Evening star., 1941-06-28
Sligo Zone Plea
Hit by County
Civic Leaders
Delaying Apartments
Urged Until Master
Plon Is Adopted

The effort of Sligo Park Property
Inc" to establish apartment hous,
classification adjacent to Slig,
Greek Parkway assumed county
wide Importance last night wher
several members of the Montgomer,
County Civic Federation came t.
the support of opponents of tn,
project.
l.. P. Lyles of Bethesda. member
of the federations Committee OF
County Internal Improvement, ant
Washington I. Cleveland, formel
president of the federation. and nov
president of the Greater Kensingtor
Civic League, were among those WHIT
urged the county commissioners Il
dlsapprove the request for rezonins
At a hearing in the Dispensary
Building in Silver Spring.
Mr.. Lyles presented the resolution
ot the federation objecting to the
erection of apartment houses.
Mr.. Cleveland urged that no re-
7oning be approved until after q
master plan has been drafted
Creation of residential &C" area
would greatly increase the traffic
density and depreciate the values
of surrounding residential property
he claimed.
Asks Delay in Decisions.
Although Richard B. Barker,
chairman of the subcommittee on
zonlng of the federation. was unable
to be present, letter from him was
read by James E. Sweet of Silver
Spring, in answer TO the commits
s,oner's letter announcing that the
moratorium on certain kinds of
zoning has been rescinded.
Directed to President Thomas E.
Hampton, the letter states that Mr.
Barker was writing Ito make in
quirv as TO whether or not it will be
the policy of the commission to
practice the moratorium policy. even
though formal declaration of its
repeal has been issued by the
county commissioners"
Mr.. Barker said he understood
the board is under legal compulsion
to hold hearings once they have
been advertised but at the same
time there is no statutory require
ment as to how soon the group must
act on petition
He concluded by asking in order
n allay the unrest of thousands of
citizens of the county" that while
the commissioners continue to hold
hearings, they will informally hold
their decision in allowance until
some master zoning plan has been
promulgated
Petitions Presented.
Last nights hearing. which lasted
several hours. was opened by rep
resentativeS Of the owners request
ing the reclaSsification of the
property in Sligo Park Hills. from
residential A to residential C. The
hearing had been adjourned from
June 10 and previous hearings held
on the petition had been declared
illegal because of a mistake in ad-
VertiSing.
E. Brooke Lee who appeared in
behalf of the owners. presented
petitions bearing the signatures of
9l2 home owners approving the pro-
posed apartment house project. He
claimed the petitions were circulated
and signed by private citizens. He
also presented a petition contain
ing the names of nearly 200 apart
ment house residents reSenting al
legged derogatory remarks which
have appeared in the press as TO
the character and type of apart
ment dWellerS.
Howard D. Sullivan also spoke in
behalf of the company.
Apartments Protested.
Mr.. Lee said the garden type of
tWo-story apartment houses it is
proposed TO build will not cause
overcrowding of schools or high
WAYS
Claude A. Cook chairman of the
1ntercivic Zoning Committee. pre-
sented petitions signed by several
iluIIbItd IIOlllC ONIItlS OItSJlIlS
the apartment house construction
adjacent to parks. The majority of
the persons protesting the proposed
reZoning asked the commissioners
TO disapprove it for the protection of
the entire community.
Mrs. Maybelle Fickel president
Of the East Sligo Valley Citizens
Association, said the rezoning would
threaten the health and educat ton
ot the children of the area. Others
who spoke were former Judge
Thomas E Anderson, counsel for
the Intercivic Committee: Samuel
H. Horne. Dr.. Wilbur Huff. Clarence
A. Smith, George H. Butler. Col.
John F. Williams and Homer Evans.
The commissioners reserved opin-
Ion on the application.