Silver Spring Jazz Festival - Sat, September 13th 2008 - 2 pm to 10:30 pm

Silver Spring's Biggest Event of the Year!

This year's Headliner is the Mingus Big Band!

The Mingus Big Band was created to celebrate the music of the composer and bassist, Charles Mingus, who died of ALS in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, the band tours extensively in the United States and abroad, headlining all the major jazz festivals and, since 1991, holding a weekly residency in New York City. In 2007, musicians from the Mingus Big Band participated in a presentation of Charles Mingus’s masterwork Epitaph, conducted by Gunther Schuller, which will be broadcast on NPR this year. With nine recordings to its credit – six of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards – the Mingus Big Band is keeping Mingus music alive and vibrant for future generations.

Because Charles Mingus left such a large legacy of composition, the Mingus Big Band selects a concert program that offers an overview of the variety and breadth of his repertoire and his many influences, including Latin, folk, and classical forms. A concert will typically include ballads, blues, extended through-composed pieces, arrangements for vocalists, and selections from Epitaph.

The musicians in the Mingus Big Band are the finest in jazz and bring their unique style and personality to the music.

Charles Mingus left behind one of the largest legacies of composition in 20th century American music. At the 1997 Grammy Awards ceremony, he posthumously received NARAS's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1993, his entire catalog of work—scores, recording tapes, correspondence, photographs, memorabilia and writings—were acquired by the Library of Congress, a first for jazz, and he was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The recent release of the 1964 concert at Cornell University on Blue Note made the 2007 Top 10 lists of many prestigious publications.

“The best jazz orchestra in the world bears the name of the Mingus Big Band… a remarkable high standard of musicianship, energy and consistency."
-Geoffrey Himes of The Washington Post


Marcus Johnson

Marcus Johnson is an extraordinary jazz keyboardist and composer, as well as a successful businessman with his Three Keys Music label, headquartered in Silver Spring's downtown. He began playing the piano at age nine, and from there, he wanted to “create classics, not just hit songs.”

Marcus has done the amazing by launching a highly successful record label and releasing seven albums since 1997. Catch this shooting star with his newest Top 10 Billboard Charting CD “The Phoenix” to know he’s the real deal…playing with passionate grooves and soul-stirring beats…hot and sexy!


Gail Shipp

Gail is a native Washingtonian who grew up listening to jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McCrae, and Gloria Lynne. Gail’s performance credits include Blues Alley, Takoma Station night club and the Washington Area Music Industry Awards.

She has performed with R&B artists Johnny Gill, Stacey Lattisaw, and Kenny Lattisaw. She also recorded with notable jazz recording artist Roy Ayers, and has appeared at D.C.’s Lisner Auditorium on the same stage with jazz diva Shirley Horn.

This is Gail’s first appearance at the Silver Spring Jazz Festival, and she is particularly thrilled, since she now resides in Silver Spring. Gail is here today performing with the Wes Biles Quartet featuring Wes Biles on bass, Vince Smith on keyboards, Dohn Nunley on sax, and Ron Compton on drums.

Samambaia

Have you heard the phrase “the CHEMISTRY” has to be right…This is also true in music!

Samambaia is a rare and beautiful flower that grows in the jungles of Brazil. This band’s music is as powerful as this exotic flower, and mixed care by its outstanding musicians. Argentinean-born guitar virtuoso, Dani Cortaza leads the band into creative breaks, rhythms and melodies that virtually float on air. In 2007, his CD “Expressions” was nominated for best CD in the Latin music category in the Washington D.C. area. This year, he was the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for artistic excellence in guitar performance and composition.

It is here in the Washington DC area where Dani Cortaza would form Samambaia and find the perfect musicians for the vision of this band. The musicians include Alejandro Lucini on drums, Didier Prossaird on piano and keyboards, Alfredo Mojica, Jr., on vocals and percussion, and Steve Sachse on bass. These first-class musicians have honed their skills locally, nationally and internationally.


Yaron Elyashiv

For a long time modern jazz has been misrepresented to the public as music for musicians. With a fresh sound and a different approach to jazz than his contemporaries, saxophone player and composer Yaron Elyashiv stays true to traditions as he keeps looking forward into the future.

