Over the last few days, workers have suddenly begun dismantling part of the wall at the rear near the fountain. When asked if it was related to the right-of-way dispute, they said it was, but could provide no further details. At the time I went by, there was no evidence yet of the actual garage structure being dismantled, however.
In the meantime, another potential violation has come to light. The Ourisman addition could be standing within a 20-foot area that would be needed if fire vehicles responded to either Ourisman or the Flats at Bethesda Avenue apartments next door. There is a fire hydrant and sprinkler connection at the rear of the Flats, that is meant to be accessed by vehicles that would use the trail to reach it. A source who is knowledgeable about fire equipment tells me a 20' space was needed for a ladder truck to rescue residents, or an aerial fire platform truck, to be able to extend their stabilizing outriggers.
Apparently, this new issue was not on the original complaint against Ourisman. A nearby resident tells me a fire inspector came out, and confirmed there was not enough room for such trucks to navigate the space. However, that finding required the complaint to be amended to include the fire equipment issue.
25 comments:
Not having buildings take fire equipment into account is an egregious omission. The fire dept. now has a heads up to check all the new construction. The Planning Board should be responsible. If the fire requirements had been considered initially, then maybe none of this infringement on the trail would've happened.
Good reporting on this. Expect the other web site to report it in an hour or two from now, with no attribution to you. That's their style.
6:03 AM = troll comment to spark discussion of his blog
It's not like Dyer ever credits his sources.
As always, Dyer scoops the other paper in town. Keep up the good work!
6:56 AM the only other "paper" remaining is The Sentinel. They're ok, but they can't cover Bethesda as deep as Robert Dyer.
I don't think they've covered the Westbard cemetery controversy at all, and that's the story of the decade in Bethesda.
Now it's the story of the decade. hahaha
8:34 AM Huge story. The social, religious, business, governmental implications continue to build.
Historic African American community pushed aide for big redevelopment plan in the heart of Bethesda. Will the Planning Board approve desecrating the final resting place of freed slaves?
Does a billion dollar corporation have a soul? Where is our Council on the matter?
Wow I'm shocked Dyer didn't manage to blame Hans Riemer and the County Council as directly responsible.
Retaurant closing-blame the council
Obscure, unconfirmed, paved-over "cemetery" maybe being developed in Westbard-blame the council
Car accident...blame the council
Store gets robbed...blame the council
Your girlfriend cheated...blame the council
Too cold outside today...blame the council
Too hot outside today...blame the council
When you're a delusional and compulsive liar like Dyer, you really can't help yourself.
9:54 AM I don't know about the weather, but the Council is firmly responsible for the Westbard Plan debacle.
"It's not like Dyer ever credits his sources."
Sources? On this blog??? Besides me, myself, and I? HAHAHAAHAHA!!!
"As always, Dyer scoops the other paper in town. Keep up the good work!"
Why do you love Dyer so much? Why do you consistently defend every idiotic statement? Does he pay you? Are you his boy(girl)friend?
For me to give up 99% of my common sense and be a 101% devoted a$$kisser it would have to be at least 10 figures, if that. But I know some people (DYER and apparently his suck-up) don't view integrity as that valuable.
It was the story of the month, then of the decade, waiting for the next round when someone here calls it the story of the century
No disrespect to the cause. Only to the exaggerators who minimize the effort with their outrageous claims.
12:13 PM I can't think of a bigger story in Bethesda in recent memory. Literally historic in nature.
A entire multi-million dollar redevelopment in the most affluent U.S. suburb is now in jeopardy due to hundreds of freed slaves. Will an out of town mega corporation respect the memory and remains of these souls?
Councilman Berliner turns his back.
Community rises up.
Amazing story!
I am with Him.......Dryer you are doing a great job.
You're welcome to your opinion.
Bigger story? Montg Mall shooting? It got national coverage.
No disrespect to the cause. Only to the exaggerators who minimize the effort with their outrageous claims and anti-Westbard development motives.
Good job on revealing the underlying story. It's hard to imagine the architect and builder botching the retaining wall so badly. I have to imagine the county survey documents were pretty clear.
Update: This story was plagiarized without attribution later in the day by Bethesda Magazine. Shameful.
Metcalfe's article was published at 5:06 EST on Wednesday. Dyer's article was published at 5:04 PST - 8:04 EST.
And Metcalfe's article actually named his sources.
9:45: Your comment is meaningless BS. My article was published in the morning. No one else was reporting the demolition of the wall. They saw my article and scampered over, but didn't attribute the scoop to me.
You can name sources, you can do additional reporting, but you still have to attribute a story to the source you learned of it from. Every style manual says this. The small and slightly-failing magazine operates in an extremely unprofessional and unethical manner.
My sources didn't want to be named. Neither did Woodward and Bernstein's. "Named sources" aren't the stuff Pulitzer prizes are made of.
Good pickup, RD. Thanks for looking out.
How do you know no one else was working on that story? You could have been working on it at the same time.
Simply because you might have posted your story earlier, doesn't mean they saw it and "scampered" to put something together.
You are assuming an awful lot.
6:14: You always post that same comment every time this happens. They wouldn't have sat on the story all day if they had it in the morning. It was big news. Ask Eugene Robinson at the Post for a real journalist's explanation of why you never sit on a scoop.
Dyer @8:03AM
I've never posted that before. Why would you say that?
Who said anything about sitting on a story?
Where do you see that in my sentences?
"How do you know no one else was working on that story? You could have been working on it at the same time."
I don't see why you have to be nasty and accusatory when readers ask you questions.
I know Mr Eugene Robinson and he is indeed a real journalist. There is no way he would have replied as crassly as you.
1:48: Simple: Because if they had "been working on it at the same time," they would have published early in the morning like I did. To wait until the afternoon means they would have been "sitting on a story," which Mr. Eugene Robinson himself said professional news outlets never do.
There's also a difference between trolls and readers. Readers would simply look at the time stamps on the two articles, notice the one posted hours later didn't attribute the scoop to me, and conclude that plagiarism had indeed occurred.
A troll would ignore all of that, and say,"how do you know they weren't working on it at the same time." And by reading paragraph one of this comment, the troll could find the answer to his question.
You are assuming an awful lot.
I'm sorry but, as a reader, I DO NOT check the time stamps and calculate who might have posted what and when. Your site doesn't indicate a date when comments are posted, just the time. Which, BTW, I am one who over and over again defends your right to use whatever time period you wish.
YOU made the comment "They saw my article and scampered over, but didn't attribute the scoop to me." How do you know they saw your article? Isn't that an assumption on your part?
So you are saying one should read everything others have posted before one releases an article, just to be sure no one else has published something that you might need to credit?
I suggested that they could have been working on it at the same time as you. Just because you finished yours quicker and posted it does not necessarily mean they weren't already working on something and possibly waiting for...who knows, um, someone to return a call or for someone to sign off on their report before they posted theirs. Not sitting on a story, just maybe doing it differently.
Let's be fair, we're not talking Major breaking front-page holding news here. A good local story, yes.
You have peculiar ideas about what readers and trolls do.
Post a Comment