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The 29-acre GEICO campus in Friendship Heights is being redeveloped by EYA. Not only did the property house the GEICO headquarters, but it also includes the small Brookdale park tucked in the neighborhood behind the main buildings. While the park will be conveyed to Montgomery Parks when the new development is complete, EYA is in charge of it until that point.
There are over 585 trees on the site--some over 100-years old, and most over 60-years old, many planted in the late 1950s when the property was first developed. At least thirty-six of these trees are large specimen trees: oaks, maples and tulip poplars with enormous canopies that shade the area, provide habitat for birds, squirrels, butterflies, and other wildlife, and soak up rain water providing important storm water management.
All of these trees are protected by Chapter 22A of the Montgomery County Code.
However, EYA has asked for permission from the County (i.e. a variance) to remove almost every one of these beautiful old specimen trees from the GEICO campus. (According to the Code, they don’t need permission to remove smaller trees under 24-inches in diameter; their plans indicate they are removing most of them too.)
They have asked to remove trees from Brookdale park too. Along with the trees being demolished to make way for the housing, and other buildings, EYA is proposing removing several of the trees from the park itself in order to construct numerous amenities, including an amphitheater. In addition, construction of these amenities will almost certainly mean the untimely death of remaining trees. Even with safeguards in place, because the site is so small, the heavy construction will compact the soil and damage the root systems of the remaining trees to the point where they cannot survive. Also know that the size of the park is being reduced. The 3.6 acre park, is now proposed to be only 3 acres.
And then there is the greenway. The buffer between the GEICO campus and the residential area is being transformed to a hiker/biker trail that will run from Willard Avenue to Western. A great improvement on the “social trail” that already exists there, but also where EYA will be taking down dozens of trees (maybe more, we need to count) to create the new trail. One of the beauties of old trees is they provide shade for walking trails. Even if they plant new trees, it will be years and years before they provide the shade that these old specimen trees create. With a little ingenuity, we believe that the trees can be saved when the trail is built.
EYA prides themselves on their commitment to “green living.” They even make an “environmental promise” on their website. These trees are an important part of the environment and what makes Friendships our livable and walkable community. They make Friendship Heights a Green Community.
Help Us Save these Trees/save the park
Please send an email to the Planning Board and staff, the Montgomery County Council members.
or cut and paste the text below. Feel free, of course, to add your own language.
To:
elza.hisel-mccoy@montgomeryplanning.org, amy.lindsey@montgomeryplanning.org, mcp-chair@mncppc-mc.org, councilmember.fani-gonzalez@montgomerycountymd.gov, Councilmember.Evans@montgomerycountymd.gov, councilmember.Glass@montgomerycountymd.gov, Councilmember.Jawando@montgomerycountymd.gov, Councilmember.sayles@montgomerycountymd.gov, Councilmember.friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov
Subject:
Save the GEICO trees/Save Brookdale Park
Message:
The mature trees at the GEICO property in Friendship Heights are an irreplaceable benefit to our community. Yet, the developer, EYA, wants to cut down almost all of them to build townhouses and apartments and add amenities to Brookdale Park. Please deny their request for a variance that allows them to destroy these invaluable specimen trees.
The proposed enhancements for Brookdale Park guarantees loss of trees from the park. Please reject the park enhancements that impact the trees.
Too many trees are being lost to the greenway construction. Please reconsider the design of the path so that it prioritizes saving the beautiful trees that make walking in the woods such a pleasure.
The Friendship Heights Sector Plan requires that every effort be made to keep the mature trees. This is so important that it is mentioned in more than 10 places in the plan. EYA can do better. Shifting some green space to include an existing tree, locating amenities proposed for the Park in one of the pocket parks in the residential complex, tweaking the design of the greenway to avoid tree loss would be a win for everyone and for green living.
We need these trees for shade, for wildlife habitat and for stormwater management.
Please save our trees. Save our park.
Thank you for your work on this,
{Your Name}
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