Maceponia Baptist CHURCH 5119 River Rd.» Bethesda, MD 20816 ered Sling ing sr Revered Sgn Adee, Asner Pastors Reverend Segun Adebayo, Assistant Pastor February 6, 2017 Commissioner Sally Roman, Chair Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County 10400 Detrick Avenue Kensington, MD 20895 Chairman Casey Anderson Montgomery County Planning Board 8787 Georgia Ave Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 Re: Request to delay Planning Board Hearing on Equity One's Sketch Plan scheduled for February 23, 2017 until the River Road African Cemetery Delineation Process is completed Dear Commissioner Roman and Chairman Anderson, Inreference to our January 5, 2017 letter to your attention, this note is to request that the February 23"! meeting on the Equity One sketch plan is rescheduled. We were given assurances during the December meeting and subsequent phone call with Ms. Gwen Wright, Director of the Planning Office that the Equity One Sketch plan would not be brought before the Commission until the prerequisite work of, hiring the anthropologists, Drs. Rachel Watkins and Dr. Michael Blakey, and the Ottery Group has been retained and the earth penetrating radar has been conducted. As of this date, none of the above activities has occurred. Ms. Wright repeated her commitment to this process in a recent response to Dr. Watkins proposed scope of work plan. Itwas our understanding from the telephone conference that was held in December that the Montgomery Cuunty Capital Park & Planning Commission (MCCP&PC) was willing to engage in a transparent process between the descendant community represented by Macedonia Baptist Church (MBC) and Equity One. ‘The MBC goal is to protect the sanctity of the grave site of our ancestors and accord them the honor and dignity that they were denied in life. We made it clear that we were willing to respect an inclusive process that assures the timeliness desired by Equity One. Not only do we feel that we have been ignored, by the scheduling of the February 23° Hearing but regrettably the communication channel has been obscured. ‘Marcel Uter,Chairman, Deacon Board Betty Harper, Church Clerk ‘Minister Aaron C. King, Chairman ofthe Trustee Board (Church: 301 656-0994 » Pastor: 301-649-6625Ms. Wright proposed that MCCP&PC provide a contract for Drs. Blakey and Watkins to oversee the project in light of their experience, academic background, expertise and track record. There was general agreement with this protocol. It was also agreed that the Ottery Group would be retained to conduct the ground penetrating radar study. The Ottery Group was deemed acceptable to both Equity One and Macedonia Baptist Church, the Descendant community. We have recently learnt that Equity One and the Planning Office have scheduled a meeting for February 23° without consultation with Macedonia Baptist Church, This meeting is being held prior to hiring the anthropologists, the Ottery Group or the cemetery delineation. We object to the disregard and disrespect with which our community has been treated throughout this process. We believe that the Planning Office has decided to move forward with the Equity One plan and to ignore the agreed upon protocol (noted above) and the voice of the descendant community. As residents of Montgomery County and representatives of the erstwhile River Road African community we strongly object to the blatant disregard and disrespect with which we have been treated. We previously asked for a delay to this hearing and reiterate our request to delay the hearing scheduled for February 23, 2017 to provide us an opportunity to undertake a meaningful and objective review of the Sketch Plan. Itis our contention that such an objective study of the Sketch Plan cannot be conducted intelligently without a ratified scope of work agreement and the expert opinion of our consultants. ‘We are demanding that the understanding reached between our community and Ms. Wright in our December 2016 telephone conference to conduct expeditiously a cemetery delineation be respected. We are asking for the courtesy of a response to the issues we have raised and a further delay of the hearing scheduled for February 23rd, 2017. Asa faith community we embrace the virtue of good neighborliness and peaceable co-existence with our community, However, please be assured that we are forever more determined to fight for the right, honor and dignity of our deceased relatives. We hope that, as stipulated during our December telephone conference, that you are committed to allowing our dead to repose in peace and dignity. We look forward to your response. Sincerely, fearReverend Segun Adebayo Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church Ce: Sally.roman@hocme.org, Mep-chair@mneppe-mcorg, ‘ocemail@montgomerycounty.gov, Councilmember. Herliner@montgomerycountymd.gov, Patricia. Vitale@montgomerycountymd.gov, Commissioner Sally Roman, Chair Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County Sally.roman@hocme.org Mr. Casey Anderson Chairman, Montgomery County Planning Board Mep-chair@mncppe-mc.org ‘The Honorable Ike Leggett County Executive ocemail@montgomerycounty.gov ‘The Honorable Roger Berliner President, County Council ‘Councilmember.Berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov Ms. Patty Vitale ‘Chief of Staff, Councilmember George Leventhal Montgomery County Council Patricia. Vitale@montgomerycountymd.gov bmccrum@equityonecom, watkins@american.edu, bbrown@equityonecom, EGirard@linowes-law.com, mlblak@wm.edu, gwen.wright@montgomeryplanning.org,