Northwood News ♦ June 2003

NFCCA Board Expresses Its Concerns About Planning Meeting for North Four Corners Park

By Jim Zepp

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) staff has scheduled a public meeting to discuss the alternative facility plans that have been developed for the expansion of the North Four Corners Park.  This will be held on Thursday, June 19, at 7:00 p.m., at the Parks Department Headquarters, 9500 Brunett Ave., Silver Spring.

The MNCPPC staff and consultant are planning to present two alternatives for the first time to the community at this meeting.  The NFCCA Board is concerned because the intention is to divide the attendees into two groups immediately following the presentations for discussion of the alternatives.  Thus, residents will have had no time to consider the various aspects of the two alternatives and how they may affect the problems and desired recreational uses identified by the community.

Given that the MNCPPC staff and consultant have taken six months to respond to the citizens’ comments about this park, it seems only reasonable that the community be allowed adequate time to study the options and the various tradeoffs involved before giving what may be construed as its final input to the planning process.  The NFCCA board is sending a letter to MNCPPC expressing its objections to handling the citizens’ comments in this manner.

Crowding, Overuse Are Issues

During the Parks Department’s first facilities planning meeting for the North Four Corners Park expansion last January, and at the NFCCA’s April meeting, many residents expressed their concerns about the problems with the existing park facilities.  This includes user parking that spills over to the surrounding residential streets, piles of trash that frequently overflow the cans, and human defecation in the bushes by ballfield users.  Although some congestion and trash can be expected with any public facility, these adverse impacts are magnified by the constant and intensive use of the existing park facilities.

With this in mind, it was surprising to go to the MNCPPC website and find that the rec center building in the North Four Corners Park has one of the highest capacity limits among the 31 such facilities available in Montgomery County.  Groups of up to 150 persons can rent the building for events.  With the small number of parking spaces in the Park, it is inevitable that there will be spillover parking in the neighborhood, especially when other groups are using the ballfields at the same time.  This also contributes to large amounts of trash being generated.

As additional facilities are planned for the site, reasonable capacity limits should be considered so that the public park doesn’t become a public nuisance.  The NFCCA board is exploring the potential for lowering the capacity limit of the rec center and requiring permits for use of the ballfields as solutions for these problems.   ■