SILVER SPRING – On Thursday, the Planning Board voted unanimously to protect 46 acres of high-priority forest while reviewing an application from Montgomery College to erect a BioScience Education Building on its Germantown campus.
The Board required – and during the hearing Montgomery College officials agreed – to protect the 46 acres, called out specifically for conservation in the 2009 Germantown Master Plan because of its strategic location in a sensitive watershed. The Board regulates and enforces the County Forest Conservation Law, which comes into consideration when landowners propose construction on properties greater than 40,000 square feet.
Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson suggested that college officials take advantage of the high-value forest’s proximity by creating a research opportunity for faculty and an outdoor education center for students.
On the 224-acre campus, college officials propose to construct a 127,000-square-foot education center, extend Observation Drive, and build a connector road between Observation Drive and Goldenrod Lane. The College’s application would have protected approximately 43 acres of the existing 57-acre high priority forest standing between campus buildings and I-270. The master plan permits the removal of some acres, but requires 46 be retained.
Environmental planners who reviewed the proposal for the Planning Board suggested three alternatives for college officials to retain required forest. The options allowed the officials to keep their road design, but suggested protecting other high-priority forest in the same area by minimizing tree loss during road construction.
With the approval of the forest conservation plan, Montgomery College plans can move forward for consideration by the County Council.
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