Tributes pour in for MoCo activist Wayne Goldstein, dead at 56 - Washington Post

Miranda Spivack | Maryland Moment | April 28, 2009

Wayne Goldstein, a Montgomery County community activist with a keen interest in historic preservation and land use, died Monday morning at Shady Grove Hospital after collapsing in front of the County Council building on his way to a hearing about the proposed expansion of Suburban Hospital, according to his close friend and fellow activist Jim Humphrey.

Goldstein, 56, was a former president of the county's Civic Federation, president of Montgomery Preservation Inc. and a columnist for The Sentinel newspaper. Goldstein operated a landscaping business, and was an avid gardener.

Royce Hanson, chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, called Goldstein's death " a loss to the civic community." He said Goldstein was "persistent, well-informed and a constant advocate of both historic preservation causes and community causes."

Goldstein is survived by two brothers and his mother, Terry, of Chevy Chase, a former teacher, and herself a civic activist.

Amy Presley, a planning board member who rose to prominence when she and other Clarksburg residents uncovered irregularities in the planning process, said Goldstein had been one of her early tutors, helping her sort out the often confusing documents that are on file at the planning agency and describe what builders and developers are required to do. "I am really sad," Presley said.

Humphrey said he was saddened by the loss of his long time friend and said the civic community would suffer from the loss of Goldstein's voluminious institutional knowledge of the planning process, "much of it was in his head." Funeral arrangements will be announced soon, Humprhey said.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2009/04/tributes_pour_in_for_moco_acti.html