Parkland was a subplot at the September 13 Greenbelt City Council meeting as council added Greenbriar Park to the Forest Preserve, supported the Forest Preserve Advisory Board’s (FPAB) proposed trail maintenance plans and rejected a proposed referendum that would require purchase of land adjacent to Greenbelt Station. In addition, council directed staff to conduct a traffic study of Lakeside Drive and received resident petitions.
Greenbriar Park
Council unanimously approved, as recommended by the FPAB, adding Greenbriar Park to the city’s Forest Preserve. The board’s recommendation was modified on a 5 to 3 vote, to permit the city to continue mowing an unforested portion of the land. Greenbriar Park is a city park located at the intersection of Hanover Parkway and Mandan Road.
Trail Maintenance
As requested at an August 23 worksession, FPAB provided additional information regarding the activities they are considering for the previously approved trail maintenance pilot. Board member Bryan Bruns provided the information, noting that although the board had been given copies, they had not formally reviewed or approved it. The pilot is being conducted to inform the board in its development of the Forest Preserve Master Plan.
The activities being considered would address gully erosion and persistently muddy areas. The trail from Eastway/44 Court Ridge would see improvements to combat erosion, such as reshaping the trail to improve drainage or relocating sections of the trail to higher land.
The Pumpkin Walk trail has been subject to users creating their own trails and installing materials such as boards and wooden pallets to avoid muddy sections of the trail. In addition, there are several areas where fallen trees have blocked the trail. Users have sawed the downed trees to reopen the path, but the sawed logs may have damaged the trail or impeded drainage. The pilot would close off some user-created trails, reroute or reopen blocked trails and “selectively remove” brush encroaching on the trail, especially to keep the trail passable and reduce exposure to ticks, among other benefits.
The trail to the Northway Fields floods periodically, partially due to runoff from the raised athletic fields. The FPAB pilot would not attempt to prevent all flooding. Where runoff crosses the trail, the report says that it “may be necessary and wiser to accept temporary flooding.” In addition, some of the trail may be reshaped and logs obstructing drainage may be removed, as may boards and other outside materials.
Board Chair Damian Ossi said that FPAB is moving more toward stewardship of the Preserve rather than keeping it totally natural. This shift in emphasis, he said, was approved by council when it updated the city code.
Councilmember Rodney Roberts objected to the plan. The whole plan of trail maintenance, he said, goes against the grain of the natural area that the Forest Preserve was set up to be. Councilmember Judith Davis, however, argued that the city has almost loved the Forest Preserve to death. If we do not correct some of these issues, the trails will deteriorate further, plus the city needs to address invasive species in the Preserve, she said.
Councilmember Leta Mach’s motion to support the plan passed on a 6 to 1 vote with Roberts opposed.
Referendum Proposal
In a somewhat unusual move, Roberts presented a petition calling for council to initiate a referendum to require the city to use state Project Open Space funds along with other funds to acquire land and materials for the creation of a Greenbelt West park and recreation area. Specifically, he would like the city to acquire the scrapyard adjacent to Greenbelt West for this purpose. His motion to direct the city solicitor to draw up the appropriate documents to put the question on the November ballot failed on a 2 to 5 vote with Roberts and Mayor Colin Byrd voting aye. This land is just outside the city limits in the town of Berwyn Heights.
Roberts framed the issue as one of equity, as the western section of the city has fewer recreation options than the core of Greenbelt. He said the referendum was needed because this lack of recreation facilities has been going on for 30 years, and if the city does not acquire the property now, it will be purchased by developers.
Among the issues raised by his colleagues was whether the scrapyard was the best property to acquire. Davis argued that the wooded property along
Cherrywood Lane would be a better choice. (Roberts later said he wanted to acquire that property as well.) She pointed out that Berwyn Heights might not support the city acquiring the scrapyard, which is currently in its tax base. Several councilmembers voiced contradictory opinions as to whether the owners were even interested in selling. Also at issue was whether a referendum, which could drive up the cost of the land, was the best approach and the likelihood that the property, besides being the site of “a concrete mountain,” is likely highly contaminated after years of industrial use.
Other Actions
On a 6 to 1 vote with Councilmember Silke Pope opposed, council passed a motion by Byrd to require landlords to provide the city with notice whenever they file an eviction action against a Greenbelt resident.
As part of the consent agenda, council directed staff to engage a professional traffic engineer to conduct a traffic study on Lakeside Drive, which has been the scene of several recent serious car accidents. The study is to review options such as reducing the speed limit; installing speed reduction measures such as speed humps, stop signs and rumble strips; and study the feasibility of installing sidewalks or reducing pedestrian use of the roadway.
Petitions
Lore Rosenthal requested that ballot drop boxes be established in all three areas of the city, that postage-paid envelopes be included with mail-in ballots and that weekday early voting locations be established in Greenbelt East and West.
Bill Orleans called upon the city to obtain the list of units set for eviction from the county sheriff, saying that not every tenant facing eviction knows that.
