Montgomery Planning Board commissioners are considering building a new soccer field at a park in Silver Spring, despite complaints about the project’s cost and impact on the neighborhood.
Planning Board members are talking about adding a large new athletic field and more parking at North Four Corners Local Park at University Boulevard and Southwood Avenue. The area is now home to a 175-year-old walnut tree and large parcel of open space called Rachel Carson Meadow in honor of the environmentalist who hailed from Silver Spring.
At Thursday’s meeting, planning board commissioners delayed a decision on the project until staffers have time to develop a compromise plan that allows construction of only one soccer field, instead of the two that had previously been suggested. The new plan would provide additional buffers from field activity at the park for some local residents and leave a portion of the meadow intact.
Carole Ann Barth, president of the Northwood Four Corners Civic Association, which represents 1,500 households in the area, said nearly 300 residents have signed petitions in opposition to the park for reasons ranging from the destruction of trees to the project’s estimated $5.5 million cost and increased traffic in the community.
“This is not a site that is appropriate for development as a soccer field,” Barth said. “There are rolling hills, trees and topography here that mean you must first bulldoze the area, fill it and add retaining walls before this can be a level site fitting for soccer. There are plenty of other sites in the county that are better-suited for soccer fields.”
Barth and other community residents told planning board members it was irresponsible for the county to consider spending as much as $5.5 million on the construction of one soccer field when the state and county are battling budget issues. According to Barth, last year the Discovery Channel chairman made a $6 million donation to Montgomery’s Soccerplex, which paid for the construction of five competition-quality soccer fields, the establishment of a new countywide soccer league, and subsidies to reduce the user fees charged to teams.
Area resident Joe Rudolph, however, who did not attend the meeting told The Examiner on Thursday that many neighbors of the park support the renovation and are turned off from the debate because of how “vocal” opponents are.
“We’re talking about an unused lot,” Rudolph said. “There are trees there, yes, but it’s filled with weeds and is kind of a crime magnet. High school kids smoking pot would hang out there. The more used it is by the public, the less inviting it is to that element.”
