Mount Airy Center Questions

From the DACA Villager:

The Mount Airy Center, 869 Mount Airy Road, applied
to the County Office of Planning and Zoning for
certification for a designation as Institutional Use for
Religious Purposes. Residents of Mount Airy Road,
Meadowoods, and Royale Glen are concerned that
Institutional Use, as described in the application, may bring
unwanted change to their neighborhood. After a series of
public and private meetings in November, they requested a
discussion with representatives of the Mount Airy Center
to answer their questions.
On December 9, DACA members Brian Stanton,
Bridget and James Blake, and Malcolm Rice-Wolfe had a
cordial meeting at the Center with MAC representatives
Marty and Ann Sherman, George Madison, and Gerard
Helminiak, where they raised the following issues:
• Preserving Davidsonville’s rural and residential
character
• Noise and traffic
• Landscaping
• Safety
• Transparency
The key outstanding issue is how and when to
memorialize these issues so that they convey with the
property in perpetuity. We explained our desire to
ensure that future owners of 869 Mt. Airy Road don’t
take advantage of the new “institutional use” designation
to undermine this understanding. They said that they
were open to making these commitments part of the
deed and/or giving an easement to the immediate
neighbors, subject to consultation with their lawyer.
After the meeting, Mr. Sherman responded with the
following message on December 11:

Hi all,
I wanted to thank you for initiating the meeting on
Sunday. We want to be good neighbors who are hearing
your concerns about the use of the house. The following is
what I took away from the meeting:
Concern about the house/property becoming a 'megachurch'
- We have no plans to become a mega-church. Our
meetings have always been on a small scale; no more than
10-25 people at a time. If we have larger gatherings they
happen only a couple of times a year.
Concern about parking - There is no plan to expand
the parking.
Concern about adding to traffic - Our traffic won't
change from what it’s been for the last two to three years.
On a daily basis there are usually no more than 6-10 cars
coming and going.
Concern about intern vetting process - we are looking
into expanding our vetting process. We currently do require
them to fill out an application with references and they are
interviewed at least once if not more by two of our mentor
team. They are usually students who’ve been coming to the
National Student Leadership Forum over their college years
so they become quite well known to us.
Please let me know if there are other concerns or
questions that weren't addressed here. You are welcome to
contact either myself or my assistant, Elaine Mitchem
Warmly, Marty Sherman