RealPage rent collusion scandal spreads to Maryland

Word of landlords allegedly using RealPage software to collude with competitors to fix rent prices elsewhere in the region led many to wonder if the gimmick had any role in Montgomery County's skyrocketing apartment rents. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown now suggests it does, and has filed suit against the firm and several prominent landlords. Despite the openings of many new apartment buildings across the county, rents have only continued to rise amidst all of the new "competition." This violates the basic laws of supply and demand, and Brown says the Realpage software gave landlords a loophole to make collusion possible, by having the company fix the rents across the board.

“RealPage and the named landlords worked together to raise the cost of their apartments, making it hard for Maryland renters to put a roof over their heads,” Brown said in a statement. “Our Office is committed to holding landlords accountable so Marylanders can afford their rent.”

The firms Brown is accusing of using RealPage for the purpose of "colluding to illegally raise rents" for Maryland apartment dwellers are Morgan Properties Management Company, LLC; Bozzuto Management Company; Greystar Management Services, LLC; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; UDR, Inc.; and Highmark Residential, LLC. Brown is seeking monetary damages for renters who were allegedly gouged by the use of RealPage, monetary damages for the State of Maryland, cessation of the alleged use of RealPage to fix apartment rents, and the appointment of a corporate monitor to ensure compliance by RealPage and the accused firms.

Bethesda Black cemetery advocates sue River Road self-storage developers

A seven-year dispute between advocates for a desecrated Black cemetery in Bethesda, and the developers of a self-storage building directly adjacent to it, is moving to the courtroom. Several activists have filed suit against the project's developers, 1784 Capital Holdings, LLC and Bethesda Self Storage Partners, LLC, in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The civil case is the latest effort by the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition to halt and reverse development impacts to the burial ground - which is located under land occupied by the Westwood Tower apartments and a second plot hastily-purchased by Montgomery County to avoid an archaeological search for graves - and ultimately have the graveyard memorialized and restored.

The six plantiffs in the case are asking the court for "a judicial declaration that the land, designated as parcel 242, was used as a burial ground and that human remains, burial artifacts and funerary objects were wrongfully removed from the site, and for an order requiring the defendants to return such remains, artifacts and objects to BACC," a press release from BACC today notes. The plaintiffs are also seeking monetary compensation. 

Although the self-storage site was not part of the original cemetery, the concern since 2017 has been that burials in Black cemeteries sometimes were placed beyond the boundaries of the graveyard in question, when property lines were not delineated by fencing. The core of the dispute is that observers with BACC say they saw potential remains and funerary objects being excavated and trucked away, while the archaeological expert hired by the developers reported that they had determined these were not human remains or funerary objects. Those bones and objects in question are now stored in a Virginia warehouse, and BACC has sought to have them reviewed by their own experts.

Among the plaintiffs are Harvey Matthews, a former resident of the Black community on River Road between Brookside Drive and Little Falls Parkway, that was wiped out by developers who evicted the residents to redevelop the area into an industrial and commercial zone in the 1960s. A second plaintiff is Darold Cuba, a historian who has extensively researched kinship communities and networks that formed in post-Emancipation America, exactly like the one on River Road formed by freed slaves from the adjacent Loughborough plantation. Cuba is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. 

BACC and its President, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, are also plaintiffs. BACC community organizer and activist Ari Gutman, and activist and former Green Party candidate for Montgomery County Council Timothy Willard round out the parties filing suit.

The plaintiffs have the highest-powered legal representation yet in the cemetery saga. They are being represented by the prominent and massive international law firm of Holland & Knight.

A pre-trial conference in the case has been scheduled for June 5, 2025 in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The case has been assigned to Judge James A. Bonifant.

Photo: Gail Rebhan

Judge orders Bethesda restaurant owners to pay back rent, stay off premises

A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sided with the property owner of 4866 Cordell Avenue in downtown Bethesda yesterday, entering a monetary judgement against the owners of Zuma by Chef Ninja for unpaid rent, and issuing several orders in the case. Judge Debra Lynn Dwyer entered a judgement in the amount of $146,166.39 for unpaid rent. That amount covers rent that was not paid between September 2023 and July 18, 2024. The judge also issued orders that allow landlord Greendell, LLC to change the locks on the building and secure the premises.

Notices warning locksmiths that they can only open or change locks for authorized representatives of Greenhill Realty Company, and that the building is a no-trespass zone, have been posted on-site. The building is now being guarded by uniformed security.

