URGENT ACTION ITEM :
Please be aware that a pre-submission meeting will be happening on the 25th of November, 2025 in the meeting room of the Potomac Library from 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM.
This pre-submission meeting pertains to the properties at 9312 Persimmon Tree Road and 9810 Newhall Road.
Please click here for more information.
Next Meeting:
MONDAY, November 10, 2025 at 7:15 p.m.
IN-PERSON AT THE POTOMAC LIBRARY!
SPEAKER: Paul Tukey, Chief Advancement Officer, Potomac Community Foundation
Thirty years ago, Paul Tukey set out to change the way Americans manage their lawns and gardens, advocating for an Earth-friendly approach. Fifteen years ago, he joined the Glenstone Museum and transformed it into one of the most sustainable cultural institutions in the world. Today he’s helping to launch the Potomac Community Foundation (PFC) which aims to rethink education, career pathways, and historic preservation during these unprecedented times of national and global change. The foundation was created to address a lasting injustice—the displacement and erasure of Black communities which helped build Montgomery County. PFC helped restore the historic Scotland AME Zion Church and now leads an effort to strengthen educational support for youth, improve access to stable, living-wage careers, and protect the cultural landmarks and oral histories that tell the story of Black resilience. We hope you can join us.
Powerpoint Materials from Paul Tukey's Presentation
As always, our General Meetings are open to the public!
When You See Something, Say Something!
President’s Letter by Carol Van Dam Falk
As we transition to colder weather from these beautiful Fall days of biting into sweet, crisp apples, sipping local cider, and marveling at the beautiful changing colors, many of us tend to burrow indoors and put off taking walks around our neighborhoods. Aside from getting less exercise and fresh air, the downside of this is we miss golden opportunities to notice changes in our surroundings.
In late October, one community member noticed, on the land that abuts her property, a staked area that she learned was to soon be the site of a weather tower installation. Within three days of notifying us, the weather station was erected (pictured below). Details of the tower’s purpose and installation follow in this newsletter, but suffice it to say that it serves as a perfect example of how we all need to be vigilant and take action if we see something that looks like a new project or construction and not revealed to the community beforehand. If you see something, say something. The next time, it could be a cell phone tower or some other undesirable project going up in your neighborhood. We can contact local institutions and agencies, find out more about proposed developments or potential environmental violations and intervene if necessary, so long as WMCCA has enough heads up.hoices. Our speakers this month will give us insights into why.
A Weather Station in the Glen!
Submitted by Ginny Barnes
With no public notice, trucks began appearing in the meadow off Glen Road which makes up a portion of Adventure Conservation Park. A 14-acre bequest from Alice Hostedler who lived on the property and wanted it to endure for environmental preservation. Established in 1969, the site was a bird banding station for many years under the leadership of Margaret and Don Donalds who collected data, especially on migratory species passing through during Spring and Fall.
Birds are a complex, mobile natural resource. Banding and tracking them provides valuable information on breeding, wintering distribution, behavior, migratory routes, survival, and reproduction. Biologists gather this information by placing uniquely numbered bands on many species of birds. These birds may be recaptured in the future by biologists, adding to the data accumulated. The Donalds trained volunteers of all ages to band at Adventure. One such lucky soul was my mother-in-law, who spent some of the happiest days of her retirement at the banding station. Our understanding of the bequest by Ms. Hostedler was that the land was to be held by 3 entities: MD Ornithological Society, Townsend University, and Montgomery Parks.
Neighbors know the park as a bird sanctuary. Within days, a concrete pad and tower was constructed to be used as a weather station. WMCCA began looking into why there was no notice to the Association or adjacent property owners and learned that Montgomery Parks had approved the project which they deemed so small it did not require a permit or public notification. Parks Director Miti Fuguerdo in an email to us wrote: “This is a small weather station that is being installed pursuant to an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the University of Maryland and Montgomery Parks. It is part of the State of Maryland Emergency Management weather monitoring system (i.e., Maryland Mesonet). There’s another station at the Trolley Museum as well.” It seems Parks selected the site for the weather station and issued a park construction permit after staff from Urban Forestry, Park Management, Vegetation Management, Park Development, and Resource Analysis reviewed the plans. They deemed the station quite small (the main concrete pad is 3’x3’ with a secondary pad of 3’x1’) thus, Parks staff determined that it would not have an adverse effect on natural or recreational resources.
While we respect the expertise of Parks staff, we question the process used to arrive at the end result. Neighbors do not see it as a minimal impact. WMCCA feels compelled to explore the original bequest. Are all 3 entities named aware of the project? Were they consulted? Does the original agreement still stand? We will continue to research this issue and report what we find.
Longtime Cabin John Fitness Center to Close
Submitted by Carol Van Dam Falk
It appears the latest offer to buy the Level Fitness property at MacArthur Boulevard and 77th street in Cabin John will proceed. This past week, an informational meeting was held by proposed buyer OPal Design Build to answer questions from residents. The gym has been a mainstay in Cabin John for decades, but for the last five years, Level has paid less than half its rent, while the current owner allowed them to stay. The owner put the property up for sale in June 2024. Written offers were received to rezone the property from commercial to residential, with the exception of one, a 24-hour veterinary clinic. A previous offer to develop it into 11 four-story condos was eventually withdrawn after strong, negative feedback from residents. OPal Design, whose owner lives in Cabin John, put forward a plan to build a small number of luxury townhouses, a far less dense project than the earlier proposal. The project has received preliminary approval. Some “Cabin Johners” oppose the OPal project due to additional traffic and concerns that it would change the character of the neighborhood. Others said it is the best offer received so far and should be embraced. Opal expects to close on the property early next year. Level is slated to close by the end of November 2025.
The WMCCA Newsletter is published monthly (October-May), and the Board of Directors meet each month (September-June). We welcome any suggestions for upcoming General Meeting topics and ways to further utilize our web site (www.wmcca.org). Check the web site for information on issues we are working on. If you have any issues or concerns in your neighborhood, please contact WMCCA. We appreciate the input from our neighbors.
Thank you for your support!
IN-PERSON WMCCA Meeting November 10, 2025 – 7:15 p.m.
Potomac Library
West Montgomery County Citizens Association Newsletter
P.O. Box 59335, Potomac, MD 20854-9335
President – Carol Van Dam Falk: President@WMCCA.org
Website: WMCCA.org – Thomas Fahey
Newsletter Editor – Nancy Madden
West Montgomery County Citizens Association 
