Bag Bill needs our Testimony

Vote NO on Bill 10-13.

Sign up to testify against Bill 10-13 on June 18 by calling 240-777-7803. If you can't make it June 18, call or write your Councilmember today. Click HERE for contact information.

Protect Montgomery’s Bag Law!

In 2012, all Montgomery County stores began charging a nickel for disposable plastic and paper bags distributed at checkout, in order to reduce litter by encouraging shoppers to use reusable bags.

Is it working? Yes! It's good for businesses and good for the environment!

- Fewer plastic bags are being found in County streams during cleanups and in regular monitoring.

- Grocery stores report customers are using 70% fewer disposable bags since the fee took effect.

The County Council is considering weakening the law. Why?

Some Councilmembers have expressed concern that shoppers don’t take reusable bags to the mall, and that paying for a bag in those stores is burdensome. We say - a nickel for the environment is not too much to pay for a cleaner watershed. What is burdensome is having to pick these bags out of the creek!

What would the amendment (Bill 10-13) do?

- Plastic and paper bags from carry-outs would be exempt from the fee. These are the bags we find in our creek!

- Department stores and other non-food stores would also be exempt.

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How can I oppose this amendment?

Councilmembers are only hearing from a few unhappy residents, and not many supportive residents. (It’s human nature to speak up when you don’t like something!) The best thing you can do now is call or email your Councilmembers (contact info is HERE.).

Use the following talking points in your message:

1. Thank you for passing the bag fee legislation, ensuring that Montgomery County continues to lead the way for environmental change.

2. The bag fee has been very helpful in reminding me to bring reusable bags to all the stores that I shop in, including department stores (hardware store, boutiques, etc).

3. Even when I forget my bag and I choose to buy one, I don’t mind because I know that the money will go to support environmental projects.

4. Many of the department stores I shop in even sell reusable bags, showing that they support their customers changing their behavior and using less disposable bags.

5. I’m also thrilled to see my friends and neighbors refusing the unnecessary disposable bags at the store. (This is a great place to share personal anecdotes from your shopping experiences)

6. And the intent of the legislation, to reduce litter, has been successful. We are seeing less plastic bags in our communities and waterways.

Please also join us for the public hearing on Tuesday, June 18, at 7:30 pm. Sign up to testify by calling 240-777-7803.
Thank you to Trash Free Maryland Alliance for these excellent talking points. For more information, please visit www.TrashFreeMaryland.org.
With everyone's help, Montgomery County can continue to uphold its national reputation of strong environmental leadership! Let's flex our political muscle! Environmentalists vote too.

Bag Bill in Jepardy

“Would you like a bag?” Simple words, big impact. Just asking people to decide if they really need that bag is having a big environmental impact. By imposing small five cent fee on all bags, Montgomery County has managed to decrease the number of bags in the trash stream by thousands. The environment wins, small business save money and the County saves on clean-up costs.
Now, the County is considering legislation to weaken the bill and make carry outs, delis and non-food stores exempt from the fee, putting thousands of bags back into the trash stream and into our creek.
They say that they are hearing from too many people that five cents is too much to pay for a bag and that bags should be free. Well, five cents for a bag is actually a bargain if you consider that nothing costs a nickle any more. For just a dollar, or less than a cup of coffee, you can buy 20 bags. For the price of a small latte at Starbucks, you can buy 60 bags. But that's not really the point of the Bill - it's to get people to think about the environment when they take a bag. The five cent fee makes them stop and consider - Do they really need a bag? Do they really need to add more trash to the environment?
Just asking people to stop and think works. The number of bags distributed has declined dramatically. Businesses are saving money by not having to give away bags and the environment is winning. Our fragile area, the Potomac, the Cheseapeake Bay need all the help they can get. It may seem like baby steps, but these small efforts will add up to clean water and a clean bay.
Please contact the County Council and ask them to vote for a clean environment and against Bill 10-13.

Phil Andrews 240-777-7906 councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov Roger Berliner 240-777-7828 councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov Marc Elrich 240-777-7966 councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov Valerie Ervin 240-777-7960 councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov Nancy Floreen 240-777-7959 councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov George Leventhal 240-777-7811 councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov Nancy Navarro 240-777-7968 councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov Craig Rice 240-777-7955 councilmember.rice@montgomerycountymd.gov Hans Riemer 240-777-7964 councilmember.riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov

Up Date on Ten Mile Creek

Dear Friends of Ten Mile Creek,
The Montgomery County Planning Department held a Community Meeting on the Ten Mile Creek Master Plan Amendment on Monday night, 2/25/13. Below is my summary of this meeting, with short highlights followed by more details.