Judge Dwyer's July 22 orders allow Greendell, LLC to remove or dispose of any property inside the building that belongs to the owners of Zuma, which closed in January 2024. The owners of the former restaurant may not interfere with Greendell's access to the premises in any way. If the defendants fail to comply with the orders issued yesterday, they will be held in contempt of court, the court-issued document concludes. With the process of Zuma exiting winding up, the property owner is now closer to welcoming a new restaurant or business in this space in the near future.

Bethesda restaurant owners facing July 5 court date for unpaid rent

The saga of Zuma by Chef Ninja continues to play out at 4866 Cordell Avenue in downtown Bethesda. If back rent is not paid by this Friday, July 5, 2024, the stage will shift to the Maryland District Court in Rockville at 1:30 PM that afternoon. According to a court summons posted at the restaurant, the owners of Zuma have not paid rent to landlord Greendell, LLC from September 2023 through May 2024. Along with late fees, they allegedly now owe Greendell a grand total of $116,202.33. 

According to Maryland judicial records, the unpaid rent case remains open as of this morning. The same records state that a separate de novo appeal trial, in a tort case filed by Greendell against the Zuma owners, is currently scheduled for July 18 in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Zuma opened in October 2023. By mid-January 2024, it had already closed. The landlord ordered the property sealed the last week of January, posting a notice declaring that the police would be called if anyone entered the premises. A month later, a court summons was posted at the restaurant, after process servers were unsuccessful in delivering the summons to the Zuma owners in person. 

Maryland Supreme Court to hear case on sale of Moses African Cemetery on January 8, 2024

Maryland's Supreme Court is now scheduled to hear the case regarding the attempted sale of a Bethesda property containing Moses African Cemetery on January 8, 2024. The case of Dr. Olusegun Adebayo and the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) vs. the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC) centers on the HOC's alleged violation of a state law that requires descendants of those buried in a cemetery to be notified of the potential sale of that land. 

A Montgomery County judge granted an injunction against the sale of the Westwood Tower property to Charger Ventures, but was overruled by an appeals court decision. Charger Ventures then withdrew its purchase offer. Adebayo and BACC have appealed to the state's highest court now, which will have the final say, unless the plaintiffs seek a further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court following this ruling.

"This is the first time that a state supreme court is being asked to limit the power of developers and state agencies regarding the selling and desecration of African burial grounds and our ancestors," BACC said in a statement Monday. "The decision by the Maryland Supreme Court will have national and perhaps, international ramifications. The court will decide whether Black bodies can be sold to private or public agecies and the land laundered for non-burial purposes without oversight by the court or descendant families. BACC is on the front lines of fighting for both the living and our ancestors. Please plan to join BACC on January 8th and by your presence declare: Black Bodies are Not for Sale! People over Profit!"

BACC is organizing bus transportation to the Supreme Court in Annapolis for the January 8 hearing. To get a sense of how many people are interesting in riding the bus, BACC has created an online form at bit.ly/baccbus. If you cannot attend, but want to help fund the bus trip and other efforts by BACC, an online donation portal has also been created.

Hate crime report filed with USDOJ regarding desecrated Bethesda cemetery

A protest of a Democratic Party fundraiser in Potomac this past weekend by advocates for the desecrated Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda has borne political fruit. The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition announced today that it has filed a hate crime report with the U.S. Department of Justice, as advised by U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D - 8th District). Raskin, who along with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore was one of the targets of the protest at the Saturday event, has told the BACC that he will follow up with the DOJ to "ensure the report is reviewed," the organization claimed in a statement. 

Moses African Cemetery, located largely on the Westwood Tower property in Bethesda, was first desecrated in the late 1960s by workers building the apartment tower. The rest of the graves were paved over for a parking lot, and the matter was covered up by Montgomery County officials for decades. A potential sale of the Westwood Tower property, including the graveyard, by owner Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County is stalled in a legal battle that is now moving to the Maryland Supreme Court. BACC has alleged that the HOC violated Maryland law by entering a sale agreement of a burial site without contacting the descendants of those interred there.

Over 200 bone fragments from a construction site directly adjacent to the cemetery have been trucked to a warehouse in Virginia over objections by the BACC, which has asked the private developer and County officials to allow their independent expert to examine them. Neither has agreed to date to allow the review.

