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Maryland National Capital Park And Planning Commission

Monday, March 11, 2013

Willard Playground Gets Upgrade: Is a Skate Park in its Future?

County residents voice suggestions to county parks department staff about upgrades planned for the Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park.

A recent community meeting at the Friendship Heights Village Center left many Chevy Chase-area residents pleased that a dilapidated playground finally would be renovated. Montgomery County Department of Parks staff explained at the meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28, that new enhancements to the Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park—at the intersection of Willard Avenue and River Road—likely would be finished by the summer. With the park celebrating its 24th anniversary this year, residents agreed that the renovations were a long time in coming. "I can’t tell you how delighted I am that you all are moving forward," Friendship Heights Village resident David Cohen said. But after viewing the site plans for the park, residents’ concerns surfaced …

Thursday, February 28, 2013

What Would You Add to Willard Avenue Park?

The neighborhood park is set to get an upgrade.

The Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park is set to get an upgrade, Patch reported earlier this week. Currently, the park is looking a little tired, although it's still frequented by people walking on the trail that passes through it (see attached video). Montgomery Parks, which scheduled a community meeting about the park for Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Friendship Heights Village Center, is asking residents for input on how the park could be improved. What would you like to see in the park? How could it be improved? Should it feature playground structures for children, fitness structures for adults, or both? Tell us in the comments.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Willard Avenue Park Set for Upgrade

Park department staff will discuss renovations to the Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park at a community meeting on Thursday night.

  The Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park is set to get an upgrade, and Montgomery Parks staff are asking residents for their input. On Thursday, Feb. 28, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Montgomery Parks will hold a community meeting to discuss proposed renovations and upgrades to the playground at the park. The meeting takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Friendship Heights Village Center. The proposed enhancements include a new playground, improved visibility into the park from River Road and new exercise equipment along the trail, according to a public notice from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Montgomery Parks. The old playground equipment at the park has been removed and a …

Monday, February 25, 2013

Willard Avenue Park Set for Upgrade

Park department staff will discuss renovations to the Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park at a community meeting on Thursday night.

The Willard Avenue Neighborhood Park is set to get an upgrade, and Montgomery Parks staff are asking residents for their input. On Thursday, Feb. 28, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Montgomery Parks will hold a community meeting to discuss proposed renovations and upgrades to the playground at the park. The meeting takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Friendship Heights Village Center. The proposed enhancements include a new playground, improved visibility into the park from River Road and new exercise equipment along the trail, according to a public notice from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Montgomery Parks. "Local park playgrounds are typically 3,500 to 5,000 square feet in …

Mladen Dimirov

3:20 pm on Monday, April 1, 2013

I do not want to see less trees and plants in the park.   more ›

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Montgomery County Planners To Discuss BRT, Athletic Fields, Zoning Rewrite Project

The county planning staff will make recommendations to the board about future bus rapid transit systems at the meeting on Thursday.

Discussion about the implementation of dedicated bus lanes or bus rapid transit systems in Montgomery County will continue at the Montgomery County Planning Board's next meeting, on Thursday, Feb. 21. The county planning staff will update the board on its recent work on the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan. A public hearing for the plan will be held on May 2, according to a planning department briefing. The planning staff recommends that Maryland State Route 355 "is the best candidate for pursuing a high-quality BRT treatment to serve future planned growth," and that U.S. Route 29 "is the best candidate for implementing dedicated bus lanes in the near term," according to the briefing. There is a concern, however, that …

Thursday, February 14, 2013

From Ideas to Reality: Speaker Series Focuses on Smart Planning

The Montgomery County Planning Board's speaker series this month features urban planners talking about how to turn ideas into reality.

