with interested communities and businesses in order to assist them with potential impacts along the Purple Line route. The County’s small role in the agreement with Columbia Country Club is but one example. Another involves changes in the Lyttonsville area we helped to effect there. ... We are currently working with a number of other communities."

One community looking to have some say over the exact placement and design of a segment of the Purple Line is the Town of Chevy Chase, which has hired an expert to analyze the Purple Line's Final Environmental Impact Study, public comments on which are due by Oct. 21.

The Town of Chevy Chase is concerned about the Purple Line creating excess noise close to residences, as well as the intersection of the rail with a long-time pedestrian footpath, connecting Lynn Drive with East-West Highway, which Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School students use to walk to and from school, The Gazette reported.

>>>Read more on the websites of The Washington Post and The Gazette. 

Submit comments on the Environmental Impact Statement by Oct. 21 via the online comment form, by sending an email to FEIS@purplelinemd.com (with "FEIS COMMENT" in the subject line), or by sending written comments to: FEIS Comment, Maryland Transit Administration, Transit Development and Delivery, 100 S. Charles Street, Tower Two, Suite 700, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Are there parts of the Purple Line that are worrisome to you? If so, what are some solutions, do you think? Tell us in the comments.