"The report provides a detailed overview of the desecration of Moses, detailing the crimes, the criminals, and their accomplices," BACC said in today's statement. "Despite years of advocacy and appeals by BACC and our legal team to end the pillaging of funerary objects, tombstones, and possible human remains, we have seen no action from local officials. As we have documented and shared with the public, it is clear that many of these officials are themselves deeply involved in this hate crime and subsequent cover-up. They have been named in the report.

"BACC will continue to demand the return of all funerary objects, possible human remains (for independent testing by Dr. Michael Blakey), and ultimately the return of Moses Cemetery to the descendant community for proper stewardship. The county and the developers it has provided permits to (which they have failed to comply with) should not be responsible for our ancestors, whom they have dug up and disrespected time and time again."

A series of rallies outside the U.S. Department of Justice are being planned by BACC. The organization is hopeful that the report they have filed will result in a long-sought federal investigation into the known crimes and alleged crimes that have taken place at the historic Black cemetery over the last six decades. Maryland's Supreme Court is expected to take up the BACC's case against the HOC in January.

Maryland Supreme Court to hear appeal in Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition case

Maryland's Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear the appeal of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition to overturn a state appellate court ruling regarding the sale of property that includes a major portion of Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. The June ruling itself overturned an injunction by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith, that froze the impending sale of Westwood Tower at 5401 Westbard Avenue to Charger Ventures. Charger Ventures withdrew its purchase offer following Smith's ruling, but Westwood Tower owner Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County appealed to the higher court and won. 

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling in this case will have local and national implications for Black cemeteries, many of which are today in states of desecration and disrepair, hidden, or under threat from development. Moses African Cemetery is in all three categories. 

Smith ruled that HOC had entered a sale agreement without notifying the descendants of those buried in the cemetery, and without giving them a chance to weigh in on the sale, as required under Maryland law. Inexplicably, the appellate court found that following the law was not necessary.

This is a common occurrance when citizens challenge developers and powerful real estate interests in any Montgomery County or Maryland court. BACC noted yesterday that the Maryland Supreme Court only accepts about 15% of the certiorari petitions filed. But residents win over developers in our courts at an even lower rate than that, with judges blatantly ignoring statutory requirements on developers and planning authorities, as in the Westbard case. Smith, a relatively recent appointee to the Circuit Court in 2015, was a rare exception in ruling that the laws actually do apply to developers in Montgomery County.

Photo courtesy Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition

Maryland appellate judge overturns ruling blocking sale of property with hidden Black cemetery in Bethesda

The second-highest court in Maryland has reversed a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge's decision to block the sale of Westwood Tower in Bethesda by the County Housing Opportunities Commission to Charger Ventures. Judge Karla Smith had ruled in October 2021 that the sale could not proceed because the HOC had failed to notify descendants of those buried in the Moses African Cemetery, which is hidden underneath the rear parking lot of the apartment tower. The cemetery was desecrated by construction workers building the high rise in the late 1960s.

"The ruling is disgraceful," Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition President Marsha Coleman-Adebyao said in a statement this morning. "It shows no sensitivity to, or understanding of, the nature of African-American burial grounds. It treats the rights of the owner of a parking lot that was built over hundreds of African-American graves as superior to the dignity of the people interred in the burial ground. BACC attorney Steve Lieberman said he was concerned that "if this ruling is permitted to stand, it is open season on traditional African-American burial grounds in Maryland, None of the graves in such burial grounds will be safe."

Kenwood sues M-NCPPC over Little Falls Parkway road diet

Kenwood, the Chevy Chase neighborhood that directly abuts Little Falls Parkway, has filed a lawsuit against the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to block Montgomery Parks' plan to reduce the road to one lane in each direction. The lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court by the Kenwood Citizens Association, calls shrinkage of the road's capacity - at the same time M-NCPPC has approved massive growth on either end of the parkway in downtown Bethesda and Westbard - "arbitrary and detrimental." It specifically cites M-NCPPC's failure to receive approval for the reduction of the parkway's size from the National Capital Planning Commission.

The NCPC has held federal authority over the Little Falls Parkway right-of-way for almost a century, since it was one of several Maryland stream valleys identified by the federal government as future parks or highway facilities. Having received federal funds to cover the purchase of the land for Little Falls Stream Valley Park under the Capper-Cramton Act of 1930, M-NCPPC must receive permission from the NCPC to sell, redevelop or change the use of that land or parkway.

