1) The lot is in a flood zone. 2) Ridge Road and Melwood are too narrow and are not suitable to handle more traffic, including traffic caused by a new house from a builder who walks away pocketing short-term profit but has no stake in neighborhood or the safety of the residents. As it is pedestrians have to have their head on a swivel to avoid cars driving along Ridge Road and Melwood - especially cars driven by people looking at cell phones while cutting through our neighborhood. 3) Deny the building permit and deny access to Ridge Road.
B
Bonnie Fogel
3 years ago
You only have to LOOK at the situation to see that access on Fallen Oak is the ONLY reasonable place to provide access to the developer.
L
Lisa Suggs Wilson
3 years ago
Please keep the access on Fallen Oak as originally planned!
N
Nikia Popow
3 years ago
For the safety of the many children, families, and elderly folk who walk or ride bikes in the neighborhood, please do not increase vehicular traffic by allowing access via Ridge Rd. Environmental factors also militate against additional building on this lot.
M
May Olalia
3 years ago
Please honor the original plan.
A
Adam Kuhn
3 years ago
Featured
This is reminiscent of the Oldchester Road debacle where a public walk-through was sold to a developer that was later found to be unusable - and returned to its original public use configuration. If someone approved this on paper - they likely didn't survey the property in person to see how untenable this is. The builder is essentially barreling through private property to build a house-behind-a-house on an unbuildable lot - that's too close to the culvert as is.
If the county allows the house to be built - then the builder will need to develop the lot via the original Fallen Oak Drive plan. The existing homeowners on Ridge Road shouldn't be subject to bullying by the builder.
D
Deborah Charles
3 years ago
I oppose a Ridge Road access to a new home vehemently and would welcome an in person evaluation for a multitude of reasons.
B
Bill Branson
3 years ago
I am very surprised that more development is allowed this close to the stream. Just a few months ago there was serious flooding about 100 yards downstream from this point and one car was damage with flooding waters inside the car.. This also happened a few times last year..
A few of us remember when this stream used to be a beautiful natural stream with lots of life both in the stream and surrounding it... Unfortunately,, our county decided to destroy all of this natural wonder and change it into a large open concrete sewer
Now millions of dollars are being spent downstream of our local rapid flowing stream to prevent the massive erosion taking place.
It is very sad that our county encourages developers to take away all of the natural water absorbing features that the neighborhood once had. Namely, large trees, actual land instead of large homes and paved over front yards...
Flooding problems are on the increase and I think our county should rethink their current policies.
D
David Mann
3 years ago
In addition to the arguments in the letter and noted by others, the vehicle access from the end of Ridge is not feasible for construction activities and direct road access from Fallen Oak would be necessary for any construction to occur.
G
George Napier
3 years ago
Featured
The streets proposed in the easement are much too narrow to support increased vehicular and truck traffic. For example, along this stretch it is often necessary to temporarily "tuck in" to a parking space to allow a car traveling in the opposite direction to pass. Furthermore, there are no sidewalks along this stretch of Ridge Road, and this road is used by the community and its children regularly for walking, biking, and generally accessing parts of the neighborhood. The proposed easement places both a burden and creates a safety issue unnecessarily as access via Fallen Oak is possible. Thank you for your consideration.
A
Anonymous
3 years ago
Neighbor at 6102 Temple street
H
Harriet Kuhn
3 years ago
Featured
Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the neighborhood as it is a safety issue with too many cars on Melwood Road already. Note to Montgomery County DPS: Please do not approve any more permits for that property. The property is sloped and heavily wooded and sits in a floodplain right next to the Bulls Run culvert which often floods. The land is unbuildable and should not have been allowed to be subdivided many years ago because it can only be accessed over the Bulls Run Culvert from Fallen Oak Drive. Right now it is landlocked with no access...as a driveway would need to be constructed over the creek.
B
Bill Kearney
3 years ago
Featured
As a multi-decade resident of this neighborhood I strongly oppose granting a permit to add traffic to the roads in Hillmead. Builder short-term profit speculating on construction is NOT a justification for a lifetime of traffic burden put on the residents after the builder has run off with the profits.
NO to this permit.
