Police target airbag thief who targets Honda Civics in Rockville

An airbag thief struck the Twinbrook Forest neighborhood in Rockville over several recent days, and focused primarily on Honda Civics. Windows of at least four Honda Civics, along with one Acura, were smashed. The thief was successful in getting away with four of the five airbags they attempted to steal. In the fifth case, Rockville City police say, a resident saw a suspect breaking the window of a Civic in the 2300 block of Ring Street at 8:12 PM on February 10, 2024. The thief apparently noticed the resident, and fled the scene before being able to remove the vehicle's airbag.

Police describe the suspect in that case as a male of unknown race, 5'6" in height, and wearing a black beanie. If you live in Twinbrook Forest, especially near the streets in question, perhaps you have doorbell or security camera footage of the beanie-wearing suspect you can forward to police. The thefts occurred on the following streets: 1600 block of Gruenther Avenue between 9:00 PM on February 6 and 6:30 AM on February 7; 300 block of Gruenther Avenue between 4:00 AM and 6:45 AM on February 7 (you could assume that the first incident may have taken place within, or close to, the same time window as the second); 1600 block of Forbes Street between 7:00 AM and 8:30 PM on February 10; and the failed attempt noted above in the 2300 block of Ring Street at 8:12 PM on February 10.

If you have information or video footage related to these thefts, you are asked to call police at 240-314-8900. Honda Civics are a popular target for airbag thieves, but not the only target. Experts recommend installing "The Club" or another anti-theft device on your steering wheel to discourage thieves, as well as installing or activating a car alarm, and parking in a well-lit area if possible.

Pickup truck driver crashes into Rockville home

A pickup truck driver crashed his Ford F-Series pickup truck into a home in the Twinbrook Forest neighborhood of Rockville this morning. The crash damaged a house in the 2200 block of McAuliffe Drive around 7:45 AM. Rockville City police are citing "operator error" as the cause of the accident. The 67-year-old driver has been transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Police say the driver will be cited with several traffic offenses. City of Rockville inspectors are now on-site to determine the extent of the structural damage to the home. It's unclear how this happened on a quiet residential street with a 25 MPH speed limit.

Photo courtesy RCPD

TWINBROOK ALARMED BY COUNTY PLAN TO REPLACE SCHOOL, ATHLETIC PARK WITH BUS DEPOT

The Blair Ewing/Mark Twain site,
now being coveted by Montgomery County
as an MCPS bus depot, is
close to Twinbrook and adjacent to
Rock Creek Park

Much of the heated debate over the plan to give Montgomery County Public Schools' Shady Grove bus depot to developers has been in the Aspen Hill area, where an MCPS program with a reputation for frequent police intervention is being moved from the existing Blair Ewing Center (a.k.a. Mark Twain School) on Avery Road.

But that Avery Road site along Norbeck Road is also close to the Twinbrook neighborhood in Rockville, RedGate golf course, and Rock Creek Park. That has many Twinbrook residents alarmed, and left with little time to react with this "smart growth" land swap moving full steam ahead.

$16.6 million dollars had previously been allocated to renovate the Blair Ewing Center school, which could hold 600 students in a time of vast overcrowding in MCPS facilities. Yet the Montgomery County Council Education Committee is scheduled to vote today to take back those funds, paving the way for demolition of Blair Ewing, and moving the "smart growth" scheme forward. $32 million will be spent to redevelop the site into a bus depot, money that is being spent for the sole purpose of private developer profit at the current Shady Grove depot site. Money which, of course, could instead go to new school construction in Rockville or Aspen Hill.

Christina Ginsberg, past president and current treasurer for the Twinbrook Citizens Association, has written a letter to County elected officials on behalf of current president Richard Gottfried to express their concern. In it, Ginsberg implores the County to "stop fast-tracking the bus depot. The whole project needs to be reconsidered before it becomes an embarrassment to Montgomery County."

Among the issues of concern:

The Avery Road site's Mark Twain School Athletic Park was funded by the City of Rockville and Project Open Space funds, and is used for various team sports. City taxpayers covered 25% of the construction costs, and Maryland put $591,750 in P.O.S. funds to cover the rest. All of that money would now be for naught.

The 500 buses using the depot would be driving in and out of already-jammed Norbeck Road, which would cause traffic issues for neighborhoods in Rockville and Aspen Hill.

Demolition of the school is contrary to the Rockville Pike Plan's allowance for a major influx of new residents and students to the city.

And the already-shaky RedGate Golf Course could be impacted negatively, as well.

Perhaps most jarring, is the decision to place the massive depot literally on the edge of Rock Creek Park, with its already-strained water quality and downstream flow into the District. Ginsberg warns of the environmental impact of runoff from the vehicles and site into Rock Creek, writing that the depot would be "essentially an industrial facility next to a nationally significant piece of parkland and a waterway that traverses historic areas of the District of Columbia.  I would hope that you are as interested in preserving parkland DOWNCOUNTY as you are in preserving parkland upcounty, as with Ten Mile Creek."

