Three Gaithersburg Area Locations Make 'Endangered Maryland 2013' List

The Preservation Maryland 2013 endangered list was released by MarylandLife.com. See which Gaithersburg area locations made the list.

Of the 10 landmark locations selected by Preservation Maryland for its "Endangered Maryland 2013" list, three fall in the Gaithersburg area of upper Montgomery County. Posted by MarylandLife.com, the list includes Belward Farm, unincorporated Washington Grove, and Darnestown's Montanverde. The following excerpts were included in the "Endangered Maryland 2013" list: Belward Farm: The Civil War-era Belward Farm, owned by the Banks family for over 100 years, is one of the last remaining farms in the Gaithersburg region. To preserve it, Elizabeth Banks sold the land to Johns Hopkins at a greatly reduced price with the understanding that the university would build a small-scale facility there. Upon her death, Hopkins reneged. It now plans to …

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Wall Street Journal Weighs In On Hopkins-Belward Dispute

Donated Land Is Battlefield—Johns Hopkins's Big Development Plan Wasn't Intent of Land Gift, Says Family

Court Rules in Favor of Johns Hopkins on Belward Farm Development

Family of former farm owner considering appeal, blogger writes.

  A Montgomery County Circuit judge ruled Friday that a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins University seeking to block the university's plans to develop a science park on the former Belward Farm should not proceed. Judge Ronald B. Rubin ruled in favor of Johns Hopkins' motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed against the university by Timothy Newell and others regarding plans to build a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the property. Heirs of the farm's former owner say the size and the scope of the science park go far beyond the small campus that was envisioned when majority owner Elizabeth Banks agreed to sell the farm to Hopkins in 1989.  The decision effectively ends the case, barring an appeal. Johns Hopkins …

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Local Belward Supporter Blasts Hopkins Ahead of Hearing

"Over five years of ducking, weaving and empty marketing rhetoric. Johns Hopkins seems determined to play the role of a selfish 900 pound bully," Donna Baron said.

Judge to Weigh Resolution of Long Dispute Over Belward Farm

A Montgomery County Judge will preside over a summary judgment hearing in a dispute regarding how land can be used that was sold to Johns Hopkins at a fraction of its value.

The longstanding dispute over the future development of Belward Farm could come to a close as early as Friday. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Ronald B. Rubin will preside over the summary judgment hearing in a lawsuit brought by the successors of Belward Farm against Johns Hopkins University. The family's lawsuit — led by Tim Newell, the nephew of former Belward owner Elizabeth Beall Banks — seeks to prevent the university from building a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the property. Newell and others contend that when his aunt sold 108-acre Belward Farm to Hopkins in 1989 for $5 million, which was far less than the estimated $50 million market value of the property, the university agreed to build a low-rise, …

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Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

8:51 am on Thursday, October 25, 2012

For additional information on the Belward Farm / Johns Hopkins debacle, please see my blog, Johns Hopkins, Seriously, Are You Freaking Kidding Me? at http://northpotomac.patch.com/blog_posts/johns-hopkins-seriously-are-you-freaking-kidding-me. All the news and legal documents can be found at www.scale-it-back.com   more ›

Hopkins, Former Heirs, File Cross-Motions for Judgment on Belward Farm

Both Hopkins and Tim Newell, the lead plaintiff and spokesperson for the donor family, file motions for summary judgment in lawsuit against the university.

Both sides in a dispute over control of Belward Farm have cross-filed motions asking the court to rule in their favor and immediately end litigation over whether Johns Hopkins University may build a mega commercial research center on the property. Attorneys for Johns Hopkins maintain the school's plan is well within the scope of an agreement signed in 1989 that transferred the property from then-owner Elizabeth Banks to the school. In his cross-motion, however, Tim Newell, representing the family, contends the farm was specifically donated for the school to use it for academic purposes -- not a commercial enterprise. The family's lawsuit seeks to prevent the university from building a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the …

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Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

9:02 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012

According to the master plan, only 40% of the development on Belward Farm is required to be "science-related". If the farm is covered with buildings up to 14-stories high, and 60% of the companies are non-science related, it will not be a park of any sort and certainly not a science park. It will be exactly what Johns Hopkins proposes it will be…a huge money-making commercial real estate venture…   more ›

UPDATE: Trial Date Set for Belward Farm, JHU Case

Judge Ronald Rubin announces date Friday at a scheduling hearing.