M-NCPPC in 2011 had to seek approval from the NCPC to sell part of Little Falls Stream Valley Park to a private developer building townhomes. The NCPC approved that sale.

The Kenwood Citizens Association suit is asking the court to affirm that Montgomery Parks violated federal law by closing half of the parkway without approval from the NCPC, and to immediately order the road diet removed, and the parkway fully reopened to traffic.

KCA says it's shocking that the Montgomery County Planning Board, the land-use authority arm of M-NCPPC for Montgomery County that oversees Montgomery Parks, would flout federal rules so soon after recent Board scandals ended in the forced resignation of all its commissioners. "The Parks Department acts under the authority of the Montgomery County Planning Board. Given recent County scandals, we are surprised that even under new leadership the Parks Department is willing to play fast and loose with such an important issue directly affecting safety in these communities,” KCA President Pete Rizik said yesterday. 

This is not the first time Kenwood has objected to County attempts to reduce vehicular capacity of the parkway through road diets. The community was initially successful in overturning the first effort by the Planning Board to deploy a road diet at the Capital Crescent Trail crossing of the parkway. But the Board immediately reversed its decision under heavy pressure from the Montgomery County Council. 

After the initial public process on the trail crossing question, Montgomery Parks has never followed the required public engagement protocols for any of the further changes, speed limit reductions, and escalating road diets on the parkway. Montgomery Parks also illegally used money from a trail maintenance fund for changes to the parkway, rather than go through the required capital budget process at the County Council.

Kenwood and other adjacent communities have suffered from cut-through traffic as Montgomery Parks has implemented a barrage of road diets, speed bumps, bollards, overwhelming signage, barricades and other obstacles on the parkway. County officials have continued to ignore those safety concerns for residential streets, while continuing to shrink the capacity of very parkway that was designed to keep that through-traffic out of those residential neighborhoods. The result has been increased speeds and cut-through traffic on residential streets, putting children and pedestrians in general at greater risk.

"We have asked the Parks Department to follow federal law and undergo NCPC review," KCA attorney Michele Rosenfeld said Thursday. "Having been ignored we have no choice but to seek judicial intervention."

Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition to rally at Maryland Court of Appeals October 6

Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition will hold a rally outside the Maryland Court of Appeals at 361 Rowe Boulevard in Annapolis this Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 8:00 AM. The state's highest court will be hearing an appeal by the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission of the decision by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith that blocked the agency's sale of the Westwood Tower property to development firm Charger Ventures. Smith issued the injunction after agreeing that HOC had failed to properly notify descendants of those buried in the Moses African Cemetery, which is hidden under the Westwood Tower property after being desecrated by construction workers in the late 1960s, of the sale.

"Black bodies are not for sale," BACC said in a press release announcing the rally. It said the appeals court will "decide whether black bodies can sold to developers without permission from families." The case is Dr. Abiose Adebayo v. Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County.

Tavis Smiley weighs in on Bethesda cemetery controversy

Broadcaster Tavis Smiley is the latest prominent figure to weigh in on the controversy over the desecrated Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. He interviewed the Rev. Dr. Segun Adebayo, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road, and Dr. Marcia Coleman Adebayo, head of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition on KTLA in Los Angeles. Both organizations are among the plaintiffs suing Montgomery County's Housing Opportunities Commission over the HOC's intent to sell the Westwood Tower property that includes the majority of the cemetery site to Charger Ventures. The suit alleges the HOC did not inform the descendants of those buried there - some of whom are also plantiffs in the case - of their its intent to sell as required by law.

Like many locally and nationally who hear of the cemetery history and more recent fight over it, Smiley was stunned that the County, HOC and other parties would persist in attempting to further develop the property after knowing a black cemetery was on the site. "Why are they continuing to plow forward, to push forward with their plans anyway, although they know now full well it is a burial ground?" Smiley asked. "Once you discover that, that should be the end of these things, to me."

"What is the government of Montgomery County saying or doing about this?" Smiley queried Coleman Adebayo. She accused County Executive Marc Elrich of writing letters urging others to ignore Coleman Adebayo, and "calling me all kind of vicious names." Elrich was previously one of the only elected officials to support cemetery advocates when he was on the County Council in 2017 and 2018, when the now decade-long controversy boiled over in multiple protests that garnered media attention.

Montgomery County's government has "locked arms with the developer against the community. We don't have one member of the County Council that has stood up to say this is wrong to sell the bodies of these Africans. We do not have friends in local government."

