Public Comments on Future of Brickyard Road Property

The Board of Education heard public comments on Tuesday about the future of a in Potomac before voting on the item in the afternoon.

The land, which has been used as organic farmland by Nick Maravell for more than 30 years, could become a soccer field, if the Board of Education votes on Tuesday to approve the request submitted by Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.

Montgomery County Public Schools currently owns the property and, if the Board of Education approves the proposal, they would grant a ten-year land lease to Montgomery County, said county spokesperson Patrick Lacefield. The county would then put out requests for public-private partnerships, which would allow private athletic organizations or community groups to help design, construct and maintain the fields, Lacefield added.

A sea of green filled the public comment period as supporters of Maravell’s farm dressed in the color to unify their cause. There were 15 individuals who spoke in front of the Board of Education, including Maravell. Only two individuals spoke in favor of the fields.

Maravell, who was first notified on March 3 that he could not renew his lease on the organic farmland, said the process has broken the public’s trust in the system.

“Have a complete and open discussion with the community, how could this hurt the public interest?,” Maravell said in his testimony. “If you do not value a discussion, then not only are our traditions broken, and our community trust broken, but, indeed, we have lost the very human basis for reconstructing them.”

Lisa Schnoor, who was born and raised in Montgomery County, encouraged the Board of Education to postpone their vote, which will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, to think about some of the consequences of making the land into a ball field.

“Good soil is like gold,” Schnoor said. “Does it make sense, out of all the places to put a ball field, to put it on some of the best farm soil in the county?”

New fields are necessary for the soccer community, said Arnold Tarzy, the former president of the Potomac Soccer Association and 25-year Potomac resident.

“The fields we play on are absolutely horrible and are not even able to be maintained to the extent that it’s often difficult for the kids to even have fun,” said Tarzy, who coaches soccer in the area. “We need more fields, we need better fields and we need them now.”

Mike Kator, a Potomac soccer parent, said there is a need for soccer fields in the community and they should be built on the Brickyard lot. 

“There is absolutely a need and the master plan does call for this,” Kator said.