| MAY 2021
Newsletter of the Kensington Heights Civic Association
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| News From the Mall - Karen Cordry, President
I expect many of us are curious about how the Mall has been faring after the economic landslide caused by COVID. I had lunch on Friday with Mall Manager Stuart Amos and got a lot of news about some exciting developments. First, while business at the Mall business certainly is down compared to two springs ago, it still ranks 5th out of the 28 malls operated by Westfield in the United States. Store spaces in the main Mall area are all occupied and have survived due to a lot of help from the Mall on their rent expenses. The food court has been able to reopen (with some capacity limits) and there is a new restaurant called “Jollibee” in the north area across from the Giant. The company originates in the Phillipines – its primary offering is several kinds of chicken, but it also has a couple of Filipino dishes and its own, unique take on spaghetti. I can vouch for the chicken sandwich (which I was treated to by Mr. Amos), and there seems to be folks lined up waiting to get in, so go ahead and try it! There is also another restaurant called Hook and Reel that will be going into the south Mall area (where the UPS store used to be). That store is being built out now but keep an eye out for its grand opening.
The AMC Movie Theaters are now open! Again, there are some capacity limits, but if you have been missing and craving a chance to see movies on something bigger than your TV screen, you can now get your wish. It’s been a hard year for them to say the least, so let’s help support them and the rest of the businesses at the Mall. That includes J.C. Penney, which is still open; the fencing has to do with some damage to the outer façade that needs to be repaired and they want to make sure nothing falls and hurts anyone but you’re still welcome to visit. And, perhaps the longest-anticipated change – the Mall finally got permission to pave the corner area near the Kenmont swimming pool to add some more parking spaces. They had to include storm water management infrastructure and that is the work that is being done right now. Mr. Amos promised that they would abide by the County noise regs (no work before 7 am) and he has asked them to try to ensure that any noisy work is done after 9 am. (If you notice a problem, please send me an email (karenc425@aol.com) and I’ll pass it on. Mr. Amos also said that, if anyone notices a problem with litter and debris in the forest buffer to let him know and he’ll make sure it’s taken care of, so again let Karen know and I’ll pass it on.)
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Cicada Costume Contest Image Credit: Richard Leung
EXTENSION of DEADLINE: MAY 15
You already know that a "few" locusts are poised to invade us very SOON!
It's been seventeen years since the last invasion of Brood X cicadas in 2004. The genetically-programmed cicadas – billions and trillions of them, will be emerging from their Eastern US underground homes between Georgia and New York. Get ready to witness this amazing phenomenon and to be kamikazed by the cute red-eyed, orange-winged critters from mid-May to late June. Read more in articles from The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun.
To honor the cicadas, KHCA will host a home-made CICADA Costume Contest for KHCA residents 12 years and under. Let loose your creativity for a surprise prize!
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| A Good Neighbor Will be Missed - Bill Pierie
Our community will miss a good friend and long-time neighbor. Bill Pierie, of 2728 Jennings for many years, passed away unexpectedly at his home on March 19, 2021 at age 75. Bill and his family moved to Kensington in 1952 when he was 7 and he attended Oakland Terrace Elementary School just as our neighborhood’s children still do. After serving time in Army, Bill began a lifelong profession as a auto mechanic for different dealerships and then on his own. He leaves behind a sister Nancy Pierie Kalcounos and several nieces and nephews. Many of us in KHCA have been long-time friends and/or met Bill and enjoyed his help as their trusted mechanic for everything from lawn mowers to cars. We offer our condolences to his family and we will all miss him in many ways.
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KHCA Virtual Spring Meeting -- May 25, 7:30 pm
We will hold our KHCA Spring Membership Meeting virtually on Tuesday, May 25 at 7:30 pm.
There’s a lot going on in the County – it’s looking to the future with a new vision entitled Thrive Montgomery 2050 to talk about the next 30 years. That document will look at everything from climate change to housing to jobs and much more. County Planning Acting Area 2 Division Chief Khalid Afzal will present an overview of the Planning Department’s draft of the document and answer questions. There will be public hearings and a chance for people to comment on the draft before the County Council debates and adopts a final version so we'd like to know what you are thinking to help guide any KHCA comments.
