Advocates protest for housing to be added to library redevelopment in Maryland’s Chevy Chase

A group of advocates and residents gathered Sunday to protest for a housing option to be added to plans to upgrade and update the Chevy Chase Library. Chevy Chase is rich (and expensive), has a history of segregation, and sits between two major downcounty centers in Downtown Silver Spring and Downtown Bethesda.

This site provides a chance for affordable housing in a community with a shortage of housing in general, and affordable housing in particular, and near multiple forms of public transit. While the opposition to housing continues to be loud, increasingly, so does the support, and the event only solidified for me that sometimes something doesn’t have to be popular to be the right thing to do.

To renovate or replace

Last November, I wrote that Montgomery County plans to renovate or replace the Chevy Chase Library, as part of a wider effort to bring libraries county wide into a state of good repair. There are two main options for the project. The first is a refurbishment of the existing building, allowing the site in one of the richest communities in the nation to maintain the status quo.

The second option is the aforementioned housing, which could also potentially help pay for the cost of redevelopment. The county solicited demonstration proposals, and received a wide range of submissions with varying levels of affordable housing.

The county also gathered community feedback in two ways, physical cards paired with an online form asking for comments (which is still open), and a separate online survey which has since closed.

Survey says

Most respondents appeared to be from Chevy Chase and opposed housing. Only 4% of “comment card” responses were supportive of the housing proposal. 38% of online survey responses, however, favored it. Still a minority, but an appreciable difference.

Whether due to this opposition from the local community or not, County Executive Elrich seems to have chosen a renovation of the existing library so far, without a housing element, including the site on the list of libraries to be refreshed in future years through the Library Refurbishment Level of Effort Capital Improvement Program (CIP), a process meant to allow library buildings to get “significant and timely updates without having to close for the lengthy time it takes for a full renovation.” This would, naturally, exclude the possibility of housing on this public land in a wealthy enclave.

Though he did not attend the rally, at-large councilmember Hans Riemer provided a statement of support for the housing on the site, citing the Silver Spring library as a successful example of using public land to create both a public library and affordable housing and affirming that the county needs more affordable housing in Chevy Chase and within walking distance to the Purple Line. David Blair, who like Riemer is running against Elrich for County Executive and was not in attendance, also released a supportive statement. Council President Gabe Albornoz was in attendance and said he supported “looking to see if this was a viable option” but said it would need to include a traffic study.

In response to Elrich’s decision so far not to pursue housing, Action in Montgomery and Montgomery for All organized a rally this past Sunday to mobilize support for the housing option, specifically calling for mixed income housing on the site.

A rally of hope versus opposition of fear

Over 100 people turned out to the event, and there were official speakers from multiple organizations, including from Action in Montgomery, Montgomery for All, the Sierra Club, and others. The vast majority of attendees were supportive, but from the get go, it was clear there would be tension. Within minutes of arriving, I was informed that someone upset that the rally was happening had called the police who, related to this call or not, watched the entire proceeding. Multiple signs calling out the impact of traffic, or that “developers” were behind the effort dotted the perimeter, held by people who regularly interrupted speakers.

Make no mistake, these objections were the exception not the rule, I’d say 95% of attendees were supportive, and the energy of the rally was tremendous. It is clear there is support for this project not fully captured on the self selecting survey and comment efforts the county put forward.

More importantly though, this anger and fear shows just why we cannot defer to local voices on land use, especially when they are used to block housing in wealthy enclaves like Chevy Chase.

Speakers of diverse backgrounds, communities, and organizations highlighted how housing could help teachers, health care workers and, as one firefighter in attendance helpfully offered, firefighters, live in the community they love. The climate benefit of building densely near transit, and just the simple joy of people being able to go to the library on foot instead of getting in a car were all focuses. Rally organizers also called for county council members to commit to using all the leverage they have to get housing put on the site, and encouraged attendees to voice their support.

“Public land should be for public good” was the uniting message of the entire event.

The contrast between housing supporters and opponents really crystallized for me during the rally. Supporters were energetic, hopeful and motivated. Sure, there is some exasperation with opposition, I certainly feel that personally, but it’s still a sharp contrast with the bitter, angry, and sometimes suspicious outlook of their opponents, who took every opportunity to question who was “behind” the effort.

The opposition, as a whole, just seems to be driven by fear and resentment, not hope. One sign read “We love our library, just fix it.” Another said “hey real estate companies, leave our library alone.” Many complained about traffic.

Some also worried that their community might become more “like Anacostia” a dog whistle so loud it might as well be a bullhorn. Honestly, the only time I remember opponents cheering was for Elrich when it was explained he opposed the housing element.

It wasn’t about making things better, it was about fear of the world they have lived in up to this point changing in any way, driving them to an opposition so fierce that when speakers asked where housing should be built if not on the site, many counter protesters repeatedly muttered “your own back yard” and at one point, one shouted “never!”

That really says it all, doesn’t it? There is no reaching or convincing that type of opposition.

Move past them. It doesn’t have to be popular to be the right thing to do, and the people that live there don’t get the only say.