NO BUS DEPOT AT CAVANAUGH & SHADY GROVE, ROCKVILLE MD
Press kit, October 2026. Contact: press@nobusdepot.com. Web: https://nobusdepot.com/press

THE STORY IN 90 SECONDS
When the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the Willows of Potomac and Piney Glen Village, about 1,300 homes in all, it did so on conditions. One required the developers to provide a 12-acre elementary school site. On February 13, 1990, the Board of Education voted unanimously to accept the site they offered, in Resolution 85-90, "Acceptance of Site Dedication for Future Piney Meetinghouse Elementary School." Condition 12 of the Planning Board's 1993 revised opinion restates the requirement: "dedication or provision of a minimum 12-acre site for elementary school." The 1995 subdivision plat labels the parcel at Cavanaugh Drive and Shady Grove Road "to be conveyed to Montgomery County Board of Education." In 1996 the developers deeded the 12.1 acres to the Board, in the deed's words, with "no actual consideration being paid." The Board put up a sign that still stands: School Site for Future Growth.

In October 2025 the Superintendent's capital plan listed the site, along with two others, as a replacement for the Shady Grove bus depot the County wants vacated. MCPS's approved FY2027 facility plan now lists "Wootton ES #7 Future Site" as a planned "Bus Depot/Regional Support Center." Neighbors learned of it from the budget document, after the public budget hearings, and MCPS has said it has not conducted site-specific community engagement because engagement begins once a project is approved to move forward.

The land sits inside the Piney Branch Special Protection Area and a State-designated Priority Urban Forest, across the street from homes, including those built under the County's affordable housing program, at the only exit of seven residential streets onto a road that already carries quarry trucks. Both homeowner associations have asked the Board to remove the site from the capital plan and direct MCPS and the County to find commercial or light industrial land. More than 1,500 people have signed a petition. The Board hears public testimony Oct 26 and 27 and votes Nov 19.

FILES
minutes-1990-p01.jpg / minutes-1990-p16.jpg  Board of Education minutes, Feb 13, 1990, pages 1 and 16 (Resolution 85-90, adopted unanimously).
                                         Official PDF: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/minutes/1990/minutes.021390.pdf
minutes-1990-resolution-85-90.jpg        Excerpt: page 1 opening and the full text of Resolution 85-90.
resolution-85-90-circled.png             Resolution 85-90 traced from the minutes; the red circle and underline are ours.
planning-board-opinion-1-88187-1993.pdf  Planning Board Revised Opinion, Preliminary Plan 1-88187 (Condition 12 on page 3)
plat-19721.pdf / plat-19721.jpg          Plat 19721, recorded May 23, 1995 (Parcel AX, "to be conveyed to Montgomery County Board of Education")
deed-13927-133.jpg                       Deed, Liber 13927 Folio 133, recorded Feb 14, 1996, page 1 (consideration clause)
conservation-easement-10621-49.pdf       Conservation easement, Aug 28, 1992, Liber 10621 Folio 49
school-site-sign-full.jpg / -wide-full.jpg  The Board's sign on the land, Oct 2026. Credit: No Bus Depot.
condition-12-circled.png                 Condition 12 traced from the 1993 opinion scan; the red circle around "elementary school" is ours.
1993-vs-now.jpg                          Graphic: the 1993 condition next to the MCPS capital plan line. Credit: No Bus Depot.
HOA letter: https://nobusdepot.com/letter   Drone video: https://nobusdepot.com/video   Signs: https://nobusdepot.com/sign

WHERE WE STAND
We are not against a bus depot; it belongs on commercial or light industrial land. We do not propose another site. Our case rests on the public record: a condition the County set, a vote the Board took, a promise a community was built around, and a process that skipped the people next door. MCPS has not published a bus count for this site; we say "hundreds." We quote every record as it reads and leave legal conclusions to lawyers.
