Staff Recommendation for Parks Available

Part of the White Flint Sector Plan is the creation of new parks and open spaces in the increasingly urban area. A series of recommendations was included in an early draft of the Plan, but was dropped without explanation in the final Public Hearing Draft. As readers may recall from a series of early posts on the FLOG, I have been working with Planning staff for several weeks on the parks recommendations. The Planning Board is scheduled to address the parks issue during its April 30 worksession.

Today the Planning staff posted its newest set of recommendations on parks. The recommendations can be found at:

http://montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/WhiteFlint043009worksessionmemo.pdf

The recommendations are similar to those of last year, and reflect many of the discussions we have had, but are not as comprehensive as either. For example, I had sought a comprehensive map of trails and facilities, showing connections both within the Sector and with facilities outside the Sector. This recommendation for increased connections is included in the text of the new appendix, but is not illustrated. Perhaps that will be in the overall Sector Plan, instead of in this parks appendix, but the only map included in today’s appendix does not have that information. The included map includes more trails than the prior “Loop” map, which is welcome.

I will be preparing a new set of recommendations and comments on the revised appendix for presentation to the Planning Board on April 30. I invite your comments, either here, or by e-mail (Barnaby.Zall@friendsofwhiteflint.org), on what should be included in my recommendations to the Planning Board.

Barnaby Zall