Montgomery County's population may not be increasing as rapidly as it did in the 1980s—when the county accounted for almost one-third of Maryland's population increase, according to the county's website—but it's still increasing, and the Montgomery County Planning Board is bringing in two speakers this month to talk about ways in which to implement plans that will help manage the county's projected growth. In the speaker series, two urban planners will talk with the public (for whom admission is free-of-charge) about how a community can transition from planning ideas to making those ideas a reality. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments estimates that, between 2010 and 2040, Montgomery County's population will increase by …

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Vision Takes Shape For Museum At Josiah Henson Park

A community meeting is set to detail plans to mark the former plantation home of Rev. Josiah Henson, whose story inspired "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

The Montgomery County Department of Parks will detail plans Feb. 4 to renovate North Bethesda's Josiah Henson Park, the former plantation where Josiah Henson lived and worked as a slave in the early to mid 1800s. Henson, who eventually escaped slavery, is credited as being the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s landmark novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A facility plan is underway that would develop a museum at the site with interacive exhibits highlighting Henson's life. The proposed project would rehabilitate the existing historic Riley/Bolten House—which was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places—and an attached log kitchen. The Parks Deparment will host a community meeting where residents can view schematic designs for…

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

No Pain Felt by Deer in Sharpshooting Effort

The deer to be culled in the Chevy Chase portion of Rock Creek Park will feel no pain, a natural resource specialist with Montgomery Parks assured Patch.

When news broke about the upcoming culling of deer in Chevy Chase's Rock Creek Stream Valley Park (Unit 2)—the 277-acre part of the park between East-West Highway and the Capital Beltway—many Patch readers expressed concern for the deer, especially pregnant deer. "I understand that there are too many deer. What I don't understand is why this hunt is in February and March when the female deer (doe) are heavily pregnant and ready to give birth. This just adds to the suffering..." Patch user Madelaine Waltjen Shedlick wrote in the comments section of a Jan. 9 Chevy Chase Patch story on the upcoming deer culling. "I totally agree with Madelaine about the deer hunting situation. Please thin the herds in a humane manner so that we will continue …

Allan Suchinsky

12:27 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

So it's okay to shoot your neighbor as long as you aim for the head? Deer wind up in residential areas because we destroy their natural habitats and they have little choice but to forage wherever they can. But this is all their fault and they deserve to pay the ultimate price. Very humane world we live in.   more ›

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Deer-Culling Effort Approaches in Chevy Chase

Certified park police sharpshooters will begin culling the deer herd in Chevy Chase's Rock Creek Stream Valley Park starting Feb. 11.

It's official: Some of Chevy Chase's deer population will be reduced. Starting Feb. 11, certified police sharpshooters from Montgomery Parks will cull the deer herd in Chevy Chase's Rock Creek Stream Valley Park (Unit 2)—the 277-acre part of the park between East-West Highway and the Capital Beltway. "Highly trained and certified Park Police Sharpshooters will lethally remove deer from the park, under very stringent guidelines and in the most humane way possible," according to a statement from the park and planning commission. Sharpshooting will take place when the park is closed to the public—from 5:30 p.m. until sunrise, through March 31, 2013, and will recur annually from Jan. 1 through the end of March as necessary, the statement added…

lee

11:18 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013

Here's a quote from Peter Beard after surviving an elephant attack..."A million humans dumped onto the earth every 4 days. We're pushing everything off bcuz we're putting ourselves 1st w/out any limitations and we're the most selfish and greedy animal in the history of the animal kingdom and our greed, our selfishness, our repacious takeover of global habitat is going to catch the elephant 1st, …   more ›

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Bus Rapid Transit Hearings to be Held Across Montgomery County This Week

Whether to reserve existing lanes for buses is among the issue for planners.

  On Monday, Patch gave you a chance to “Speak Out” on bus rapid transit in Montgomery County. Meanwhile, County Executive Isiah Leggett told The Washington Examiner the proposed system is too expensive. Now, planners from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission want to hear from you. Planners will present their preliminary plans for a BRT system on the county’s main roads and hear public input on the plan at three meetings around the county beginning Tuesday evening. One of the topics: Should existing travel lanes be used or are new lanes needed for the network of high-speed buses? Exhibits will be on display between 6:30 and 9 p.m., with a formal presentation at 7 p.m. each night as follows: Click here for more …

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