The other part of the meeting will be a chance to hear more about a variety of proposals to accommodate diverse housing needs in the county through what is now called the Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative. This has also been referred to as “Missing Middle Housing" with the idea that, in between, standard single-family housing and large apartment complexes there is room for other types such as duplexes and triplexes within the existing building sizes allowed in these zones as well as small townhouse or garden apartment complexes if several lots are bought and combined. There is a lot of potential good in these proposals; there are also a lot of concerns if they aren’t done right. Please refer to the Feb/Mar KHCA Newsletter which had extensive information on the proposal. This is very much of a moving target at this time and there is more being done every day. Since KH is precisely the sort of area that is being looked at for these projects, we want to give you a chance to hear about the proposals and get your thoughts.
Please save the date (May 25) and join us – we’ll send out a reminder and a Zoom link as we get closer.
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KHCA Directory - Round IIWe are still working on getting a complete listing of KHCA residents and hoping to have block captains for all of our streets. Like everything else, the project got a bit discombobulated with COVID, but we’re going to be making another try this spring. First thing you can do to help is to click button below to "Update Contact Info." And, of course, while you’re there, we’d love to have you help keep KCHA strong by becoming a dues-paying member by clicking the Membership tab or clicking the "Pay Dues Here" button below.
We have a list of all of the streets in KHCA, broken up into one or two block chunks with the number of houses in each group. Click HERE to view the list. The listings that are in bold already have a block captain; we still need someone for the balance of the blocks. Please consider becoming a Block Captain (you can even put that on your resume). This won’t be an overly burdensome job – we’ll ask your help in working with our effort this spring to get everybody’s name and contact information on your designated block. After that, we’ll mostly just ask that you reach out to someone new that moves into the neighborhood and offer them a warm KHCA welcome (while you get their information to add to the list!) Thanks so much for your help and let’s make sure KHCA really is a warm welcoming place to everyone who lives here!
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COVID-19 -- We're Winning
I think we can all see the progress that KHCA, Montgomery County, Maryland and the United States are making on turning the corner on COVID and putting it behind us. We still need to keep wearing masks and the sooner we can all get vaccinated the better. For information about County efforts, new mass vaccination sites and more, click HERE.
In the meantime, as we push to the end, we’d like to encourage everyone to get their shots, so we found these flags on Amazon. We think we can get the flags shipped to us for about $5 if we buy in bulk (20 or more). Would you be interested in displaying one on your front yard? Please email Karen (karenc425@aol.com) if you’d like to reserve one or more. (They don’t come with the stand but we could order those too on Amazon if people need them – let us know that in your email as well (probably about $8 to $10 or so). We’d love to see these all across the neighborhood and more every day, so let us know ASAP if you’d like one for your yard!
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| Support KHCA - Pay Annual Dues
To carry out our many activities, KHCA needs your support -- both through your volunteer efforts and also, your financial donations. All residents of Kensington Heights are members of KHCA, and all members are welcome to attend and speak at KHCA meetings. However, to be a voting member, and to help support our activities on your behalf, KH residents are asked to pay annual dues of $10 per adult resident (18+ years) to a maximum of $30 per address. These monies are much appreciated and help to ensure that KHCA remains financially viable. Thank you!
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Happy Birthday Karen!
Look who got to celebrate her birthday April 25th with KHCA members on a lovely spring day socially-distanced. We wish you continued good health.
We are grateful for all you do for KHCA!
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VISION ZERO 2030 PLAN
The Montgomery County Executive released the Draft Vision Zero 2030 Action Plan & Fiscal years 2022-23 Work Plan for public review and input. There will be five listening sessions on Zoom starting April 28th. These sessions will allow Montgomery County residents to learn about the draft plan and offer feedback. To learn more, register for a review session and/or complete a survey to provide input, click HERE.
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MDOT Briefing on I-270 & I-495 Expansion Plan
On April 20, 2021, there was a Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Briefing on I-270 & I-495 Expansion Plan at the Montgomery County Civic Federation Meeting. Click HERE to view the recording.
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| Montgomery County, MD Civic Federation Meeting
NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021
Time: 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Location: Online Zoom Audio/Video Conference
Topic: Environment: Montgomery County’s Climate Action Plan
Please click here to access the current newsletter and here for information about Zoom meeting log in.
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History Chair: OPEN
Land Use Chair OPEN
Safety Chair: OPEN
**Elections were held in November 2019.
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| KHCA is a non-partisan neighborhood organization dedicated to representing the interests of all homeowners and residents of the Kensington Heights neighborhood in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in our community.
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| Thank you to our Newsletter Sponsors
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Kensington Heights Civic Association
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