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Politics & Government

City Lot at Takoma Junction Was Once Trash Dump

The lot will probably not be developed by a private firm.

The city lot at Takoma Junction will likely not be developed by a private developer because the lot was once a trash dump that could be too expensive to clean, a local businessman told the Takoma Junction Task Force.

John Urciolo, who owns the Laurel Avenue shopping plaza, as well as additional properties, met with the task force on Aug. 17, to discuss the development potential of the lot. Urciolo said a local business used to haul and dump trash at areas in and around the city lot. The wooded area near the lot is probably filled with trash also, according to task force members.

“The take away message [from the meeting with Urciolo] was no developer would touch this with a 10-foot pole unless the city is willing to take responsibility for any costs,” said Task Force Member Lorig Charkoudian. In addition, there is no way to determine what the costs associated with a clean-up would be, she added. It might cost “$500,000 to several million dollars to cleanup,” she said.

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Part of the problem of wanting to develop the lot, is it will require drilling and could potentially drill into the waste, according to the task force. If someone drills and waste is discovered, the concern would immediately turn to the environment, said Task Force Member Kay Daniels-Cohen. “You can’t just cover it up; it’s a done deal. You are into it,” she said.

Therefore, just finding out where waste has been dumped “could be financially disastrous” for a potential developer, said Task Force Member Susan Robb. “Which is why he [Urciolo] suggested (to) do the testing on the hill and not break the concrete,” she said. “If it turns out the hillside was bad, you could say I’m stopping here, I’m not even going to look under the city lot,” she said. “But if it’s relatively clean, you could decide if you want to continue the testing,” she added.

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However, an “environmental purest” would be concerned about that site right now, said Task Force Co-Chair Howard Kohn. “On the other hand, that site has been what it is for several years,” he added.

In addition, the area under the paved section of the city lot could be full of waste which might affect the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-op expansion plans, according to the task force. The TPSS co-op has been considering building a facility in the area where the city lot is.

Urciolo said the developable area at the city lot is not sufficiently great to support building the high retaining wall that would be necessary on the city lot, given the nature of what’s under the slab there, said Task Force Co-Chair Seth Grimes. “The economics aren’t right to justify the retaining wall that would be needed,” he said.

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