1. The City will never know. The Housing Department gets calls all the time from tenants living in unlicensed basement apartments, whole houses, or even a few rooms within a larger unit. We also hear from City and County officials and other residents. These calls and complaints come to the City when your neighbors begin to see new people at your home, your tenants are noisy or disruptive, and/or there are maintenance issues at the property. The landlord doesn’t make repairs on time, doesn’t return the security deposit, or doesn’t provide proper notice for entry.
2. I’m a great landlord; that will never happen. Demonstrate that you are a great landlord by licensing your rental property. Completing the licensing program protects you and the health and safety of the tenant. Often, tenants do not know that they are renting an unlicensed property until they contact the housing department with a problem or a question. What starts as a good landlord and tenant relationship could end poorly. Landlords without rental licenses have no standing in court to proceed with an eviction and may unnecessarily expose themselves to liability because they have not had the rental property inspected before a tenant takes possession. Protect yourself and get a license.
3. The rental licensing process is way too complicated. The requirements for a rental housing license are completing an application, paying a licensing fee (this year it is $110 per unit), passing a lead risk inspection, a code-compliance inspection to make sure the property is up to health and safety standards, and a one-hour online course to acquaint you with local, County, and State laws regarding rental property. That’s it.
4. But the County permit process is the hard part, right? If you are licensing an apartment inside your residence or an addition to your residence, you do need to also apply to the County for permission for this Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). The application process has been streamlined and the regulations eased to allow for many more ADUs than in the past.
5. The City or County will be at my property all the time. Renewal of a rental license requires a new code-compliance inspection. County inspectors conduct these inspections on behalf of the City. If your property is in good shape, this happens once every two years; otherwise it is an annual inspection. If you maintain your property and conduct your rental business properly, that’s it.
6. I’ll get hit with a big fine if I admit to having an unlicensed rental. Not if you get it licensed. If the City contacts you because the existence of the unlicensed rental has been flagged, you are given two weeks to submit the initial license application without penalty. If you voluntarily come forward and start the process, there is no penalty.
7. The City won’t let me charge what I want for rent. Takoma Park’s rent stabilization law does not apply to single family homes or ADUs. It does apply to individual condominium units and multiunit properties (two or more rental units), but you set the initial rent.

The truth: The Housing Department is here to help. If you want to learn more about licensing your rental property, start with our Rental Licensing web page. Go to www.takomaparkmd.gov and search on Rental Housing Licensing. Still have questions? Email Licensing Specialist Patti Mallin at pattim@takomaparkmd.gov or call 240-315-6721.

This article originally appeared in the September 2020 Takoma Park Newsletter.

Chief Antonio DeVaul of the Takoma Park Police Department announces that there are two vacancies on the Police Chief’s Advisory Board for individuals aged 16 to 21.

The board meets on the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. Currently, the meetings take place over Zoom. In the future, they would take place at the Takoma Park Community Center. For information about the Board and its current members, visit takomaparkmd.gov/government/police/community-policing/chiefs-advisoryboard-members

If you are between the ages of 16 and 21, please submit a letter of interest to Cathy Plevy at cathyp@takomaparkmd.gov or mail to Chief Antonio DeVaul, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland 20912.

The board is briefed on all activities of the police department and brings issues and concerns to the chief’s attention. The board will be actively involved in the design and implementation of the future public safety model in Takoma Park. All applicants will be interviewed by the Chief of Police.

The City of Takoma Park is committed to serving all members of the Takoma Park community, irrespective of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or citizenship status. Chief DeVaul’s intent for the Advisory Board is that its members represent the diversity that makes our city a welcoming place to live and work.

We look forward to listening to and discussing youth concerns in our community.

This article originally appeared in the September 2020 Takoma Park Newsletter.

What are these fun activities popping up around town? It’s the Equity Walk!

Funded by a Community Change Grant from America Walks, Takoma Park’s Equity Walk is beginning to take shape.

With social distancing protocols in place, volunteers, like Diana McCown (pictured here), have started installing the stencils for the walk.

Soon TP residents will be able to walk the walk, talk the talk, while playing and learning about equity. For more information or to volunteer, contact Roz Grisy at planning@takomaparkmd.gov.