Short Highlights
* Attendance was robust -- and included close to a hundred citizens. Many were from Clarksburg and also from around the county who support protecting Ten Mile Creek and its watershed. We estimated that roughly half of these folks were inspired by our action alerts to turn out - including the alerts sent by ANS and MCA to all of their members.
* Topics presented by the staff and their consultants included the uniquely high quality of Ten Mile Creek and its watershed. Planners Valdis Lazdins and Mary Dolan presented the 1994 Master Plan amendment elements, and Biohabitats consultant Jennifer Zeilinski described the existing watershed, habitat and water quality biological conditions.
* Planner Val Lazdins said that the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan for Ten Mile Creek (Stage 4) "is our starting point; based on the outcome of that analysis, do we go up or down in terms of building densities, land uses, and distribution of development? We'll have to see based on that initial analysis."
* Responses from the audience to the focus on the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan, and to the prospect of reliance on experimental ESD stormwater management technologies for such a high-quality, sensitive stream, ranged from skeptical - to downright upset- with the apparent focus on the buildout scenario of the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan and reliance on unproven ESD mitigation measures (though Planning Staff Director Rose Krasnow later told me there would be 2 additional scenarios).
* The timeline for this Master Plan amendment is on a fast track, with a March 14th Planning Board session coming up soon.


More Details
Attendees included two ANS Board members - Mike Gravitz and Patty O'Malley - , and four ANS staffers - Debra Prybyla, Cathy Wiss, Dolores Milmoe and Diane Cameron. To list just a sampling of other ANS members and MCA activists: - several ANS Water Quality Monitors attended, including Ed Pfister, volunteers Becky Cromwell and Adrienne Nicosia.
Our partners, Caroline Taylor of Montgomery Countryside Alliance, and Paul Hlavinka of Muddy Branch Alliance were there, along with Ann Smith, leader of the Seneca Creek Alliance, Jim Hall, Ellen Pearl and Johnny Haney. DEP Senior Biologist Keith Van Ness and Planner Mark Symborski, both of whom contributed to the scientific information, were there.
Councilmember Craig Rice, and Claire Iseli of Councilmember Elrich's office attended. Botanist John Parrish was also there. (About 5 developer reps attended, including Bob Kaufmann, Bob Harris and Jim Soltesz.)
Topics presented by the staff and their consultants included the uniquely high quality of Ten Mile Creek and its watershed. Planners Valdis Lazdins and Mary Dolan presented the 1994 Master Plan amendment elements, and Biohabitats consultant Jennifer Zeilinski described the existing watershed, habitat and water quality biological conditions.
* Ten Mile Creek watershed land cover was reported to be at present 46% forested and 4% impervious.
* The "steep slopes, shallow bedrock, and erodible soils" were noted, along with the high biological quality of Ten Mile Creek (though to my taste it was featured in a somewhat general way).
* In response to a question, Ms. Zeilinski said that the ANS water quality monitoring data, along with that of DEP, was incorporated into the existing conditions report.
* The watershed's Interior Forest plays an important role in connecting the woodlands of Little Bennett Regional Park to those of Black Hills Regional Park - a "connector of two biological hubs." (We credit John Parrish and the late Bob DeGroot for teaching us the need for interior forest connectedness.)
The consultant then focused on the new stormwater management mandate in Maryland- Environmental Site Design - and how these ESD practices such as rain gardens and permeable pavements (along with buffers) could be used to mitigate the stormwater runoff from any future developments in Ten Mile Creek.
Planner Val Lazdins said that the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan for Ten Mile Creek (Stage 4) "is our starting point; based on the outcome of that analysis, do we go up or down in terms of building densities, land uses, and distribution of development? We'll have to see based on that initial analysis."
Responses from the audience to the focus on the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan, and to the prospect of reliance on experimental ESD stormwater management technologies for such a high-quality, sensitive stream, ranged from skeptical - to downright upset- with the apparent focus on the buildout scenario of the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan to be mitigated with stormwater engineering practices that are unproven to protect high quality streams (though Planning Staff Director Rose Krasnow later told me there would be 2 additional scenarios). Several questions during the public session elicited an acknowledgement from Valdis Lazdins, and the consultant Jennifer Zeilinski, that no high-quality, sensitive stream and its watershed have been documented elsewhere to have been protected from large development impacts, through reliance on these ESD-type practices such as rain gardens and permeable pavements.
Several people logically asked when the meeting broke up, "If all they are going to do is affirm the 94 Master Plan, then there's no point to this effort and they are wasting the public's resources doing this Amendment."
Melane Hoffman of Clarksburg asked about traffic issues (but the answer wasn't very revealing.) During the public Q&A, ANS Board member Mike Gravitz commented that the County was proposing to "...experiment with unproven stormwater technologies in our last, best creek...this doesn't make any sense." Several other citizens made similarly skeptical comments. Caroline Taylor asked whether they were looking at groundwater impacts of future developments (the answer was yes,) and I asked whether biological water quality endpoints were going to be modeled (in addition to pollutant loads), whether land cover conditions of imperviousness, construction and forest cover were going to be studied, along with consideration of limits on imperviousness, and Mary Dolan answered Yes to all of my questions.