Coleman Adebayo said the County was trying to "erase not only the youth, but the ancestors of black people." Noting that "developers literally run Montgomery County," she recalled the history of the black community on River Road that was founded by former slaves from the Loughborough plantation. That community "basically was wiped out through developers and the coalition between developers and local government" by the late 1960s, and the only remnants left are the church and the cemetery.

"Montgomery County has been clear about the fact that it will control black bodies, both alive and dead," Coleman Adebayo added. She said Maryland ranks number one in America in the incarceration of young black men. The desecration of the cemetery during the construction of Westwood Tower in the late 1960s, and the belligerence of the County government in blocking all efforts to conduct investigations or restore it, are an extension of that racial bias, she argued. "This is a hate crime. We're talking about criminal activity."

Smiley praised the Adebayos' success in winning a temporary restraining order against the sale. A possible preliminary injunction against it is being argued in a Montgomery County Circuit Courtroom today. Their initial victory was remarkable, Smiley said, because "communities of color rarely prevail in court fights with multimillion dollar corporations."

Coleman Adebayo first came to prominence as a whistleblower who fought the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and won. That was also how Smiley first became aware of her activism and historic victory over the EPA. "I feel sorry for the folks and the developers who are trying to take over this cemetery," Smiley said. "She's in the history book. She is a warrior."

Smiley said the Moses African Cemetery battle is "one of those David vs. Goliath fights," and is "starting to make bigger news on the national scene." As the segment concluded, Smiley told listeners, "This is a fight that all of us have a vested interest in, whether our ancestors were buried in this plot or not, whether you've ever been to Maryland or Bethesda or not. If they can do it to them, they can do it to you, they can do it to us, so I am pulling and praying for your success on Monday and beyond, as you fight to save this precious and sacred burial ground."

Photo via Twitter

Court hearing scheduled in Moses African Cemetery sale dispute

A court hearing has been scheduled in the dispute over the proposed sale of Westwood Tower and the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition has sued the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission, alleging the HOC failed to notify the descendants of those buried in the cemetery before reaching a sale agreement with Bethesda-based Charger Ventures.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith will consider whether to grant a preliminary injunction stopping the sale at a hearing Monday, September 27, 2021 at 9:30 AM in Courtroom 4H, at 50 Maryland Avenue in Rockville. 

Westbard lawsuit ends after final appeal rejected

Regency rumored to be 

considering senior housing for

Westwood II site

The Maryland Court of Appeals has rejected the final appeal petition in the lawsuit by Bethesda residents vs. Montgomery County over illegal actions by the County Planning Board and County Council in their approval of the 2016 Westbard sector plan. This ends this particular legal action, which led to a downsizing of the original redevelopment plan by developer Regency Centers for 22 acres of property along Westbard Avenue, Ridgefield Road and River Road. 

By reducing the density of the plan and filing under the standard method of approval, Regency asserted it could then move forward with its new plan regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit. That eliminated a large amount of the originally-planned low-income housing in the project, but also reduced the extra density that such units would have allowed above the legal limit.

A further trim for the multiproperty redevelopment of two retail centers, a parking lot, a gas station and a vacant assisted living building is rumored to be in the works. Regency is said to be considering switching the mixed-use residential building originally proposed for the Westwood Center II mini-mall and Citgo gas station properties to senior housing. A pre-submittal meeting on the proposed plan amendment could be announced later this month if Regency decides to proceed with senior housing. If true, the change would significantly reduce the impact of Regency's portion of the Westbard redevelopment on public school classroom space.

Another shoe that still hasn't dropped is the fight over three easements the Kenwood Place condominiums owns across Regency's Westwood Shopping Center parking lot. Negotiations between the parties have paused. Should Kenwood Place residents stick to their guns, Regency would have to relocate the small Springfield Neighborhood Park proposed for the parking lot with the standalone ATM building, which is located directly behind new homes that were built on land where Montgomery County previously - and falsely - claimed it would build a neighborhood park in 1982.

Residents to file petition for appeal in Westbard lawsuit

Bethesda residents who sued Montgomery County for breaking three laws in its approval of the Westbard sector plan will file a petition to appeal the recent decision by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals that went in the County's favor. They seek to find if residents no longer have legal standing to challenge sector plans in court, as the unreported opinion by the court suggests.

Plaintiffs also note that the County itself admitted in court that it had not performed the required assessment of the greenhouse gas impact of the Westbard sector plan. That assessment is required to be performed by the Planning Board under the County's own law.