After only two years in New York, Yaron has been making a name for himself at such spots as Minton’s Playhouse, Saint Nick’s Pub, Fat Cat, and the CUNY Jazz Festival. A native of Israel, Yaron was an important part of that jazz scene before coming to the U.S. His recently-recorded debut album “I Remember You” has already received great reviews from eJazzNews and Dan Karcher of WBGO radio.

TAKE METROBUS OR METRORAIL to the Silver Spring station, or ride bus routes 70, S2 and S4

An uncommon deal for Lee, Live Nation - Washington Business Journal

Washington Business Journal - by Mike Mills Editor - Friday, August 29, 2008

This week, workers began removing a city block’s worth of grass-like carpet in downtown Silver Spring. When the fake turf was installed in 2005, it was meant to cover the eyesore of a vacant lot amid the newly revitalized town center. But, to everyone’s surprise, the plastic field became one of the most popular places for families and neighbors to hang out. This ad hoc village green will now become a public ice rink and a memorial to veterans.

Alas, a few blocks away is another vacant lot that, if developed in the way the Montgomery County executive envisions it, would strain the definitions of both a “public common” and the “public good.”

The land, which fronts Colesville Road, is owned by Lee Development Group, a respected builder and landowner run by one of Montgomery County’s founding families. County Executive Isiah Leggett persuaded Lee to convey part of the property to the county so entertainment giant Live Nation can open a Fillmore music hall there.

Leggett’s plan would allow Lee to count the transferred land, valued at $3.5 million, toward a requirement that developers include a certain percentage of “public open space” when they build in Silver Spring. Though the public would not, as a rule, be freely gathering at the new Fillmore (you need a ticket), the plan envisions the venue being available for rent and used, on occasion, for public events.

Lee went along with this plan only after receiving some handsome assurances from Leggett. Lee, for example, gets as much as 15 years to decide what else to do with the remaining property. And when Lee decides, it can go ahead without further approval from county planners. This controversial provision will require a change in zoning laws. The matter is before the County Council in September.

Had a private citizen come up with this plan, it wouldn’t “pass the laugh test,” said Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson in a July 29 memo to the council. He’s hoping the council will reject this attempt to strip his agency of its authority to approve future development.

Supporters of the Leggett plan, including many Silver Spring residents, dismiss Hanson’s opposition as a petty, intramural squabble over executive and regulatory powers. But Hanson’s right: This deal requires too many government contortions for what should be a private sector-led initiative to bring a music hall to town.

It was former County Executive Douglas Duncan who first approached Lee a few years ago to bring the locally owned Birchmere music hall to Silver Spring. When that deal fell apart, Duncan’s successor, Leggett, quickly struck this much more generous deal with Live Nation. Leggett’s largesse doesn’t just extend to Lee: In addition to $8 million in state and county grants intended for the Birchmere, Live Nation will get $800,000 in tax credits over 10 years, below-market rents, income from naming rights and a loosening of food sale minimums for its liquor license. Outraged at this handout to a competitor, locally based I.M.P. Productions last year offered to open a 9:30 Club on the lot on its own dime. But Leggett wouldn’t speak with them.

Leggett’s plan has a lot of intangible costs: Developers whose names are not Lee will no doubt seek similar deals to skirt the regulatory approval process and sector plan. Also, the county will have zero control over the design or quality of anything Lee decides to build on the site.

The planning board offers three alternatives to the current plan, each of which would preserve its authority.

I have a fourth: Slap a fresh patch of plastic grass on the Lee lot, put up a band shell and let the good times roll.

E-mail: mmills@bizjournals.com Phone: 703/258-0820

Planners Back Razing Rentals for Luxury Site - Washington Post

By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 5, 2008; B03

Montgomery County's planning board yesterday voted to recommend a plan that paves the way for demolition of 182 moderately priced rental apartments near the Silver Spring Metro station, replacing them with a luxury high-rise and retail complex that will include some affordable units.

The County Council has the final say on the plan and is likely to vote on it this fall.