When the meeting broke up, I asked Planning staff director Rose Krasnow whether additional scenarios beyond the 94 Clarksburg Master Plan were going to be fully studied, since the presentations left us wondering -- to put it mildly -- and she said definitely yes - that there would be two additional development/ creek protection scenarios beyond the baseline scenario of "The 94 Master Plan plus stormwater managment."
The timeline for this Master Plan amendment is on a fast track, with a March 14th Planning Board session coming up soon. We will keep you posted on our further responses to what we've learned -- and will share with you additional ways to be active to protect our County's Last, Best Creek. We are working to hone our message on how to effectively protect Ten Mile Creek -- while allowing some further development in its watershed.
- Diane
Diane Cameron Conservation Director Audubon Naturalist Society

Ten Mile Creek needs your voice!

You can help to save Montgomery's Last, Best Creek through sound Land Use Planning:

Community Input Meeting on Ten Mile Creek

Feb. 25th, 7:30 pm

Rocky Hill M.S. in Clarksburg

Sponsored by the Montgomery County Planning Department

RSVPs to Diane Cameron: dianecameron60@gmail.com

ANS volunteers, led by Cathy Wiss, have been monitoring Ten Mile Creek in Clarksburg for 15 years, and they find an aquatic life community there that is uniquely diverse in Montgomery County. But fragile, sensitive Ten Mile Creek is under threat from multiple large commercial and residential developments.

Your actions helped to give Ten Mile Creek a fighting chance last year - when we won placement in the Planning Dept's work plan, of a Limited Master Plan Amendment for Ten Mile Creek - enabling Montgomery's planners to study the watershed and to recommend to the Planning Bd. and Council, the best land use planning controls to protect the Creek. But the creek isn't protected yet - Click HERE for a map by Dolores Milmoe showing the developments threatening the health of this fragile resource.

The Creek will have the best chance to be protected if you raise your voice again this year to ensure a sound, enforceable land use plan for the entire Ten Mile Creek watershed.

Your voice is needed to help save Ten Mile Creek -- through sound land use planning that will establish and enforce: Science-based + limits on imperviousness and construction, and + minimum levels of forest cover.

Please come to this event on Feb. 25th and speak out in favor of protecting Ten Mile Creek. Along with our partners in this campaign, including leading partner Montgomery Countryside Alliance, we are inviting people ages 8 to 80 to come out and speak for this irreplaceable resource -- part of our drinking water supply.

RSVPs to Diane Cameron: dianecameron60@gmail.com

More information at the Planning Department and ANS websites.

Here's a video on Ten Mile Creek made by Blair H.S. Senior Danny Rosenberg.

--

Diane M. Cameron

Conservation Program Director

Audubon Naturalist Society

(301) 652-9188 x22

dianecameron60@gmail.com

Fight for the Green Mile Continues

Great turn out Monday night by citizens who voiced their support for the Green Mile.  It was clear from the standing room only crowd who attended the Monday night meeting with the State Highway Administration that there are many concerns over the proposed sidewalk.  Comments ranged from "Is there a demonstrated need?" to "The impact on the stream and bay will be tremendous."

Primary Support Came from WABA

Supporting comments came mainly from the Washington Area Bike Association who are looking forward to using the sidewalk as a commuting route.  Several people questioned whether bikers and pedestrians were compatible on an 8 foot wide trail.

State Reluctant to Commit to Crosswalks or Light

Also supporting the project were representatives from Chevy Chase West who were hopeful that once a sidewalk was installed, crosswalks from the west side to the bus stops on the east side would come.  The State traffic engineer was very reluctant to say that was likely.  They do not like to put crosswalks in where there are no four way intersection as they consider them as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than no crosswalks.She said that maybe if a pedestrian and bus use study indicated a high enough pedestrian count, the State might consider a mid-block light.   But she stressed that since people do not like to walk more than 500 feet to get to a light, it would probably require consolidating all of the bus stops to one.  The other State engineer said the Ride-on bus guidelines require the stops to be spaced out along Wisconsin Avenue so consolidating was not an option.

