Speak out: Should City Buy Karma Academy Site, Transform into Park?

In one of its first official acts, the Rockville City Council on Monday unanimously agreed to tell the Montgomery County officials that the city wants to buy the parcel of land that used to house the Karma Academy.

But left unresolved was what the city would do with the property if the deal goes through.

Karma Academy, at 175 Watts Branch Parkway, has been vacant since 2010, when it was a treatment facility for boys.

A fire destroyed the site in February.

Since then, the county has been trying to figure out what to do with the property and is considering other jurisdictions’ ideas for reuse.

The city has until Friday to submit a proposal Leggett, Assistant City Manager Jenny Kimball Said.

Neighbors—a few of whom testified during citizen’s forum—said they wanted the site to be incorporated into Woottons Mill Park, city-owned land next to the 5-acre parcel in question.

Back in July, neighbors asked the city to pursue buying the property from the county. Back in September, the prior Mayor and Council sent a letter to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett asking the county to allow the city to buy the property for park use.

On Monday, city staff presented a draft proposal based on the letter the prior council sent the county.

While the new council agreed the city should submit a proposal, the new council members did not come up with a clear plan for how the property should be used.

Councilwoman Beryl Feinberg—who supported incorporating the site into the park—is deputy director of the county’s department of general services, which handles the buying and selling of county property. Feinberg said another deputy director would handle this transaction and that she would not be involved in the process.

“I don't need to recuse myself from the conversation,” Feinberg said.

The city’s current budget does not include money for park or property acquisition. Kimball said preliminary work on next year’s budget did not factor in buying property.

The county land was recently appraised at $760,500, Kimball said. The Mayor and Council said they would try to negotiate a lower price.

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Speak out: How should the city use the space, if it buys the Karma Academy property from the county? Should it be merged with Wootons Mill Park?