Save Westbard, the citizen organization that has spearheaded the legal effort, has additionally noted that the County Council has deceptively slipped a loophole that would remove the firm requirement to conduct such assessments into new "racial equity" legislation. That is shocking, given the strong pushback by African-American activists nationwide against governments and businesses that increase pollution in their communities. A public hearing on that bill and the greenhouse gas provision will be held before the Council on October 29, 2019.

MD Court of Special Appeals rules against Westbard plaintiffs in unreported opinion

A ruling filed online as an unreported opinion by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in the case of Westbard residents vs. Montgomery County regarding the Westbard sector plan states the appeal is being denied. The first two of three counts against the County were dismissed last year in Montgomery County Circuit Court. This opinion vacates the Circuit Court ruling, remands the third count - that the County engaged in spot zoning with developers - to the Circuit Court, and asks it to enter an order dismissing the third complaint.

While the case was strong for all three counts, both courts have ruled for developers, as they usually do in Montgomery County and Maryland. If there is any way to stretch the law for a developer, the courts historically will do it. Having said that, the attorney representing the residents is one of the few who has beaten developers in court.

It remains a fact that the Planning Board did not measure the greenhouse gas impact of the plan, likely because they knew it would definitely show an increase in such gases in an area with no significant transit or Metro station. It remains a fact, not opinion, that the Council failed to comply with the public hearing requirement that it sit as the District Council to hear such testimony. If such declaration by the Council chair were optional, or to be assumed, then it would not be specifically stated in the law that it must do so. If anything, those were the two slam dunk counts in the case.

Fortunately, the lawsuit did succeed in a reduction in size of Regency Centers' proposal, and a staging plan relatively more beneficial to the residents and businesses in the area (although that could change, and there have been recent signs it might). The neighborhood will be better for the lawsuit having been filed, as a result.

Westbard plaintiffs will appeal judge's decision in lawsuit

Plaintiffs in the legal battle over the 2016 Westbard sector plan have decided to appeal a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge's decision against them last week. Despite the County Planning Board's failure to measure the greenhouse gas and carbon emission impacts of the plan, Judge Richard Jordan claimed that somehow the commissioners were magically above the law, and did not actually have to.

The County Council appoints the Planning Board
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responsible planning in Montgomery County

Out of the three claims dismissed by Jordan, that interpretation appears to be the weakest point in his ruling, one factor among several that encouraged plaintiffs to seek another opinion. Many community members also share that view. “The law’s mandate is clear,” former President of the Sumner Citizens Association Sid Clemans said. “The Board must evaluate the plan’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions, and consider ways to limit emissions and reduce vehicle miles traveled. It’s not a discretionary analysis,” Clemans said.

"...we couldn't claim the
greenhouse gas and carbon-spewing
Westbard sector plan will improve
the environment!" #Oops

In fact, the other recent sector plans passed by the Council - including the Bethesda Downtown Plan, White Flint 2 Plan, and Grosvenor-Strathmore Plan - all included the mandated greenhouse gas and carbon assessment. By virtue of being located at Metro stops, the environmental impact of those plans could be made to appear lower, with the assumption that transit use would be heavier. Not so at Westbard, which is a whopping 2.2 and 3.3 miles from the two closest Metro stations. With the Westbard sector plan therefore fueling a thousands-fold increase in auto emissions, it's no wonder the developer-friendly Planning Board would not want the greenhouse gas and carbon impact numbers to become public.

Judge rules against residents in Westbard lawsuit

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Richard Jordan has ruled against residents in their lawsuit against Montgomery County over the Westbard sector plan. The lawsuit cited three illegalities by the County Council and Planning Board in their approval of the plan in 2016. Plaintiffs have the option to appeal the decision, and are currently deciding whether to do so. The judge's decision has not yet been docketed, but a source close to the case has seen the document.

It is indeed troubling that County officials can be given a free pass when breaking the law - and their own laws, to boot. In fact, one of the laws broken that required the Planning Board to measure the carbon and greenhouse gas emissions a plan would generate. That law was championed and steered to passage by Councilmember Roger Berliner, who did not call out the board for breaking that law when commissioners appeared before the Council during worksessions on the plan. Berliner, like the rest of the Council, voted in favor of the plan.