Graphic Notes of the meeting thanks to Barb Siegel.   

Bethesda Patch

,

BethesdaNow.com

and the

Gazette

all covered the meeting.  Read their articles on our website by clicking

HERE

.

We will continue to pursue this issue.  If you would like to join the committee that has been working on it, please email me at stormwater@lfwa.org.  We are currently looking into funding issues and demonstrated need.

Thank you to all who came out to support the Green Mile.  Visit our website for latest news and keep putting pressure on public officials.  We need trees on Wisconsin Avenue!

Sarah Morse

Why are All the Trees Marked?

You may have noticed red, blue and red and white stripped ribbons marking trees and shrubs along the Hiker/Biker trail in the Little Falls Stream Valley Park.

These ribbons are part of a survey by the WSSC in preparation for a large sewer rehabilitation project for the Little Falls Basin.

From the Project Engineers (O'Brien and Gere)

Colored Tags. - (Tags do NOT necessarily indicate removal.)

Red/white stripped denote specimen trees that must be replaced in-kind if removed. Red markings basically indicate the limits of disturbance. This designation is not to be taken literally, but rather indicated the access path that the contractors may need to perform their work. Blue markings indicate the top of bank for a stream corridor. Community Presentation: We will be prepared to present project maps at the community outreach event currently being planned for late January. In the meantime, WSSC has a web application HERE that provides the location of specific manholes and pipelines to be rehabilitated throughout the service area.

Little Falls Watershed Alliance will keep you up to date as we get information. Watch our website for details.

Ten Mile Creek Victory!

We won.

Here's from Diane Cameron, Audubon Naturalist Society -

I am happy to report that the Montgomery County Council approved today a Limited Master Plan Amendment for Ten Mile Creek / Clarksburg Stage 4. Thank you to all of the Stormwater Partners who wrote email letters to the Council, and sent alerts to their own lists. Your hard work helped us to win!

As stated by the Planning Board, the purpose of this Master Plan Amendment is threefold:

1) "to determine how comprehensive watershed protection and state-of-the-art Environmental Site Design can be used in the Ten Mile Creek watershed ..."

2) "Involve all stakeholders..." and

3) "Incorporate current county policy initiatives..."

The Council didn't take a vote, but rather approved the inclusion of this Master Plan Amendment in the Planning Board's work plan by acclamation.

This project is truly on a fast track - with a commitment by the Planning Board to complete this Amendment in 12 months - by October, 2013.

The Montgomery County Council will then act on the recommended Master Plan amendment by the Spring of 2014.

Now, we will turn our attention to the work of the Planning Board and its review of watershed protection criteria for Ten Mile Creek.

Council President Berliner, Councilmember Elrich, and other councilmembers underlined the importance of basing the protective criteria for Ten Mile

Creek upon objective science. The 3 essential elements of watershed protection, that science and prior experience have taught us, are:

1) Imperviousness cap based on protecting key sensitive aquatic species;

2) Forest cover minimums for the watershed as a whole, and for the riparian buffers; and

3) Limits on disruption of bedrock, topography and soils by earthmoving equipment and utilities and transportation infrastructure.

- Diane

Ten Mile Creek: Hey I was Drinking That!

Ten Mile Creek in Clarksburg is Montgomery County's last, best stream and part of the drinking water supply for 3 million people in the Washington, D.C. region. When the Clarksburg Town was planned in 1994, it placed the western side of the creek in the county’s Agricultural Reserve, safeguarding the farms and forests that had occupied it for generations. However, they decided to postpone designation of the eastern side until "more studies" have been done. The studies were done, they recommended that the eastern side be protected too and now it is time to ask the county to act on this recommendation.

Two development proposals for land in the headwaters are being considered. They would bring more than a thousand housing units and a half-million square feet of commercial space into the headwaters of Ten Mile Creek. The scale and footprint of these projects, along with the sewer lines to serve them, will destroy this sensitive watershed.

Sign a Petition
Please take a minute to ask the County Council to put a stop to this urban sprawl development and protect the stream. You can email them directly, or sign a petition by going to the Montgomery Countryside Alliance website.

Learn about the Issue
To learn more about the efforts to save Ten Mile Creek, visit the Audubon Naturalist Society website. They have been working on this for years and ask for our help.

Read about the problem in an oped piece by Royce Hanson, former Montgomery County Planning Board Chair.

This is not just a Clarksburg problem, but an issue for all of us who drink water and love the environment!

