Montgomery County Parks Commissioners began to carefully pick apart a proposal for a 24-field soccer complex for Germantown on Monday night, questioning how large the facility should be and who should run it.
The four-member board had many questions about Maryland SoccerPlex Foundation's plan for a 24-field soccer complex at South Germantown Regional Park, which would also include an indoor soccer facility and 5,000-seat championship field with lights.
Maryland SoccerPlex is a consortium of private individuals and soccer groups which plans to raise $10 million to bring the extensive soccer park to fruition.
The consortium's plan has been opposed by neighbors of the 658-acre park who fear an onslaught of traffic and other problems.
"We can't say we're doing this for the little kids in Montgomery County," said Commissioner Arthur Holmes. "That's just not true."
Parks staff made preliminary recommendations on Monday that include reducing the number of seats for the championship field to 1,500.
"We don't have sufficient information to say 5,000 is an appropriate number," said Don Cochran, Parks Department director.
Staff also recommends bringing SoccerPlex officials and community leaders together to tour similar facilities in and out of state to gain a better understanding of operational needs and impact. Also proposed is a combined group to have a say on the actual design for the park.
"Somehow we needed to bring [the community] into the process," Cochran said.
Details on the SoccerPlex proposal are still being gathered, as well as testimony from a public meeting last week in Germantown, Cochran said.
Currently, funding has been proposed for 16 fields, include field construction, water and sewer, storm water management, road improvements and parking. Gov. Parris N. Glendening and County Executive Douglas M. Duncan have committed a combined $4.9 million with the balance to be funded through private contributions.
Thirteen fields plus various recreational amenities have already been approved in a 1996 master plan for the South Germantown park. Those amenities include an indoor tennis, soccer and swim center, plus playground, picnic area, miniature golf and BMX bike track.
"This is a park, we have to keep that in mind," said Commissioner Davis Richardson.
"It's easy to get caught up in the excitement."
Richardson reminded the board that the park has been programmed to meet important needs of Germantown and the upcounty. The master plan provides "balanced needs across a broad spectrum," he said.
Richardson said it is quite a stretch to go from 13 fields to the current request for 24 fields. "You are exceeding what was in the master plan," he said.
Cochran said the applicants understand the 24-field plan is not certain.
"Twenty-four is a goal we will look at, but we may not get there," he said.
As this is the first parks application for a major public-private partnership, parks officials are taking the time to carefully examine details of the plan.
"We've never had a private use of this scale in a public park," Cochran said.
Richardson cautioned the board to not "jump through hoops to make something happen."
The Parks Commission is scheduled to consider amending the South Germantown Regional Park master plan in May and take up the SoccerPlex business plan in June.
If approved, the soccer complex could open in 2001.
"Conceptually, we agree on what's going on," Holmes said. "We need to make sure what we do doesn't take away from things already promised to the community."
Cochran emphasized that preliminary findings for a 16- or 24-field plan are based on conceptual drawings for the complex. A detailed design study has not been done.
One big question is if 24 fields will fit in a park planned to hold half as many fields plus other amenities.
Cochran said SoccerPlex officials do not want enterprise facilities, such as the tennis and swim centers, in the center of the park.
Commissioner Allison Bryant said he had many reactions to that request. "Really, so what?" he said. "Who's driving this?"
Bryant said the county should maintain control of the project. The applicant needs to adhere to technical guidelines for the design, he said.
"If they can't do that, it's a whole other thing," he said.
Parks Chairman William Hussmann pointed to environmental concerns as a driving force for the project. He said community impact and traffic are manageable.
"I don't see it as a traffic problem, I do see it as a water problem."
Stephen Gerwin, division manager with WSSC, said the park is safe for grading despite community worries over a 20-year-old sludge dump located 5 feet beneath the park's surface. "You could grade today and play soccer tomorrow without any concern," he said.
Tentatively, the County Council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee is expected to examine the proposal this spring.
From the Gazette Papers