C
Cynthia Karst
3 years ago
The streets in our neighborhood only let 1 car by at a time. Additional traffic would result in a definite safety hazard
C
Cathleen Fromm
3 years ago
Featured
see no reason this lot needs to be accessed via Ridge Rd. Access via Fallen Oak is more direct and avoids increasing risk the traffic burden on Ridge, an (already too congested) neighborhood road that is too often used as a cut through between Bradley and Greentree. Ideally, traffic on Ridge should be reduced, but most definitely not increased.
1) The lot is in a flood zone. 2) Ridge Road and Melwood are too narrow and are not suitable to handle more traffic, including traffic caused by a new house from a builder who walks away pocketing short-term profit but has no stake in neighborhood or the safety of the residents. As it is pedestrians have to have their head on a swivel to avoid cars driving along Ridge Road and Melwood - especially cars driven by people looking at cell phones while cutting through our neighborhood. 3) Deny the building permit and deny access to Ridge Road.
You only have to LOOK at the situation to see that access on Fallen Oak is the ONLY reasonable place to provide access to the developer.
Please keep the access on Fallen Oak as originally planned!
For the safety of the many children, families, and elderly folk who walk or ride bikes in the neighborhood, please do not increase vehicular traffic by allowing access via Ridge Rd. Environmental factors also militate against additional building on this lot.
Please honor the original plan.
This is reminiscent of the Oldchester Road debacle where a public walk-through was sold to a developer that was later found to be unusable - and returned to its original public use configuration. If someone approved this on paper - they likely didn't survey the property in person to see how untenable this is. The builder is essentially barreling through private property to build a house-behind-a-house on an unbuildable lot - that's too close to the culvert as is. If the county allows the house to be built - then the builder will need to develop the lot via the original Fallen Oak Drive plan. The existing homeowners on Ridge Road shouldn't be subject to bullying by the builder.
I oppose a Ridge Road access to a new home vehemently and would welcome an in person evaluation for a multitude of reasons.
I am very surprised that more development is allowed this close to the stream. Just a few months ago there was serious flooding about 100 yards downstream from this point and one car was damage with flooding waters inside the car.. This also happened a few times last year.. A few of us remember when this stream used to be a beautiful natural stream with lots of life both in the stream and surrounding it... Unfortunately,, our county decided to destroy all of this natural wonder and change it into a large open concrete sewer Now millions of dollars are being spent downstream of our local rapid flowing stream to prevent the massive erosion taking place. It is very sad that our county encourages developers to take away all of the natural water absorbing features that the neighborhood once had. Namely, large trees, actual land instead of large homes and paved over front yards... Flooding problems are on the increase and I think our county should rethink their current policies.
In addition to the arguments in the letter and noted by others, the vehicle access from the end of Ridge is not feasible for construction activities and direct road access from Fallen Oak would be necessary for any construction to occur.
The streets proposed in the easement are much too narrow to support increased vehicular and truck traffic. For example, along this stretch it is often necessary to temporarily "tuck in" to a parking space to allow a car traveling in the opposite direction to pass. Furthermore, there are no sidewalks along this stretch of Ridge Road, and this road is used by the community and its children regularly for walking, biking, and generally accessing parts of the neighborhood. The proposed easement places both a burden and creates a safety issue unnecessarily as access via Fallen Oak is possible. Thank you for your consideration.
Neighbor at 6102 Temple street
Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the neighborhood as it is a safety issue with too many cars on Melwood Road already. Note to Montgomery County DPS: Please do not approve any more permits for that property. The property is sloped and heavily wooded and sits in a floodplain right next to the Bulls Run culvert which often floods. The land is unbuildable and should not have been allowed to be subdivided many years ago because it can only be accessed over the Bulls Run Culvert from Fallen Oak Drive. Right now it is landlocked with no access...as a driveway would need to be constructed over the creek.
As a multi-decade resident of this neighborhood I strongly oppose granting a permit to add traffic to the roads in Hillmead. Builder short-term profit speculating on construction is NOT a justification for a lifetime of traffic burden put on the residents after the builder has run off with the profits. NO to this permit.
The streets in our neighborhood only let 1 car by at a time. Additional traffic would result in a definite safety hazard
see no reason this lot needs to be accessed via Ridge Rd. Access via Fallen Oak is more direct and avoids increasing risk the traffic burden on Ridge, an (already too congested) neighborhood road that is too often used as a cut through between Bradley and Greentree. Ideally, traffic on Ridge should be reduced, but most definitely not increased.