This article originally appeared in the September 2020 Takoma Park Newsletter.

By Taylor Dibbert

Wolfgang Mergner is a 2020 Montgomery Serves Award winner. He won the Neal Potter Path of Achievement Award. As noted on website for the award, honorees “have demonstrated remarkable commitment to direct volunteer service in our community, earning them Montgomery County’s highest recognition for volunteerism.”

Mergner has lived in Takoma Park since 1987. His deep and meaningful engagement with the community began almost immediately. “At that time, we had a lot of problems in our neighborhood … and crime, so we formed a neighborhood patrol with the help of the police,” he said. “We would walk every night in our neighborhood.”

Mergner subsequently worked with others and approached the Takoma Park City Council about creating a safety committee. He became the first member and then chair of the Public Safety Committee. The body was created in 1995. He chaired the committee from 1997 to 2001.

“Then emergency preparedness became an important thing; so the Emergency Preparedness Committee was formed,” he said. Mergner was a member of the committee from 2004 to 2011; he served as chair from 2008 to 2010.

Additionally, he was involved in creating the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). According to him, that CERT was very active for emergencies, including heavy weather like snow. “Residents of Takoma Park enrolled in this program for training and service in emergencies, such as shelter maintenance,” he said.

In 2002, Mergner became president of the Old Town Residents’ Association. He held the position for a few years. “It’s important to be organized and to represent your neighborhood,” he said of leading the organization.

Through the years, Mergner developed and maintained a keen interest in mediation. He joined the Takoma Park Mediation Program. He served as a board member from 2000 to 2004 and chaired the board in 2004. Mergner noted, “It’s very important to have mediation available in conflict resolution.” He was also a board member of the Montgomery County Conflict Resolution Center and copresident in 2010.

Mergner has extensive mediation experience. He spoke in detail about senior mediation. This interested him because he discovered that families were having so many fights over seniors, including matters pertaining to inheritance or discussing who would take care of seniors. “We saw mediation as a very good way of helping families come to an agreement as to how they handle these matters,” he said. And then his interest in seniors let him to his next big project.

“Pretty soon we discovered that seniors in Takoma Park needed more than mediation,” he said. “There were a lot of problems.” That was in 2011.

Mergner and others had seniors complete a questionnaire to better understand the group’s needs and desires. Transportation and access to doctors were big issues. “We decided to create a village,” he said. “In this case, a village means a grassroots organization that helps seniors live with dignity.” And the Village of Takoma Park was born. “We became and incorporated, non-profit organization in 2014,” he said. Mergner emphasized that creating and maintaining the village would not have been possible without significant and sustained volunteer support. Sandra Egan, Linda Carlson and Kathie Baker played big roles. From Mergner’s perspective, “these people need to be mentioned because they did extraordinary work.”

“Wolfgang’s a visionary,” Carlson said. “He had a vision for an organization built around the idea of neighbors helping neighbors, with a focus on seniors, and deserves enormous credit for the successful creation of the Village of Takoma Park, as does his wife Gertrud.”

Carlson, who has lived in Takoma Park since 1981 and been chair of the village’s communications committee since 2014, added that “[h]is gentle persistence, dedication to service, kind-heartedness, and firmness of purpose have been a real inspiration to many who have come to know him through his activities both with the village and in the broader community.”

Mergner served as president of the Village of Takoma Park for four years and retired in 2015. He’s most proud of the way that the village has grown. It now has about 250 members. At any given point, there are about 75 volunteers. (The membership number includes both volunteers and those who are being served.)

When it came to helping seniors, Mergner mentioned that his wife Gertrud was an enthusiastic supporter of the idea. She indicated that she would help him if he went down that path. “That was a very strong motivator,” he recalled.

Egan, who has lived in Takoma Park for nearly 39 years, believes the Village of Takoma would not be happening if it weren’t for the commitment that Mergner and his wife had to seniors. Egan currently serves as volunteer coordinator for the village, a position she’s held since 2014.

Professionally, Mergner was a medical doctor and an academic. He retired as professor emeritus from the University of Maryland in 1998. He earned his doctorate at Duke University. He was a pathologist and researcher in heart disease.