(UPDATED, 3:30 p.m., 7/6) -- The development dispute between the successors of Belward Farm and Johns Hopkins University is one small but significant step closer to a resolution. At a hearing Friday, Judge Ronald Rubin scheduled a trial date for Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Circuit Court of Montgomery County in Rockville, according to a statement from the plaintiff. The decision comes after Judge John W. Debelius, III approved a request by JHU to fast-track the lawsuit in May. The university originally moved to delay proceedings after the Montgomery County Circuit Court refused to dismiss the legal action brought by Tim Newell on Nov. 10, 2011, on behalf of his aunt, Elizabeth Beall Banks, and her two siblings, who sold the property to JHU. …

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MoCo Headlines: Man Charged In Son’s Death, Belward Farm Controversy Continues

The week's top Montgomery County news headlines.

Catch up on news you might have missed this week, including the latest in North Potomac’s Belward Farm controversy, the charging of a Gaithersburg man in the death of his son and a challenge to Pepco tree cutting in Bethesda.  Father Charged With Son's Murder, Denied Bond GAITHERSBURG – Wayne Price, 55, was denied bond by a Montgomery County District Court Judge Monday, May 7 after being charged with the murder of his 23-year-old son in their Gaithersburg apartment Saturday, May 5. Read the full story on Gaithersburg Patch. Gaithersburg Man Charged With Multiple Sex Offenses GAITHERSBURG – Aaron William Murray Lemere, of the 25400 block of Jarl Drive, was arrested Monday for several sex-related offenses. Lamere was previously a faculty …

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Judge Fast-Tracks Belward Farm, JHU Lawsuit

A scheduling hearing is set for July 6.

(UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.) -- The dispute over Belward Farm and what Johns Hopkins University can do with it will begin July 6 with a scheduling hearing before Judge Ronald B. Rubin, according to a release from plaintiff Tim Newell. Judge John W. Debelius, III issued a decision this week in response to a request in April from the university to fast-track the case, according to the release, assigning the case to the Court’s Business and Technology Case Management Program, Expedited Track 5. The case could be settled within six months, according to expedition guidelines. (See the PDF on the right for a diagram of the process.) However, the judge will decide whether the official expedition begins today, the day of the hearing, or at some future …

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Heir To Former Belward Farm Owner Excited For Progress In Hopkins Case

Tim Newell is excited for the opportunity to proceed with the case on his aunt's farm after a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge denied Johns Hopkins University's motion to dismiss.

When Tim Newell first received word of a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge’s decision to deny Johns Hopkins University’s motion to dismiss he couldn’t wait to share the news.  “[The community] is pretty thrilled,” Newell told Patch. “Everybody’s been more or less ‘it’s about time that someone listened.’ If you talk to the county and everybody else it’s always been sided towards having this project done no matter what the issues are and here we finally feel some indication that somebody listened.” On Friday, March 11, Judge Katherine D. Savage issued a 24-page decision denying JHU’s motion to dismiss a breach of donor intent lawsuit filed by Newell, the lead plaintiff for the heirs to former Belward Farm owner Elizabeth Banks, with the …

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Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

1:46 pm on Friday, March 16, 2012

Mike, the initial comparisons said "The proposed “Science City” will have 20 million square feet of commercial space and 9 million square feet of residential space on 922 acres. At 29 million square feet, it would be the size of 4.4 Pentagons." The final plan was a so-called "compromise" by lowering the full build-out of commercial space to 17.5 million sq ft. or about 4 Pentagons when you add in…   more ›