Sarah Morse

Bay Friendly Proposal for Proposed Wisconsin Avenue Sidewalk

Up-date on the Green Mile

First, keep those letters coming - visit our website at http://www.lfwa.org/save-trees-wisconsin-avenue for a list of officials to write to. We are getting people's attention. We've been on channel 5 news, in the Gazette, in the Patch and on numerous on-line sites.

Second, focus attention on our County Executive Ike Leggett. I had the chance to talk with him at the Somerset Fourth of July picnic and he said two things of interest - 1) he thinks that everyone wants the sidewalk as he hasn't heard from anyone who doesn't want it. And 2) he (or his office) decides which State Highway Administration sidewalk projects get built. He said there is a list of proposed sidewalk projects, with a 3 year waiting list, and based on what people want, his office prioritizes them. If people don't want this sidewalk, he can take it off the list.

His email address is ocemail@montgmerycountymd.gov.

Bay Friendly Alternative
The State has said that the sidewalk must be built as proposed, so LFWA has also come up with a Bay Friendly alternative to the full sidewalk. According to our correspondence with the State, the primary reason for the reason for the sidewalk is to make the mid-block bus stops safe. However, these bus stops can never be safe unless there are controlled crosswalks allowing bus riders to safely cross the 6 lanes of Wisconsin Avenue which is not in the plan. We strongly recommend that all bus riders use the bus stops at the controlled intersections at Grafton and Bradley. This is the safest way to cross Wisconsin to and from the northbound bus.

However, some improvements to area will increase the safety without greatly impacting the tree canopy:

Sidewalk between Hesketh and Grafton:
A five-foot wide sidewalk between Hesketh and Grafton (as shown on page one of the state plan) would necessitate removal of only three trees. It would greatly benefit the residents of Hesketh who now have only a dirt path to the bus stop and controlled intersection at Grafton.

Up-grade the Mid-block Bus Stop Pads:
The mid-block bus stops are used only by riders who must cross Wisconsin Avenue to or from the west side as the bus stops are adjacent to a golf course, not a residential area. Again, we strongly recommend that all bus riders use the crosswalks and bus stops at the controlled intersections at Grafton or Bradley as the safest way to board or disembark from the northbound buses. However, upgrading the current mid-block bus stops will make them safer for those who are brave enough to cross six lanes of traffic on Wisconsin Avenue without a light or crosswalk.

The mid-block bus stops need larger pads as the current pads are too small to wait safely and do not extend far enough back from the highway. We suggest that the State install 10' x 8' pads with benches much like there are on River Road and many other State highways where there are no sidewalks. This could be done with no or minimum loss of trees.

Finally, it is not necessary to connect these bus stops with sidewalks as everyone using the bus stops must cross mid-block to and from the west side of Wisconsin Avenue. There are no houses on the east side, only the Chevy Chase Club golf course. Bus riders can use the bus stops at the controlled intersections if they do not wish to cross mid-block. By not connecting the bus stops, dozens of trees will be saved.

Save the Green Mile:
The Little Falls Branch is one of the most impaired streams in Montgomery County. It starts right in the Chevy Chase Club so anything that is done adjacent to the golf course is especially detrimental to our stream. LFWA has been working with the County to educate our residents on the need for rain gardens, trees and conservation landscaping to help the stream, save the Bay and to meet the requirements of the MS4 permit. We have installed Bay friendly landscaping on public and private lands. We see cutting down 53 trees and paving over this area for a 3/4 mile sidewalk as a step in the wrong direction for the health of our stream, for Bay revival and not necessary for pedestrian safety.

It is not just "unfortunate" that the trees will be cut down; it is an environmental catastrophe. Stormwater run-off will increase, as well as the urban heat index. We will lose ground water necessary for recharging our stream. The State of Maryland has made trees a priority. It is our hope that the State will continue to make trees a priority and consider our Bay friendly solution for Wisconsin Avenue. Please help us save the beautiful "Green Mile" - a gateway to Montgomery County.

Save the Trees on Wisconsin Avenue

Half Green Mile?

Several years ago, citizens in Chevy Chase fought to have the stretch of Wisconsin Avenue between Dorset and Bradley remain residential. They sited increased parking lots and loss of tree cover as major concerns to the "Green Mile". The Green Mile needs our help again. The State Highway Administration is proposing to put a sidewalk along the east side of the street (the golf course side). All the trees - 53 of them - will be cut down and some 3/4 of an acres of paved surface will be added. Because of the small right of way, there is not room to replant any of the trees as the sidewalk is proposed.

Little Falls Watershed Alliance opposes this sidewalk as the environmental impact of such a dramatic action in our very fragile watershed have not be addressed. Visit our website at http://www.lfwa.org/save-trees-wisconsin-avenue to see how you can help Save the Trees!