Mergner is staying busy. He took a course at the Takoma Park Community Center on memoir writing and is currently working on a book: “There are many people like me who suddenly discovered they have a past.”

“I had a very traumatic life, from being born in Africa, coming to Germany and having to adjust to Germany society,” Mergner said. He alluded to his experiences during World War II. He moved from Tanzania to Germany in 1940, when he was seven years old. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1964. “There are a lot of things to talk about,” he said. “Once you start writing things down, many, many things come to your memory.”

Mergner has seen and done so much. He has lived a full, meaningful life and contributed a lot to the Takoma Park community. And yet, he strikes you as someone who still has a lot more to give.

This article originally appeared in the August 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter.  See the full newsletter here. 

Editor’s Note: This the second of a series of articles reflecting on death and grief that will run under the thematic heading, “So Many Memories.” With many people in the Takoma Park Community experiencing the loss of friends and loved ones, we decided to provide a forum for thought leaders in the community to offer their reflections on grieving and loss. If you have questions or would like to contribute, please email me at tpnewseditor@takomaparkmd.gov. —Apryl Motley

A Reflection on Grief

By John Robinette 

Five hundred words on coping with grief. That is the assignment.

Impossible.

There are no words, let alone five hundred, or five million for that matter, that can do it. That is the thing. Some of you have experienced grief. Gut-wrenching, nauseating, confusing, searing grief. Maybe you are experiencing it right now, and reading this is an act of courage no one can comprehend; the words blurring and dancing about on the page through tears and feverlike hallucinations. Others of you have borne witness to a friend or loved-one navigating the tumult and delirium of a full-on bout of the condition. Helpless you are to their helplessness – wondering what magic you can conjure from Earth or the Gods or the wind to ease their pain even a nanometer. And if it is a child’s grief, you’d happily hand over a limb or two as sacrifice if given even a probability of success.

There are those who speak knowingly of the stages of grief. Some offer insights on how long before you get on with life. Some invoke a deity’s plan in hopes of comfort. Or you may have your own ways to cope, like turning to drugs or alcohol like I did when my wife died suddenly at age 42. And do you want to know a secret? It works. At least scotch worked for me. For a while. And then it stopped working.

There are other things that help. Being with people helped me cope. So did being alone. Physical exercise was important as was sleep. My grief made me nauseous, and I barely ate for two weeks and lost 15 pounds. There are some who eat for comfort and gain 15 pounds.

I no longer subscribe to a specific faith. I lean Buddhist or Unitarian-Universalist. But for my money the wisdom in Ecclesiastes is hard to beat:

For there is an appointed time for everything. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

There was grief in the Old Testament. Lots. They got it – the cyclical and transient nature of life. Strange comfort comes with the awareness of our own short lives and that all things, even my grief, will come to pass. And dancing? I added that. My late wife loved to dance, and whether in ecstatic joy or ecstatic misery, dancing is proper therapy.

I’m afraid I have no list of 7 items or 9 tips, for coping. I’m sorry about that. What I can say is this: Be yourself. Don’t let anyone say you are grieving wrong. The proper amount of time is the amount of time it takes. Ask for help; there is no shame in it. Get plenty of rest and exercise. Eat healthy food, and go easy on the liquor and drugs. There are people who love you.

Remember that.

You can do this.

John Robinette is a father and husband, re-married after the sudden death of his wife in 2010. In John’s book, Never Stop Dancing: A Memoir, which he wrote with close friend and co-author Robert Jacoby, such issues as male friendship in our modern era, how we look at life differently in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy, and how we understand the concepts of love, God, and religion in our lives are explored. The book is based on John and Robert’s conversations during the year after John’s wife Amy died.

This article originally appeared in the August 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter.  See the full newsletter here. 

By Rick Henry

The first two years of Takoma Park Police Chief Antonio DeVaul’s tenure – from January, 2018 to January, 2020 – were full of change, for him and the department he leads. New initiatives, new approaches, and new personnel practices were undertaken and implemented, as DeVaul repositioned and repurposed the department.

But the six months since that anniversary have made those two years of change pale in comparison. Coronavirus, public quarantines, and the “Black Lives Matter,” and “Defund the Police” movements have roiled the country and strained the relationship between communities and police.