The proposal designates part of the Falklands apartments on East-West Highway as historic, limiting development in some sections. The complex was the first in Montgomery to have mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The buildings, low-rise garden apartments, are considered architecturally significant examples of the "garden city" movement.

The county's historic preservation commission had recommended designating all 500 units as historic. But the planning board yesterday chose a compromise that allows redevelopment on the north parcel but preserves other sections as historic.

The proposal had sparked a division within the planning agency but won support from some groups interested in preserving affordable housing.

The developer, New York-based Home Properties, agreed to replace some affordable units and offer current residents moderately priced rentals elsewhere in the county.

Royce Hanson, head of the planning board, said he was convinced that most of the historic architecture on the property can be preserved while still allowing some development.

Leggett Launches Pedestrian Safety Effort - Washington Post

By Derek Kravitz and Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 3, 2008; B04

Officials announced a pedestrian safety campaign at a Montgomery County intersection yesterday as the very people they hoped to protect jaywalked in the background, apparently heedless of what was going on.

"We didn't orchestrate it, but it happened," said a spokesman for County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who announced the program at University Boulevard and Piney Branch Road.

On one hand the jaywalking "was distracting," said Patrick Lacefield, Leggett's spokesman. "On the other it was illustrative" of the county's pedestrian safety problem.

At the news conference, Leggett said a section of Piney Branch Road will become the first of a series of "High Incidence Areas," where officials will make vigorous efforts to reduce injuries and enhance safety.

Describing the area as "very diverse," with a large immigrant population, Lacefield said many people there are "just not obeying the rules of the road."

During the 40-minute news conference, witnesses told of seeing jaywalkers dart across the roadway, stepping in and out of crosswalks as they dodged traffic.

In recent years, the county has averaged about 14 pedestrian deaths and more than 400 injuries annually. Auto accidents involving pedestrians have been identified as a major traffic safety problem in Montgomery and throughout the Washington region.

Other jurisdictions have also begun programs to protect people trying to cross the area's busy streets and roads.

Authorities in Montgomery have devised a three-pronged strategy of engineering, enforcement and education, Lacefield said. Yesterday's events, he said, illustrated in particular the importance of enforcement and education.

Lacefield said the corner where the announcement was made was not selected because it was likely to provide a backdrop of pedestrians ignoring safe practices. He said it was chosen because of the number of pedestrians struck in the area.

One study found that University Boulevard, which runs through Montgomery and Prince George's counties, was the area's deadliest street for pedestrians. From 1995 to 2005, 29 pedestrian fatalities were recorded there, according to the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

"We're trying to go in and figure out everything we need to do," Lacefield said, including "lights, engineering, education . . . the whole nine yards."

Released in December, Leggett's Pedestrian Safety Initiative offers seven strategies for improving walkability and pedestrian safety.

The first strategy targets so-called high-incidence areas. The county and state are to begin the process this month by carrying out a pedestrian safety audit along Piney Branch between Flower Avenue and the county's eastern boundary. The audit is to be followed by engineering improvements.

Arthur Holmes Jr., the county's transportation director, called that stretch "the worst."

County Council member Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring), who represents the area, said she was not surprised to hear of the jaywalking yesterday.

"That's part of the problem," she said, "educating a lot of these folks about traffic laws."

Capt. Donald M. Johnson, who heads the local county police district, said he did not see the jaywalking. But he said, "I don't doubt it happened."

Lacefield said he was told that police officers "went over" to some of the jaywalkers "to talk to them about it."

More than 75 pedestrians are killed each year on the region's roads, and more than 1,000 are injured.

Family carnival at St. Camillus - Gazette

People and Places | Jeremy Arias and Jason Tomassini | Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

The annual St. Camillus family carnival will be held 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at St. Camillus Church, 1600 St. Camillus Drive in Silver Spring.

It is the third year the church has held the event. Proceeds benefit the St. Camillus School, which serves pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade students at 1500 St. Camillus Drive. The event is open to the whole community, not just members of the church.

