Sandy Spring-Ashton

Rural Preservation Consortium (SSARPC)

The SSARPC supports development in the area that conforms to the

Sandy Spring-Ashton Master Plan. We are pro-Master Plan, not anti-development.


Wyndcrest, click for a larger picture Click for a larger picture Historic House Mt. Airy, 1799, 1845, click for a larger picture Click for a larger picture Click for a larger picture Click for a larger picture Sandy Spring, click for a larger picture Click for a larger picture Click for a larger picture

Rural Ashton and Sandy Spring



Support Our Efforts

SSARPC has been hard at work since September 2005 to insure our Ashton Crossroads will maintain its rural character:

  • Southeast corner redevelopment of the New Hampshire Avenue and Route 108 intersection:  Ashton Meeting Place will now feature a greatly improved configuration based on the Sandy Spring-Ashton Master Plan that we believe will be inviting to pedestrians and a credit to our neighborhood.

  • Northeast corner redevelopment:  the car wash and one pump from the gas station were eliminated, reducing potential traffic congestion.  Although the design is in greater compliance with the Sandy Spring-Ashton Master Plan, the commercial building north of the gas station is not in conformance with the Master Plan as it is in the middle of the parking lot and not an active store front on the street.

  • Southwest area redevelopment – the new Chevy Chase Bank branch, replacing Sole d’Italia and Kimballs Market, will now have pedestrian walkways, fewer drive-through lanes, and low profile signage and lighting.

Ednor Road and New Hampshire Avenue Intersection:  The Park and Planning staff instructed the Resurrection Baptist Church to submit a new landscaping plan replanting large trees to reconstruct the rural entryway to Ashton (destroyed by the church’s builder), as called for in the Sandy Spring-Ashton Master Plan.

We Need Your Help!

SSARPC has been working hard to maintain Ashton’s rural village tone while embracing development that will make our lives a little easier.  Much of the work that has brought us to this point is being done by volunteers who live in our community.  However, critical services were also provided (at drastically reduced rates), by a prominent land planner, Stu Sirota, and a nationally recognized land use attorney, Dave Brown.  They are not from our community, but are interested in the issues we are addressing.  We may need their services in the future as new issues arise.

Please join your neighbors in helping SSARPC by supporting the professional land planner and legal counsel that make our efforts possible.  Our goal is to raise $5,000.  Many local families have contributed more than $1,000 toward these fees, but more is still needed.

Thanks for your support!  And, thanks to the many people who have supported this effort over the past three years.

We can accept checks made out to PRESERVE ASHTON at the following address:

SSARPC
Post Office Box 518
Ashton, MD 20861

If you prefer the convenience of contributing online, you may do so via Paypal:


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Home

Ashton Meeting Place

Derrick's Addition

ezStorage

Bentley Road Nursing Home

Thomas Bldg. (Goddard School and Offices)

Resurrection Baptist Church

Chevy Chase Bank

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Documents and Announcements

Aerial view of the Ashton crossroads, with Route 108 going west to east (left to right) and New Hampshire Avenue going from south to north (bottom to top).

Aerial view of the Ashton crossroads, with Route 108 going west to east (left to right) and New Hampshire Avenue going from south to north (bottom to top).

Approximate status of the Resurrection Baptist Church site; some very small trees were planted after this picture was taken (on August 13, 2007).

Approximate status of the Resurrection Baptist Church site; some very small trees were planted after this picture was taken (on August 13, 2007).

ezStorage Gaithersburg facility, said to be similar to the one planned for Sandy Spring

ezStorage Gaithersburg facility, said to be similar to the one planned for Sandy Spring

The Northeast Corner (site of the proposed Derrick's Addition) as it appears today.

The Northeast Corner (site of the proposed Derrick's Addition) as it appears today.

Final Ashton Meeting Place Landscape Plan, as approved by the Planning Board, rendered into a more visual form.

Final Ashton Meeting Place Landscape Plan, as approved by the Planning Board, rendered into a more visual form.

Site plan for the Thomas Building (Goddard School and offices) to be located at Route 108 between the Sandy Spring Bank and Norwood Road

Site plan for the Thomas Building (Goddard School and offices) to be located at Route 108 between the Sandy Spring Bank and Norwood Road

Diagram of the site of the nursing home proposed for Bentley Road and Route 108

Diagram of the site of the nursing home proposed for Bentley Road and Route 108

Artist's concept of the planned Chevy Chase Bank.

Artist's concept of the planned Chevy Chase Bank.