Committee backs allowing utilities to be "abandoned in place" for Elizabeth Square parcel

The Transportation and Environment Committee on April 27 recommended amending a draft resolution to permit existing utilities within a small triangular portion of right-of-way at 2nd Avenue and Fenwick Lane to be "abandoned in place" rather than physically relocated as part of an effort to transfer the parcel to the Housing Opportunities Commission and Alexander House Development Corporation for inclusion in the Elizabeth Square project.

Council staff, represented at the hearing by Mr. Kenny, said stakeholders including Montgomery County Fire and Rescue and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) testified at a February 18 public hearing that the area is not planned for transportation use and that WSSC no longer needs active lines there. "HOC has identified that these lines may still be in place, but, per WSSC's testimony, they can be safely and adequately abandoned in place in lieu of specifically being removed or relocated," Mr. Kenny told the committee.

MCDOT staff (Director Conklin) said the department had no objection to the amendment in this case because necessary relocations already occurred where required and the pipes that remain would not be in public right-of-way or in use. A committee member asked about inventory and environmental risk from deteriorating pipes; Director Conklin replied that "many of these utilities are mapped" but acknowledged some pipes predate mapping and that deterioration risks depend on material and ownership, noting removal or remediation would likely be the landowner's responsibility after abandonment.

Without objection the chair accepted staff's recommendation to add the term "abandoned in place" to condition 1 of the draft resolution and to recommend the amended resolution be transmitted to the full council for consideration.