Silver Spring, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission announced today the appointment of Douglas M. Bregman as an independent counsel to investigate allegations that approval of a Sandy Spring development in 2001 was based on improper documents and faulty information.
Recent media accounts and several court cases have claimed the Planning Board’s approval of the Dellabrooke neighborhood subdivision in Sandy Spring, Maryland effectively eliminated a nearby road – known as “Farm Road” – by cutting off access to a number of properties.
“The community and our stakeholders expect us to clear the air,” said Planning Board Chair Françoise M. Carrier, “and our Board needs to understand the facts once and for all.”
Bregman is a veteran attorney based in Bethesda who specializes in complex real estate disputes and is frequently named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the area’s “Top Lawyers.” He has done extensive work in conjunction with internal investigations.
Bregman is currently a member of the Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission, Treasurer of the Maryland Client Protection Fund, and member of the Court of Appeals Public Trust and Confidence Committee. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Columbia Law School.
Bregman will report directly to the Board.
“We really wanted someone objective with unquestioned integrity, and who is intimately familiar with the complexities of real estate,” Carrier said.
The probe is expected to take several weeks. A report will be released to the public upon completion.