Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1962-09-06
LET'S Act Now!

Lei , ACE NOWs
Concerning the proposal for
a new 5-acre maximum 10: size
zone now pending before the
County Council, 1 should like
to offer a commentator, a
correction, and a few further
thoughts.
The commentator is for
your editorial of Aug. 16 on
this subject, which furnishes
an excellent starting point for
discussion of the issues. A bit
of reflection will convince
almos. anyone that in the long
run, as you state, the county
and the people in it will prob
ably have to acquire public
ownership of those open spaces
they truly wish to preserve.
The correction is of your
Aug. 8 report of the hearing
before the Council, in which
you referred to me as being
against" the proposed 5-acre
zone, on behalf of the Seneca
Creek Watershed Association.
The Association has taken no
position on whether the pro-
posed zone should be adopted
or not. The Association (whose
views l expressed at the hear
ing) did recommend that (a)
no rock quarries and stone
processing operations be per-
mitted in the zone and (b) no
trailer courts be permitted in
the zone, for the reason that
both are inconsistent with the
purposes for which the zone
is proposed. Nor was l in
dividually against" the zone;
instead, l (as an individual
and without committing the
Association was "for" it to a
substantial extent, on the
ground that it has a limited
utility as a planning tool to
control development. This
utility is to prevent spotty
pockets of dense development
in areas of the county which
otherwise will naturally devel-
op into large tracts. The two
principal areas in which this
use might be found for the
zone are the Patuxent water
shed, and the area along the
western edge of the county
near the Potomac (roughly the
Travilah Jamestown -
Poolesville - Dickerson area).
Further thoughts on this SUBJ
Ject (again, remind you the
Seneca Creek Watershed Asso-
citation has not taken a posi-.
ton on these points, are:
1. The 5-acre zone, If adopt.
ed as a device to preserve open
spaces, should be Immediately
applied to the country clubs in
the down-county area, since
these are the only substantial
open spaces remaining there.
There is a need for haste on
this point regarding those
clubs which may have to re-
locate because of road con-
struction. If open spaces are
to be preserved through zon-
ing, every factor in the situa-
ton indicates that these tracts
are the place 10 begin.
2. The 5-acre coming is pre-
sented by the Planning Board
as a measure to preserve open
spaces in the undeveloped por.
tons of the county. In this it
is an adjunct, an almost in
separable part, of the Corridor
plan. AS a device for preserv-
ing open spaces, the Corridor
plan cannot rely on coming.
The originator of the Corridor
plan, Mr.. S. E. Saunders, has
pointed this out repeatedly. If
the open spaces are not ac-
quired in ownership by the
public, spices between the cor
ridors will fill up. Mr.. Victor
Gruen, who planned the re-
building of Rotterdam follow
ing World War II, has explain
ed that che corridor plan was
tried by Los Angeles and. sure
enough. the open" spaces be-
tween the corridors have filled
up. Mr., Alan Temko, in the
Washington Post of Aug. u, is