Ed Cook, chairman of the church's carnival committee, said there will be 12 to 14 rides, including a merry-go-round, moon bounce, haunted house and a "freefall," where riders drop from 100 feet in the air. There also will be multicultural food and drinks, including beer. Local amateur and professional craftspeople will have booths set up to sell their items. A disc jockey will play music and there will be a place to dance for attendees and professionals specializing in Irish dance.

Cook said the event is the church's signature non-religious event of the year and is a great opportunity for the congregation's many cultures to get together. Cook said the congregants come from more than 120 nations and called the carnival a "melting pot" of ethnicities.

"When you get a Latino from Argentina working with someone from the Czech Republic, it's fun," said Cook, who expects 4,000 attendees this year. "Very often, they are meeting people they would never get to meet without the carnival."

Admission is free, but a small fee will be charged for rides. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, patrons can buy a ticket granting unlimited access to any ride for $10 but those tickets must be purchased by Friday. Those tickets can be ordered at the church or the school. For more information call 301-434-8400.

Folk festival keeps crowds, performers coming back - Gazette

Annual music, community event returns Sept. 14

by Jeremy Arias | Staff Writer | Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

Bill Williams is a folk festival regular. A Takoma Park resident for the past 17 years, Williams has either attended or performed in the city's annual music and crafts event, the Takoma Park Folk Festival, since 1999.

"I've seen some very good arts and crafts people selling stuff there, and I like that they've got a lot of stands set up for community service booths," he said. "They've got it pretty well down."

Williams and his newest band, the Jelly Roll Mortals, are one of 50 musical groups or performers that will take the stage Sept. 14 for the 31st annual Takoma Park Folk Festival to be held 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Takoma Park Middle School.

Williams and the Jelly Roll Mortals will perform from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the 7th Heaven stage, mixing well-known covers with their own distinct folk-rock acoustic songs.

The festival also will feature space for 45 arts and craft booths, community service booths and, of course, food vendors of all types. Shuttle buses will run from the Montgomery College parking garage and the Takoma Metro station to the event throughout the day free of charge, and walking routes to the festival will be clearly marked. Admission will be free.

"We're telling people don't park in the neighborhood because there's not enough space," cautioned event spokeswoman Nancy Nickell.

Nickell, who has been working with the festival since 2000, said the event draws about 4,000 attendees each year. As many as 300 volunteers lend a hand the day of the festival, she said.

"We're actually able to put on a very large event with very little money because the labor is all volunteer," Nickell said, adding that it is not too late to volunteer for this year's event. Those interested can visit the festival Web site, www.tpff.org.

Nickell has a more personal connection with the festival; she credits the event with her decision to move back to Takoma Park after she and her husband passed a house for sale following the 1999 folk fest. They eventually bought the house.

"A neighbor told me a couple months later that, well, if you owe your house to the festival then you should volunteer for the festival!" Nickell said with a laugh. She is not alone among residents who find themselves drawn back to the festival.

Performer Spencer Bates also will return after his debut performance at last year's celebration. Bates, a self-taught pianist and singer, won the festival's prize for local talent last year and will play an hour-long set of his uniquely-interpreted tributes and some of his favorite songs from his two recent albums.

"The folk festival heavily values originality, artistry, nuance, creativity; all that stuff," he said. "At a folk festival, the people are there to experience culture. It's sort of the perfect venue for what I've been looking for."

Bates will perform 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the 7th Heaven stage space, and again along with a Bob Dylan tribute group performing later in the festival.

A complete listing of the various performances on the seven stages, food stalls, crafts and entertainment information can be found on the festival's Web site along with volunteer information and directions to the event.

Unsafe intersections marked for upgrades - Gazette

County launches six-year, $32 million project to improve pedestrian safety

by Amber Parcher | Staff Writer |

The county and State Highway Administration are working together to improve dangerous intersections in the county as a way to lower pedestrian-related collisions and fatalities.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), police officers and state highway officials met Tuesday at the intersection of Piney Branch Road and University Boulevard in the Long Branch area of Silver Spring to launch a pedestrian-safety initiative aimed at areas with a high number of incidents involving pedestrians, such as the Piney Branch/University intersection.