In a phone interview (Friday, July 17), Chief DeVaul discussed how he and the Takoma Park Police Department are adjusting to the new challenges and shared why he believes the changes that took place during the first two years of his tenure have left the department well-aligned with the current environment.

Q: First, how are you personally doing during this difficult time?

A: Well, it’s a challenging time, but for me it has been a good opportunity to reflect both personally and professionally.

Personally, it has allowed me extra time to bond with my wife and kids so that has been good.

Professionally, there has been a reckoning with police across the country that is overdue and warranted, and I have had time to re-examine the functions of our police department to make sure we are taking advantage of the opportunity to affect change.

And I believe that whether it’s hiring, use of force, or the relationship between the police and the community, we are consistent with the kind of progressive policing policies that people are now advocating.

Q: Could you expand on that?

A: Let’s take recruiting and hiring. Since I have been chief, we have focused on recruiting a diverse workforce. We have hired more than 20 officers in the past two years, and 15–16 of them represent (gender, racial) minority groups. We have officers that speak Spanish, Amharic, Greek and Russian.

We are also focused on hiring people who want to be police officers for the right reasons. It’s not about how many pushups someone can do; it’s about how well a person can engage with the community. When I came here there was a focus on rewarding enforcement. We’ve changed that to rewarding community contacts – for instance, how many “Coffee with a Cop,” or “Youth Explorers” programs someone participated in. We want to practice positive policing and only issue citations for violations that mean something.

Another area where our policies line up with the reform movement is in trying to take a holistic and proactive approach to public safety, which means having mental health professionals and housing professionals work in tandem with officers to provide services and identify problems before they escalate.

Q: How has the current climate affected the morale and direction of the department?

A: It has been a positive force. As I said, we already had a lot of progressive policies in place, including many recommended as part of the #8CANTWAIT campaign (eight recommendations for reducing the harm caused by police in the short-term, launched by the police reform advocacy group Campaign Zero).

There has been an outcry to review how we do law enforcement in this country and here in Takoma Park. People are more inquisitive. That being said, we (the department) have been very open to citizen input. For example, we have revamped the Citizen’s Advisory Board. We have residents on the board who were selected because they may have been skeptical of police or they may have alternative views. They participated in a complete review of all of our general orders.

Q: One area where the citizens’ have spoken up recently is in petitioning for the elimination of the K-9 force (after a December 2018 incident where a dog viciously attacked a citizen.) What are your thoughts on that issue?

A: I am aware of the petition and right now we are evaluating all of our units, including the K-9 unit, to determine if they are best suited for the city. When I first got here, we had three K-9 units; now we just have one. We did have a horrific incident in 2018, but that is the only one of its kind involving Takoma Park in more than 30 years of the program. I don’t want to make a knee-jerk decision without conducting an educated, calculated review, including considering the racial equity impact of having a K- 9 unit.

Q: Amid all the call for police reform, there has been an uptick in crime in a lot of jurisdictions recently, including Takoma Park, to what do you attribute that?

A: I wish we (in law enforcement) could put a finger on the pulse of what is going on, but I think there is a national narrative related to the times. If people don’t have jobs, housing, access to mental health, crime can rise. Here in Takoma Park, we are seeing an uptick, but fortunately, not of the same type of violent crime that other jurisdictions are seeing.

Q: Any final comments you would like to make?

A: The most important thing we can do in this moment is to acknowledge the role race plays in law enforcement and society. To that end, I believe we have developed a strong relationship with our AfricanAmerican and Latino communities, especially the youth. As I said, I believe a holistic approach to policing and public safety is the right one, and I believe that is consistent with what we are doing here in the City.

This article originally appeared in the August 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter.  See the full newsletter here. 

By Sean Gossard

For Chelsea Ritter-Soronen and Chalk Riot, creating murals has always been about more than just the art. That’s why, when the pandemic was going into full swing and local businesses started taking major hits, she teamed with Takoma Park to find a way to help keep those businesses afloat.

“When we saw the closing of small businesses – especially those owned by immigrants and people of color – we wanted to do something to support them,” Ritter-Soronen said.

