by the Audubon Naturalist Society and the Montgomery Countryside Alliance which led to the formation of the Coalition to Save Ten Mile Creek that was ultimately joined by 31 organizations . The amended Master Plan requires an overall 6 % cap on impervious surfaces west of I-270 but also says that these two sensitive subwatersheds should be kept to as near to 5 % as possible Although Pulte ’ s proposed site plan would maintain the 6 % impervious cap across the tract area , it would exceed this cap in both most sensitive subwatersheds . The proposed development would bring the impervious cover to over 12 % in LSTM 111 and nearly 7 % in LSTM 110 , which could rise to nearly 10 % if the 135-acre abutting King farm is developed . In addition , nearly 25 % of the combined acreage of these watersheds would be bulldozed and regraded to facilitate the Pulte development .
Pulte ’ s proposed development is currently pending appeal of a judicial review in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County . That review was requested in a petition submitted by Friends of Ten Mile Creek and local area residents . Two additional developments in the headwaters have already received approval .
This ongoing conflict between Ten Mile Creek and development patterns is rooted in the 1964 General Plan on Wedges and Corridors which suggested the additional corridor city of Clarksburg in the Creek ’ s headwater areas . Clarksburg ’ s designation as a corridor city was formalized when the plan was updated and adopted by the Council
in 1969 , after the initial 1968 Clarksburg Master Plan had met with widespread local opposition . The extraordinary countywide environmental and historical significance of Ten Mile Creek and the Ford at West Old Baltimore Road were formally recognized in the subsequent 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan . West Old Baltimore Road is also protected through its designation as an Exceptional Rural and Rustic Road in the County ’ s Rustic Roads Master Plan . With the passage of the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan , an additional 1,800 acres was added to the Agricultural Reserve , including 1,000 acres of the Ten Mile Creek watershed , west of the creek ’ s mainstem ( between Slidell Rd . and Shiloh Church Rd ). However , the acreage east of the TMC mainstem was not
Sugarloaf Citizens Association ( SCA ) has worked since the 1970s to preserve and protect farming , open space , and rural life in Montgomery County ’ s Ag Reserve .
Our latest battle is to prevent developers from undermining a plan to zone almost 20,000 acres surrounding Sugarloaf Mountain , adjacent to the Ag Reserve , for conservation and rural heritage . The plan would preserve farms , forests , streams , and natural habitat . But a prodevelopment coalition seeks to weaken the plan ’ s environmental protections , narrow its scope , and exempt certain parcels of land .
Please join us to protect this treasured low-density , rural area from commercial development . Get the facts at sugarloafcitizens . org .
Join us .
All county residents have a stake in protecting
the Ag Reserve
www . sugarloafcitizens . org I Linden Farm , Dickerson , MD 301-349-4889 I info @ sugarloafcitizens . org
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