Over the next six years, the $32 million county-funded project will consider ideas such as pedestrian countdown signals for crosswalks, sidewalk improvements, increased lighting, pedestrian buffers and multilingual education about road safety. The funding will be used to study pedestrian-safety issues and construct safer intersections.

Since the beginning of the year, 12 pedestrians have been killed in Montgomery County, Leggett said, compared with 17 deaths last year.

"There are far too many in Montgomery County," Leggett said.

Jeffrey Wentz, the State Highway Administration assistant district engineer for traffic in Montgomery County, said engineers have already started studying the Piney Branch/University Boulevard intersection.

The project under design includes adding another right lane on Piney Branch Road leading to University Boulevard, removing the small islands at each corner of the intersection, and widening the corners of the intersection to make a shorter walking distance across each street.

Wentz said the project, which also will add accessible countdown signals at each corner, will start construction as soon as the SHA can obtain funding for it. He said he couldn't cite a start date or specific costs at this time.

Leggett's report on pedestrian safety said auditing and improving each problem intersection will cost about $300,000. The report also indicates education and outreach about pedestrian safety and conducting safety evaluations will cost a combined $200,000 a year over six years.

Herminia Servat, a resident of Flower Branch apartments on Piney Branch Road, said she would like to see pedestrian and traffic safety signs in Spanish at the intersection.

"Many people speak Spanish," she said in Spanish. "We don't know when to stop, when to wait."

Servat said she is pleased to see the county and state are finally taking action to make the area safer, especially with a high number of incidents at the intersection over the past two years.

"Sometimes we don't know ... when we leave for work in the morning … if we're going to return in the afternoon," she said of the dangers of the intersection behind her.

The high number of collisions at the Piney Branch Road/University Boulevard intersection is exactly why state and county officials launched their pedestrian safety initiative in Long Branch, said Sgt. Tom Harmon with the county traffic safety patrol.

Harmon said there have been 22 accidents near the intersection since 2005.

Harmon and Capt. Donald Johnson, commander the county police department's Third District station, said the area has the most collisions — both car and pedestrian — in the county because of the high volume of cars and people. Harmon said his safety patrol troops are going to increase their monitoring of the area over the next month as part of a plan to target high-traffic areas.

"People are going to know the cops are gonna be there," he said.

Johnson said police issued almost 4,000 citations for traffic violations at the intersection last year. He said pedestrian safety is a priority for police, who will work with Takoma Park police and citizens to make the area safer.

Leggett will hold four more events at dangerous intersections over the next two weeks to target pedestrian safety. The county's pedestrian initiative plan can be found at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/walk.

Easter Seals facility links generations - Gazette

New intergenerational building offers services to seniors and youngsters with disabilities

by Jason Tomassini | Staff Writer | Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
Adults and young children with disabilities have a new place to get help and guidance in Silver Spring - and it happens to be the same place.

The Easter Seals Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Inter-Generational Center, which will provide care and services to adults with disabilities and children up to 5 years old with disabilities, has opened its doors at 1420 Spring St. in Silver Spring.

The center will focus on the development of children with disabilities and teaching adults with disabilities how to live independently. Many of the programs will be integrated, so both age groups can benefit from each other, said Lisa Reeves, president and CEO of Easter Seals, Greater Washington-Baltimore region.

"We don't like isolated, segregated services," Reeves said. "If we bring people together, the different generations have lots to offer each other."

Programs for children began Tuesday and the senior programs are expected to open in late September.

Easter Seals is a national, nonprofit health agency dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities. The center will also serve as Easter Seals regional headquarters.

The center is more than 41,000 square feet, built on an acre of land donated by the county in 2001, valued at about $1.2 million at the time. In return, Easter Seals will pay for most of the center's operating costs, which includes providing services to an aging population in Montgomery County, said Chuck Short, a special assistant to the County Executive Isiah Leggett (D).

"There are increasing numbers of much older people who need some assistance with daily living," Short said. "That's exactly the kind of work that Easter Seals does."