Takoma Park-based Ritter-Soronen and her team at Chalk Riotbegan making colorful murals in chalk in late March on walls and on sidewalks to bring attention to nearly 40 restaurants in Takoma Park.

“It was educational for a lot of people in recognizing that Takoma Park covers more area than people may be thinking,” she said. “We put a lot of energy and emphasis on the non-main street and Carroll Avenue establishments.”

For two months, Ritter-Soronen and her team of hired artists took to the streets painting words of safety and encouragement and urging people to shop local and support Takoma Park business in a very difficult time. “We just wanted to encourage residents to keep supporting their local businesses as much as possible,” Ritter-Soronen said. “We also did some on community safety and health. We had one on mask wearing when it was a new concept, and we did one in front of city hall that said ‘Small and Mighty.’ ”

And although the chalk eventually washed away, there are still pictures and social media posts helping them live on. “Chalk is a beautiful reminder that all things pass, and it could be a good thing that nothing lasts forever,” Ritter-Soronen said. “During production of our almost 50 pieces, I listened to stories of grief, joy, resilience, COVID, immigration, birth, death. Public art can connect people, and those connections can enhance community organizing happening in pushes for a better world.” Ritter-Soronen usually works with her Austin, Texas-based partner Liza Fishbone on commissioned murals and other pieces around the country.

Ritter-Soronen, who has a background in theater design and set painting, said she first got interested in chalk art while looking to engage her community in St. Louis. “We were interested in the push for public art locally, and we were looking for ways to engage with the community in an accessible and fun way. Chalk art was the way to do that,” she said.

Currently, Chalk Riot is creating a more permanent wall-hung mural that will be placed around Takoma Park once it’s finished. “It’s still visually tied to the original campaign, and it will be a sort of cap-stone to the Takoma Park business initiative we did,” she said. “The first place it will go is the Recreation Center since it currently isn’t open at the moment, and it will be a way to keep the place active.”

Chalk art has also recently seen a major spike in interest nationally with people creating their own art pieces in front of their homes showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. “It’s really been relevant in the past few months especially with people putting down Black Lives Matter messages,” Ritter-Soronen said “You can’t even find chalk in stores anymore!”

The name Chalk Riot is an ode to those who used chalk art to spread messages on the women’s suffrage movement to raising awareness on the AIDS epidemic of the ’80s and ’90s. “Suffragettes would use chalk to communicate where meetings would be and relay messages to each other,” RitterSoronen said.

Chalk Riot is currently working to put together an online toolkit for people interested in using chalk art as a form of peaceful protest with basic how-to’s and information on chalk art’s history in activism.

Ritter-Soronen is especially grateful Takoma Park and the community took such a unique and artistic way to get the word out about businesses and safety: “It’s really encouraging that the city prioritized public art as a tool of communication and support during such a difficult time.” For more on Chalk Riot, visit chalkriotart.com or check them out on Instagram @chalkriot.

This article originally appeared in the August 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter.  See the full newsletter here.

By Rick Henry

The “Jarboe Battalion,” an unofficial group of Takoma Park firefighters that has existed for more than 50 years and was once seven men strong, is now down to a lone member. But that member is a Chief, and he has no intention of letting the legacy end anytime soon.

“Once a Chief, always a Chief,” said Jimmy Jarboe, 80, as he led a reporter on a tour of the Takoma Park Fire Station on a recent Sunday morning.

He explained that although he retired as a professional firefighter in 1988, because of health issues, he served as volunteer chief for 12 years (he retired in 2008), and he is still referred to as Chief. He is not the only Jarboe to earn that moniker, but he is the last to hold it.

Jimmy Jarboe’s brother, Teddy, was also known as Chief, having served as a Career Fire Chief in Kensington and as a Deputy Fire Chief in Montgomery County, passed away suddenly in February (read his obituary in the April 2019 newsletter), leaving Jimmy as the last of a family that has served as firefighters in Takoma Park and Montgomery County since 1956. (Read the article on the “Family Tradition” in the November 2019 newsletter.)

It was Teddy who was the first Jarboe to join, volunteering at age 16 in 1956. Jimmy followed soon after, and they were quickly joined by three more brothers, their father and their uncle.

