Our HOAs to
the School Board:
Remove this site.

To: President Rivera-Oven and Members of the Board of Education, Montgomery County Public Schools

Dear President Rivera-Oven and Members of the Board of Education:

The Potomac Glen Community Association and Willows of Potomac Community Association strongly urge the MCPS Board of Education to permanently remove the proposed MCPS bus depot at Shady Grove Road, Piney Meetinghouse Road, and Cavanaugh Drive from the Capital Improvements Program.

For more than 30 years, this property was designated and presented to the surrounding community as a future elementary school site, and its proposed conversion to an intensive bus depot represents a profound change in use. Why spend taxpayer dollars trying to overcome the numerous problems inherent in this environmentally sensitive, residentially surrounded site, including potential noncompliance with residential noise limits, significant forest and watershed protections, stormwater and runoff requirements, increased traffic and safety risks for pedestrians, cyclists and schoolchildren walking to and waiting at neighborhood bus stops, and potential legal challenges, when a more compatible developed or industrial location could avoid or substantially reduce these impacts?

Our principal concerns are:

• Environmental and planning conflicts. The proposed 12-acre site is heavily forested, lies within the Piney Branch Special Protection Area protecting the sensitive Watts Branch watershed, and is within a Priority Urban Forest designated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Development would require extensive clearing and impervious pavement, raising forest, watershed, runoff, and stormwater concerns. Nearby land also includes a 100-year floodplain and Forest Conservation Easement. Montgomery County’s own 2002 Potomac Subregion Master Plan calls for surplus school sites to be evaluated for parks, recreation and environmental objectives, making conversion of this long-designated elementary school site into an intensive bus depot inconsistent with the planning principles the County itself adopted.
• Residential, noise, emissions, and equity impacts. The depot would be surrounded by communities totaling more than 1,300 residences. Bus operations necessarily begin before 7:00 a.m., when Montgomery County’s residential noise limit is 55 dBA. Because the property is currently wooded, any meaningful analysis must model noise at the nearest residences after the forest is cleared and the depot is operating, including numerous buses starting, maneuvering, and departing simultaneously. Of particular concern, a disproportionate share of the homes closest to the proposed depot entrance were originally developed through Montgomery County’s affordable housing program. It would be inconsistent with the purpose of that program for these residents to bear the greatest impacts from early morning noise, bus traffic, lighting and diesel emissions. Diesel environmental and noise impacts also remain a long-term concern. MCPS approved a new diesel bus purchasing contract in April 2026 extending through December 2027. Because school buses may remain in service for 12+ years, diesel buses purchased under this contract could remain in operation through approximately 2040.
• Traffic, safety, and community process. Hundreds of bus and employee vehicle movements would be added to roads already carrying residential and substantial existing Quarry Truck Traffic, affecting Shady Grove Road, Piney Meetinghouse Road, Cavanaugh Drive and potentially Travilah Road, and increasing safety concerns for pedestrians, cyclists and schoolchildren, including children walking to and waiting at neighborhood bus stops. The proposed conversion advanced through the CIP process before neighboring residents were aware of it and after relevant budget hearings had occurred, contrary to the “robust public input” the Council has emphasized.
• Fiscal and legal risk. This location potentially requires taxpayers to fund environmental and forest review, watershed and stormwater analysis, noise modeling, traffic and safety studies, engineering, and potentially substantial mitigation simply to determine whether the site can be made compatible with its surroundings. Proceeding despite these unresolved issues also creates avoidable risk of administrative or judicial challenges, delay, and additional public legal expense. A more compatible developed or industrial location could avoid or substantially reduce many of these costs and conflicts.

Taken together, these are not isolated problems to be addressed one by one. They call into question the suitability of the location itself. MCPS needs safe and reliable transportation facilities, but they should be located where their operations are compatible with their surroundings.

We respectfully request that the Board of Education permanently remove this location from the CIP and direct MCPS and the Montgomery County Government to pursue a more appropriate developed or industrial site. Doing so would be consistent with the principles the Board and Council itself have articulated: responsible siting, protection of residential communities and environmentally sensitive areas, meaningful public participation, sustainability, and fiscal prudence.