WHITHER THE CITY CLERK? Rockville officials still haggling over work group. A-4
The Gazette
A&E: A wingless fairy makes new friends in Imagination Stage’s “The Night Fairy.” B-5
ROCKVILLE | ASPEN HILL | POTOMAC | OLNEY DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
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Rockville Pike plan draws fire
Derwood neighbors fired up over home
But few speak at hearing on city’s main drag n
Fear and anger rise at Olney meeting about center for psychiatric patients n
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TERRI HOGAN
See HOME, Page A-14
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Sales have “been on an upward trend,” says Cory Brown, owner of United Gun Shop in Rockville.
After a year, state gun law called tough on business n
But at new store in Rockville, sales are on the rise BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
When Cory Brown opened United Gun Shop in Rockville in August 2013, Maryland’s sweeping gun-control law was about to go into effect, placing major restrictions on what he could sell and who could buy it. But business has been growing steadily, Brown said in an interview. “It’s been on an upward trend since we began,” he said. The law, which took effect Oct. 1, 2013, requires those purchasing handguns to have a license and bans certain semiautomatic rifles deemed to be “assault weapons” as well as magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Brown said he opened his store because he felt he could compete on prices. But he didn’t have all of the necessary permits to sell hand-
guns until January. Sales of handguns — including models made by Glock, and Smith and Wesson — shotguns and rifles are steady, he said. There’s also a growing market for pistolcaliber carbines, essentially short rifles that use pistol ammunition, for use in home defense. The owners of other gun shops in the county say business has definitely taken a hit since the law took effect. “We’re selling very few handguns due to the licensing requirements,” said Andy Raymond, owner of Engage Armament in Rockville, which manufactures guns as well as sells them. After a surge in sales before the law took effect in 2013, sales have dropped about 20 percent compared to 2012, Raymond said. The Handgun Qualification License, issued by the Maryland State Police, requires applicants to submit fingerprints and get safety training that includes both classroom instruction and live-fire practice with a gun.
See LAW, Page A-14
Potomac house tour, festival benefit charity Petting zoo, family activities part of 58th annual event
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PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
This contemporary home with an “industrial chic” interior is part of this weekend’s Potomac Country House Tour & Festival.
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For 58 years, St. Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac has welcomed guests to its annual Country House Tour the first weekend in October. This year, an expanded Potomac Country House Tour & Festival will be held Friday through Sunday with four homes, plus a guest house bonus, boutiques, family-friendly games and activities, live and silent auctions, and even a pet-
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IT’S YOPA AT GOOD COUNSEL
Olney high school is ready to start building performing arts center.
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ting zoo. “The tour has evolved,” tour Chairwoman Susan Dolan said. “It used to be just the houses and it was a fundraiser for the church. We were just a mission in the beginning. When we got on our feet, we switched over to giving [the proceeds] to charity.” The tour’s profits “vary wildly,” netting from $50,000 to $80,000, said Barbara Heywood, president of the Women of St. Francis, which sponsors the event. All proceeds go to charity. “Most of the two dozen or so charities are in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C.,”
See TOUR, Page A-14
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RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
Tempers flared at a community meeting last week, as neighbors raised concerns over a new residential group home for psychiatric patients in Derwood, citing their safety and questioning the home’s legality. In June, the treatment center, owned and operated by nonprofit Cornerstone Montgomery of Bethesda, opened at 6112 Granby Road. Residents claim it has dramatically changed the character of their quiet neighborhood. Granby Road is a small enclave of fewer than 30 singlefamily homes that ends in a cul-de-sac. Residents at the Sept. 23 meeting at the Olney Library cited frequent rescue vehicles, more traffic and patients wandering throughout the neighborhood and approaching residents, asking for rides. Many said they feared for their family’s safety. Cari Guthrie-Cho, Cornerstone’s president and CEO, said the facility has a voluntary program for patients, where up to six patients can reside with two staff members always present. The center houses mental health patients who are in crisis, who go there instead of a hospital, or if they have been released from a hospital and need additional support. She specifically mentioned patients suffering from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and manic depression. Patients leave during the day
SPORTS: Sophomore setter helps drive Good Counsel volleyball team to fast start. B-1
Volume 27, No. 19, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
The plan to transform Rockville Pike has a long way to go, but some already are wondering what the changes will mean for businesses along the road. “Where are the current businesses supposed to go?” asked resident William Hickman at the first of at least public hearings on the plan Monday night. He called the plan an “assault” on retailers and said it would be unworkable for Rockville. The plan would overhaul a 382-acre section of the city along nearly 2 miles of Rockville Pike, increasing its density in some areas and trying to make the area more friendly to a mix of transportation and development styles. The city has been obtaining easements along the Pike for decades for redevelopment, Cindy Kebba of the city’s Department of Planning told the mayor and council at Monday’s sparsely attended hearing. Besides city officials, about a half-dozen people attended; only two commented on the plan. The proposal would make Rockville Pike more of a boule-
vard, with more crossing streets and shorter blocks, islands separating local traffic from north- and southbound vehicles traveling through the city, and building fronts moved much closer to the roadway. It would create a mix of uses, and focus less on defining areas as either purely residential or commercial. The plan seeks to create “complete streets” that can accommodate vehicles, pedestrians, mass transit riders and bicyclists. It also would dramatically alter the appearance and function of the often-congested road, trying to make the area safer for bikers and pedestrians, and to “guide the formation of the corridor from an architecturally nondescript automobiledominated strip to an attractive, walkable place,” according to the plan. The plan covers the Pike from Richard Montgomery Drive in the north to the city limits near Bou Avenue to the south, and from the Metrorail right of way to the east to Wootton Parkway, Woodmont Country Club and East Jefferson Street on the west. The area affected by the plan is expected to have more than
See PIKE, Page A-14
Coalition forms to oppose cell towers on school grounds Rockville group joins in efforts, discussion
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LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Several Montgomery County groups have joined or are interested in the efforts of a statewide coalition that stands opposed to cell towers being placed on school grounds. The recently formed Maryland State Coalition Against Cell Towers on Schools, with a mission to stop the towers’ construction at schools, ties together a variety of groups that also include those from Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties and the Baltimore area. The group published a list of concerns related to cell towers on the Safe Schools for Prince George’s County website. The list includes exposure to microwave radiation and diesel exhaust, injury from debris or ice that falls off the tower, a lack of
transparency about the leasing contract process and a lack of community involvement. The Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland — one Montgomery member of the state coalition — has covered the issue of cell towers numerous times on its blog. Janis Sartucci, a member of the Parents’ Coalition, said she thinks the Montgomery group will be able to offer their experience researching and investigating cell towers, which she said “take away public school land and resources.” “These are commercial structures that have no business being easily accessible to children,” Sartucci said. Montgomery is not currently facing the same amount of cell tower activity that Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties are, Sartucci said. She said she thinks Montgomery parents have been highly aware
See TOWERS, Page A-14