But it was Teddy who was the leader, and his sudden death hit Jimmy hard. “It was a shock,” said Jimmy. “He was my number one input and influence.”

Teddy’s background as a longtime firefighter and fire safety educator profoundly shaped Jimmy’s work as a community fire safety advocate, a role he has embraced as a volunteer since his retirement as a professional firefighter. In this role, he attends community events and festivals, speaks at schools and generally takes every opportunity he can to educate the community about fire safety.

It is an important role, and one that only adds to an impressive legacy, said Darrell Hout, Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service Captain, Station Commander, assigned to the Takoma Park station. “He has been doing education and outreach for decades,” Hout said of Jimmy Jarboe. He was one of the originators of the smoke detector program here in Takoma Park.

“His heart has always been in it,” Hout said. And it still is.

On that recent Sunday morning, Jimmy eagerly cornered Hout to propose a new idea for reaching out to the community. And, of course, Jimmy volunteered to be the person to implement it. Which begs the question, “Does he see a time when he will give up volunteering?”

“My wife just asked me if I’ll ever stop,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve been around the firehouse a long time. I rode the trucks for 50 years, and now I really like working with the community and educating the public about fire safety.

“Plus, it’s helping people, it’s saving lives, and being around the station and the people is fun.”

In other words, the Jarboe legacy seems destined to live on. For that, we in the Takoma Park community can all be thankful.

This article appeared in the May 2019 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Jan van Zutphen, Urban Forest Manager

Trees are a great resource for a community. The environmental and social benefits trees provide are significant. However, trees need to be maintained to provide those benefits in a safe manner. Large trees located near, for example, buildings, roads and playgrounds need to be monitored regularly to ensure any dying branches, structural problems or insect/disease issues get identified and addressed. Tree hazards can be easily overlooked by the untrained eye. In our busy lives, few of us spend much time looking up into the tree canopy of the trees in our yard. A large tree branch can weigh several hundred pounds, and if it fails, can cause extensive property damage and severe injury or even death.

Preventing Tree (limb) Failure

Tree or tree limb failure is usually preventable. It is recommended that trees, especially large trees, be inspected by a Licensed Tree Expert (LTE) every two to three years. These regular inspections by a trained professional can identify structural issues, dead or dying branches or tree illness and disease. Typically, it does not cost anything to have a LTE visit a property and inspect trees.

If a more detailed inspection is recommended, a tree care company will provide an estimate of the cost for those services. It is recommended that you contact several tree care companies and have their LTEs visit the property and provide recommendations and quotes for any needed tree work. Be sure that the tree care company you hire is licensed by the State of Maryland and insured. It is also beneficial to develop a long-term relationship with an LTE who will become familiar with your trees and their health over time.

Determining the likelihood of tree failure requires a significant level of experience and knowledge about how trees grow, how they fail and what characteristics make a tree “risky.” Assessing tree risk requires special training and experience, and LTEs are specifically knowledgeable in determining the structural integrity of a tree and the risk it may present. While there are self-surveys of trees that property owners can conduct to determine obvious issues, there is no substitute for a professional assessment of the health of a tree.

Following City and State Regulations

When you have any tree work done on your property make sure you adhere to the City’s tree regulations, which can be found on the City’s website at takomaparkmd.gov/services/permits/treepermits. The removal of any tree 7’ 5/8” in diameter or greater requires a tree removal permit or waiver. The pruning of more than 5 percent of the live canopy of a tree 7 5/8” in diameter or greater requires the submission of a tree impact assessment. An emergency tree removal waiver will be issued to a property owner if a tree is highly hazardous, poses an immediate threat to people and property and the hazard cannot be mitigated through pruning or other tree maintenance.

What about my neighbor’s trees? Maryland has adopted the “Massachusetts Self-Help Rule” that says you must assume responsibility for the care and preservation of your own property. This means that you can cut branches from a tree on your neighbor’s property that extend into your property. Always notify the tree owner first. However, you may not destroy the tree in the process, nor can you cut the tree down. Also, you must stop at the property line unless the neighbor has given you permission to do otherwise, and it is best to have that permission in writing.