The County Council has shown very little concern with waterways in the downcounty area, having sold off part of Little Falls Stream Valley Park to a private developer. It is now threatening to approve a massive redevelopment of the Westbard area that would drop over 3000 new residents on the banks of the Little Falls watershed.

Ginsberg notes that the school system is "crying poor" in Annapolis for construction money, even as it plans to demolish an existing school and spend tens of millions of dollars to do so. And with little warning to residents.

"When we, the taxpayers, see this kind of hidden and backdoor deal being pushed through, and we are told, yet again, at the 11th hour, that it is a 'done deal', we know there is something badly wrong," Ginsberg wrote.

This is at least the second County project in the last month that is being rammed through as a "done deal", before citizens have even seen the details. The other one - a new Transit Authority - popped up last Friday afternoon.

Image: Google Maps

HOUSE FIRE IN TWINBROOK FOREST

A house fire in the unit block of Marcia Court early this morning around 1:35 AM was extinguished by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue services. The fire was in the recreation room of the house, according to MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer. All residents managed to escape, but one was evaluated for injuries by EMS personnel. The street is located near the natural boundary of Rock Creek Park in Twinbrook Forest.

NEW CHILDREN'S RESOURCE CENTER BUILDING AT BROOME SITE IN ROCKVILLE WITHDRAWN BY COUNTY

CRC WILL UTILIZE 

EXISITING BUILDING, 

LEGGETT SAYS

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has withdrawn the county's request for a 4-story office building on the Broome School site on Twinbrook Parkway. In a memo to County Council President Craig Rice, Leggett says he has determined that "the County can relocate the [Children's Resource Center] in the existing Broome School [building], and can therefore defer construction of a permanent building to house the CRC at this time."

Twinbrook Forest residents may find the final 3 words of that statement reason not to celebrate just yet. While a 4-story building won't be plunked down in their residential neighborhood "at this time," there is no assurance that such a project won't be reintroduced in the future. After the upcoming county elections, for example.

Clearly, the county has heard the expressions of opposition in the community. What's unclear, is the future of the Broome site.

A fantastic residential neighborhood, Twinbrook Forest has enough trees to live up to its name. It also boasts distinctive and historic architecture amongst its homes. And has convenient bus service along Twinbrook Parkway. Yet the neighborhood had dealt for years with public services jammed into the Broome site, some of which were clearly incompatible with a quiet, residential neighborhood for families (including a meth clinic[!]).

Just when those services had been moved out of the Broome site, suddenly the CRC project was dropped on the neighborhood. Such a location for non-school or park/recreation use is certainly inconsistent with county leaders' stated goal of "smart growth." A new office building construction more than half-a-mile from the nearest Metro station would hardly have been "smart growth."

There's also the question of how the withdrawn plan, as well as the CRC relocation that remains on the table, interface with the recreational facilities onsite. Will agreeing - to the extent that Rockville can impact decisions regarding Montgomery County Public Schools properties - to relocation of the CRC to Broome mean ensuring an expansion of that facility in the future on Twinbrook Parkway? And will the traffic impact be negligible, or of concern to pedestrians or children playing in the neighborhood (or attempting to reach the recreational facilities at Broome)? I've found that "trips generated" estimates accepted by the county planning board tend to be wildly low in the vehicle trip numbers they predict. Yet they are accepted as accurate.

While schools can be noisy during recess, or generate traffic twice a day, many people can probably - if not begrudgingly - accept having one in a residential neighborhood. Placing other services and facilities in such locations is more problematic, and their impacts should be carefully considered. Certainly, the services provided by the CRC are beneficial to many county residents. And more compatible with a school property such as Broome, compared to other potential uses.

But without more detail, one wonders how the CRC will use the existing Broome building, when the county's application explicitly said such a move was impossible. In Item 8 under the heading, "Community Outreach," the county responded to the community's query regarding the CRC using the existing building, rather than constructing a new one, as follows:

MCPS has informed the County that the Broome Middle School renovation project is “inevitable”. The County will continue to hold this facility until MCPS formally requests it back. In the meantime, the County is unable to use bond funds to renovate the existing Broome building for CRC use. This is due to the County’s requirement that bond funds can only be used on buildings with anticipated life of 20 years or more. Therefore, the funding would need to come from the County’s annual operating budget. Given the County’s current fiscal situation, and the inevitability of MCPS taking Broome back, CRC use of the existing building is not a feasible option.

Was this statement misleading the community? Or has the county found a workaround solution at the last minute?

These are just some of the issues confronting the Rockville Planning Commission, which is scheduled to take up the new CRC Broome proposal at Wednesday night's meeting at City Hall.