Council Agrees to Purchase Land in Burtonsville

Today, we as a full council approved the purchase of 52.9 acres of land as an addition to the Fairland Recreational Park. The Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, of which I’m a member, had recommended this purchase (see my July 2 post). The parcel contains old growth forest more than 100 years old, as well as wetlands and bogs that will serve as a buffer for the nearby ICC. As I’ve said before, I think this is the best use of the money we received from the State as reimbursement of land used for the ICC, and I’m glad we were unanimous in this decision.

Park Expansion to Provide ICC Relief

I’m delighted that today my committee (the Council’s Planning Housing and Economic Development Committee) agreed that we should purchase 53 acres of land to expand the Fairland Recreational Park. We’ll pay for it with money the County received from the State as reimbursement for land used in construction of the Intercounty Connector. I can think of no better place to invest this money than in replacement parkland in the communities that are bearing the greatest impact of the highway project. The property being purchased lies just 1.5 miles north of the ICC, so this type of environmental mitigation is right on target.