The Westbard fight is far from over, but the lawsuit was worth every penny. Attorney Michele Rosenfeld is arguably the sharpest land-use lawyer in the County, and one of the few who will represent residents rather than developers. Her efforts in research and litigation got results again in this case (which may not be over).

Developer Regency Centers had to scale back its initial plan. While the developer ultimately may be able to build as much as originally-planned (or more, using loopholes in the law), that construction will be staged over a much longer period - at least a decade. Instead of all of Ridgefield Road and Westbard Avenue being torn up at once in a maelstrom of dust and rat hordes, it will be a more orderly process.

Small business owners and workers at the Westwood Shopping Center will be able to stay in place longer, and continue to receive income, as a result of the lawsuit. Those folks have become friends and neighbors to the community over decades, and this alone made the lawsuit worth the modest cost. Regency has promised that, unlike the pre-lawsuit plan, it will leave the existing center in place until the first building of the new development is completed.

While the "civic green" at the New Westwood will still be laughably small, and right next to the main entrance drive for vehicles, only after the lawsuit did it get expanded to a "whopping" half-acre. Unlike the original plan, we'll continue to have one Citgo gas station for fuel and repairs on Westbard Avenue for either another nine years, or until Bowlmor Lanes decides it wants out of its lease.

Finally, unlike the pre-lawsuit Regency plan, there will be some surface parking available at the new center for those who don't wish to use a garage.

The lawsuit is a great example of how Montgomery County residents are forced to fend for themselves against urbanization of established suburban-scale residential neighborhoods from Bethesda to Damascus. Instead of the people we elected speaking for us and defending our interests, residents have to hire lawyers at their own expense. If elected to the County Council this fall, I will not only vote against the existing Planning Board commissioners who seek another term, but will fight to reestablish the Office of the People's Counsel to provide another tool for residents in development and zoning fights.

Save Westbard to file injunction against new Regency Centers plan

Save Westbard, the citizen organization that has led the legal fight against the Westbard sector plan, will file an injunction in court this week against developer Regency Centers' revised development plan. The injunction will ask the court to bar Regency from filing its new plan with Montgomery County until a ruling has been handed down in the original sector plan lawsuit.

The original lawsuit cited three grounds on which the May 2016 passage of the Westbard sector plan can be deemed illegal. It requested the plan be returned to the Planning Board and County Council to fulfill legal requirements that were not observed by either body. The lawsuit was filed by several community residents against Montgomery County, and the County Housing Opportunities Commission.

Westmoreland Citizens Association makes second donation to Westbard lawsuit fund

The Westmoreland Citizens Association has doubled its support for the legal fund supporting Bethesda residents' lawsuit against Montgomery County over the illegal approval of the Westbard sector plan, by making a second contribution. Their latest donation is $5200. WCA represents thousands of residents in the neighborhoods of Westmoreland Hills, Spring Hill, Overlook, Westgate, Westhaven and Yorktown Village. The new check brings WCA's generous financial support to a total of $10,200, by far the largest outlay by any individual neighborhood.

Civic associations in Springfield, Wood Acres, Fort Sumner, and Sumner have already made $5000 contributions to the lawsuit legal fund, and Brookdale made a donation to a separate fund supporting Macedonia Baptist Church's effort to preserve an African-American cemetery the County Housing Opportunities Commission wants to build a parking garage on.

Some engaged in the lengthy Westbard land-use battle are waiting to see if the Kenwood neighborhood will make a similar contribution, as they are one of the communities that will be most-impacted by any new development at Westbard.

In related news, a new petition has been launched to protest the cemetery parking garage plan, this one targeting County Council President and County Executive candidate Roger Berliner (D - District 1).

New trial date set for Westbard lawsuit

There's a new trial date in the lawsuit filed by residents against Montgomery County and the County's Housing Opportunities Commission over the illegal approval of the Westbard sector plan. Originally scheduled for this week, the trial has now been pushed back until January 22, 2018. Still pending, is the judge's decision on requests for summary judgement and dismissal of the case.

No one will be sitting idle during the long delay, however (except for our impotent County Council). Advocates for the historic African-American cemetery on the site of Westwood Tower will descend upon the HOC's meeting Wednesday, October 4 at 4:00 PM to demand action to stop the commission's plan to construct a parking garage on top of the graves. There is a petition and a legal fund for those concerned about protecting the cemetery. A separate legal fund is supporting the Westbard sector plan lawsuit.

Also, a protest march is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 29, at Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road at 1:30 PM; protesters will march to the cemetery as part of the route.