Construction on the building began in October 2006, but the project delayed because of a water spring found beneath the site. Reeves said construction costs were about $13 million and $18 million has been raised in the center's capital fundraising campaign, which covers the operating costs. Reeves said about 50 percent of money raised is from private sources and 50 percent from public sources, including grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and various state agencies.

"It began with the vision to create a unique building that would bring together the generations," said Craig Ruppert, CEO of the Laytonsville-based Ruppert Companies and chairman of the center's capital campaign.

While the center will focus on integrated services for children and adults, it is divided into a child development center and senior day center.

The senior center includes a plush common room, an outdoor patio and a cosmetology room where disabled seniors can receive specialized hygienic services.

Services for seniors can be covered by Medicaid, the Montgomery County Office of Aging and Adult Services, the Montgomery County Department of Veterans Affairs or can be paid for privately.

Reeves said the senior center will be "licensed like a nursing home, but without the white coats," with a registered nurse, physical therapist, recreation therapist and social worker.

The child development center includes a number of classrooms filled with educational toys and games and an outdoor playground.

To be admitted to the Inter-generational Center, a child must have a developmental delay of 25 percent in any of four physical or emotional areas: social and emotional development, physical development, cognitive development, and speech and language.

"There is a very comprehensive plan for different age groups and different developmental levels," said Marilyn Ricker, vice president of children's programs for the region. "Each child will have an individual plan."

The second floor of the building contains offices for about 40 administrative staffers and an Assistive Technology Center, which contains about $300,000 worth of leading technology for the disabled.

Computers with speech recognition programs and phones that can be dialed using a person's breath are among the technology center's features.

Near the technology center, there is a full kitchen furnished with appliances and utensils designed for the disabled, so seniors can learn to cook independently. There is also a computer lab with seven disabled-friendly computers.

During the planning process, planners and Easter Seals representatives also met with residents of the nearby community of Woodside Park to limit the impact of construction and gave residents a tour of the building July 31.

Long Branch Library takes a trip to Ethiopia - Gazette

Long Branch facility's celebration of African nation kicks off a year-long look at world cultures

by Jeremy Arias | Staff Writer | Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

Visitors to the Long Branch Library will have the unique opportunity to take a trip around the world this year, all without having to leave the library. Ethiopia will be the first stop in the library's world culture festival, which plans to explore the traditions of seven international cultures.

The event kicks off 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday with a showcase of Ethiopian food, music and culture in a festival inspired by past library cultural celebrations, according to librarian Sue Unger, who organized the event.

"We had this idea blossom from something last year when we had some people come from Ghana and they helped everyone explore West African culture and traditions. … We were just overwhelmed!" Unger said. "I thought about that and I said, well, we can do that for all of our cultures."

Long Branch Library, located at 8800 Garland Ave. in Silver Spring, obtained a grant from the Friends of the Library foundation to host a multipart celebration of world culture.

Unger expects the kick-off festival to be a success, and hopes the food donated by the Langano Ethiopian Restaurant in Silver Spring will help draw the crowd. Yohannis Yibass, a manager at Langano, says the restaurant is no stranger to community involvement.

"We owe it to the community, we have a large community in this area; the Wheaton area, Silver Spring, Takoma Park … so we reach out to the community." Yibass said. "We believe in the beauty of the diversity of the area."

Yibass, who is originally from Ethiopia, has lived in the area with his family since 1971. He says that by introducing attendees to the food of his home country, important aspects of Ethiopian culture become evident, such as the strong community and social practice of the coffee ceremony.

"The coffee ceremony brings together the people to talk, create connections," Yibass said, "like a reach out. This is what we want to show to the community; the historical and cultural background that people experience in Ethiopia through food and coffee."

Yibass is also representing a visiting traditional Ethiopian music and instrumental group who will perform at the event. The six-person group performs regularly at Langano on Thursday nights and will add to the celebration's atmosphere.

The library will celebrate Hispanic heritage Oct. 4 as the second event in the world culture series with performances by the South American group Cantare. Native American storyteller Joseph Stands With Many will perform for the third installment Nov. 8, Unger said.