When a tree or its branches fall, it is considered an “Act of God” unless the tree was known to be dead or hazardous. This means the portion of the tree and the damage from it that is on your property is your responsibility to clean up. The portion of the tree that ends up on a neighbor’s property, and any damage to the neighbor’s property, is his/her responsibility. Such accidents are normally covered by the affected owner’s home owner’s insurance and are usually resolved by reporting a claim. The exception to this general rule is that the owner of the property where the tree originated may be responsible for damage to a neighbor’s property if the owner knew, or had good reason to know, that the tree presented a danger. A tree whose trunk (even a small portion of the trunk) straddles the property line may be a shared tree, and therefore, any cost for pruning, maintenance or removal would be a shared cost.

Working Together on Safety

The City of Takoma Park encourages neighbors to discuss tree issues long before tree failure becomes a problem, and responsibility for any damage becomes part of the discussion. If your neighbor’s tree is hazardous, you have communicated that to your neighbor and your neighbor is not addressing the issue, then the City may step in and require the neighbor to have the hazard mitigated.

As the City’s Urban Forest Manager (UFM), my focus is primarily on City trees and inspecting trees on private property related to review of permit applications for tree removal or tree protection. However, when a tree on private property is hazardous and I become aware of it either by noticing it myself or being notified by someone else, then I notify the property owner of the hazard and their responsibility. The City Code allows for the issuance of a notice of violation to the property owner requiring that the hazardous tree issue be addressed within a certain time frame.

For those property owners who have limited income, the City has established an Emergency Tree Fund to assist with the costs of removal of a hazardous tree. Residents can apply for those funds through the UFM.

In closing, I hope you will be able to join us for the Tree Canopy Assessment Seminar taking place on March 23.

Tree Canopy Assessment Seminar:

Takoma Park Tree Canopy Assessment Seminar
Presented by Noah Ahles, University of Vermont

Saturday, March 23, 2019

• Morning session will present findings on the current status of the City’s tree canopy using 2018 LiDAR data.
• The morning session will be a general overview, the afternoon session will be a focused discussion with members of the Tree Commission and Committee on The Environment

• Afternoon session will be a planning discussion about establishing a Citywide tree canopy goal and implementation plan.

This article appeared in the March 2019 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Ellen Robbins

People frequently ask library staff about the status of the library’s plans for renovation and expansion. While there has not yet been any construction, the reality is that in the past two years, we have made considerable progress. We have a signed contract with our architect. We were successful in acquiring Capital Grant Funding through the State. The City Council also approved borrowing to complete the project through the State Infrastructure Loan Program. Schematic design is in progress, and a site survey and an engineering study were completed in 2018.

Library staff have worked hard to weed collections and prepare for moving materials out of our 64 year-old building. And library patrons continue to express enthusiasm for the Library project.

Inevitably, development and engineering questions come to light in the examination of a built environment, and indeed light was shed by the 2018 engineering report. The engineers concluded that the City needed a new flood plain delineation study to determine if the current flood wall (which was planned to be incorporated into the expanded library building) was adequate. While a flood plain study was done in 2002, hydrology improved significantly in the ensuing 16 years, and it made sense to conduct the new study.

As the saying goes, measure twice and cut once. A preliminary report was concluded in August of 2018 and submitted to the County’s Department of Permitting Services for review. Based on the conclusions of the new flood plain study, it was determined that a higher elevation for the Library would be required. The architect has submitted design options for a library building that would meet the elevation criteria based on the new information, but would preserve the same footprint. The new design options are all predicated on constructing a new library building on the existing site, as an alternative to changing the parking lot elevation relative to the Library, which we understand would be a significantly costlier option.

The flood plain study is important in advancing the City’s goals in other ways. The effect of climate change on the water table, as well as the flood plain, makes the recent delineation study a foresighted and practical necessity as the City plans the future purposes and locations of its facilities.

Immediate next steps for the library renovation project include consideration of the new concept designs. Because they don’t depend on modification of antiquated systems or constraints in the deployment of existing resources they offer new opportunities to imaginatively recreate and enliven existing space.

We are eager for things to progress now that we know what we need to do in response to the flood plain study. We look forward to sharing new information as it becomes available and to continued public discussion as the library project continues.

The architect will make a presentation to the City Council on March 20.

This article appeared in the March 2019 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.