Each of the series' events will seek to coincide with a different cultural heritage date. The Ethiopian New Year is celebrated Sept. 11. Other events will highlight the Caribbean highlands and African dance traditions, among others, Unger said.

Accessory apartments draw new support - Gazette

High housing costs spark new interest, but neighborhood groups say parking remains a problem

by Margie Hyslop | Staff Writer | Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

Persistent high housing costs have renewed calls to make it easier for homeowners to create licensed rental apartments in their residence.

An affordable housing task force has asked Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) to call for zoning law changes that would allow homeowners to create accessory apartments in "appropriate" single-family zones without having to apply for a special exception.

Details are yet to be decided, but amendments to accessory apartment laws will be offered later this month as part of a larger housing plan Leggett will present to the County Council this fall, his spokesman Patrick K. Lacefield said.

The goal is to encourage the creation of more affordable housing by reducing the time and money residents have to spend to establish accessory apartments legally. Making it easier to create one legally may make it easier for the county to monitor them by eliminating some temptations to rent them without a license, proponents say.

Proposals to make the process easier have been floated before — most recently in 2004 by then-county executive Douglas M. Duncan, whose plan failed to advance to a council vote.

Civic groups remain concerned that changes could shift the burden to neighbors who fear their community cannot bear the burden of more traffic and extra competition for parking.

If a special permission were no longer required, a hearing before the Board of Appeals would be eliminated and that could mean neighbors who oppose new accessory apartment licenses in their communities would have to take their challenge to court.

Montgomery County Civic Federation President Wayne Goldstein said the county has too many complaints already about too many people living in one house.

Statistics provided by the Department of Housing and Community Affairs officials show the county logged an average of about 156 complaints of possible violations annually over the last three years.

Goldstein said he is worried that the county will try to change the rules without addressing "the real problems … particularly parking." He said the federation might support a change "if we ever could be convinced the government could enforce the law."

It seems the county's response consists of making a visit or contact with homeowners but not following up, Goldstein said.

"If we make it somewhat easier, we're going to have to make sure resources are there to police that and to improve [inspections]. We're committed to making those improvements," Lacefield said.

The findings of a task force on code enforcement will help give the executive a clearer picture of the direction the county should go as it works to add housing, he said.

The importance people place on their homes is an argument for, and against, accessory apartments, said Patrick Hare, a nationally recognized expert on the issue and a former Montgomery planner.

Although homeowners have financial incentives to rent out apartments, they — just like their neighbors — do not want their property devalued, Hare said.

"Often if you ask ‘what about Mrs. Jones, who is getting old, having an accessory apartment?'" neighbors will say "OK" but they'll say they are against loosening the rules, Hare said.

He said evidence shows accessory apartments don't run down neighborhoods.

Few Montgomery communities have more than 10 of the county's 162 licensed accessory apartments.

The majority are already located in inside-the-Beltway neighborhoods: Takoma Park has 56, Silver Spring has 44 and Bethesda has 26.

Nancy Knight, who lives on a block that includes three accessory apartments in the historic district of Takoma Park, said she opposes zoning amendments that would add more.

Knight, who has lived at the same address since 1983, said she supports living quarters for family members who are elderly or who have special needs — usually classified as (rent-free) registered living units.

"It's a delicate thing. I'm not a fan, for parking reasons and others," said Knight, adding that tenants who have lives in accessory apartment near her home have been "lovely people."

Her experience and others show that loosening the rules can be done well, advocates say.

More accessory apartments would enable the region to make better use of existing housing stock, which tends to offer more space than shrinking households need, contends the Coalition for Smart Growth.

Arlington County officials recently voted to allow some accessory apartments by right.

Prince George's County already allows accessory apartments in owner-occupied dwelling in certain zones as long as they do not exceed existing limits, such as the number of unrelated people allowed to live in a house.

Like Montgomery, Fairfax County still requires a special permit from its zoning appeals board.

The District of Columbia allows accessory apartments by right in owner-occupied townhouses or rowhouses in zones with the smallest lot size for that type of dwelling. In other words, accessory apartments are allowed by right in Washington neighborhoods where high density is planned.

"We might want to look at that as an example," said Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park, a member of the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee.