Hundreds of angry Montgomery County residents are banding together to fight plans for a new French International School, contending that the Potomac campus would disrupt their community and cause endless traffic snarls.
The educational facility would span 25 acres along River Road and provide classes for 1,200 elementary, junior and high school students. In all, five buildings would be constructed, including an administration office, dining hall and gymnasium, as well as an outdoor soccer field and running track.
Before construction could begin, the school needs a special exception from the county's zoning laws that would allow it to be built on land now designated for residential use.
But with public hearings on the issue set for next month, the battle lines are being drawn in what promises to be a costly, heated and protracted fight.
"This is a quiet, residential area. It's not the place for an operation that's going to bring people, activity, lights and noise seven days a week," said Peggy Lawson, a member of the River Road Coalition, created last year to wage a formal protest against the school.
The group claims that the presence of what it terms an enormous, cluttered and overpopulated educational campus is out of character with the neighborhood and will greatly disrupt the community.
To make their case, the residents have hired a lawyer, a transportation specialist, an environmentalist and a land planner.
They have videotaped area traffic to make projections of potential congestion. They have canvassed neighborhoods to build their ranks. They have circulated petitions in supermarkets, and they now claim more than 1,200 supporters.
Their research shows that granting a zoning exception to a facility with the population density of the school would be similar to allowing 500 houses to be built on a plot of land zoned for a maximum of 11 houses.
Area commuters also could expect long delays in traffic during morning rush hour, the group said, because vehicles entering the school grounds would be required to make a left-hand turn through inbound River Road traffic.
"The traffic out here is already horrendous," said Stanley Karnow, who lives a couple of hundred yards from the site where the school is planned. "If the French School comes in, it's going to affect commuters not just around here, but in Upper Montgomery County too."
Officials representing the school insist that projections of their facility's effect on the area are greatly exaggerated. They agreed that traffic will increase, but not nearly to the extent that the coalition claims.
Drawing from their own transportation studies, French School officials estimate that about 70 percent of the students will arrive by bus and that the existing roads have the capacity to handle any additional traffic. Campus laws also dictate that just 20 students be allowed to drive themselves to school, according to Harry Lerch, a Bethesda attorney hired to represent the school.
To appease community residents, the school has agreed to park its buses on property miles away from the school grounds, and it has paid particular attention to landscaping, architecture and environmental concerns so that its facility blends in well with the surrounding area, Lerch said.
"The school has gone out of its way to address every concern these residents have raised," Lerch said. "They're trying awfully hard to be a good neighbor."
The dispute began a year ago when the private foundation that owns the school, Lycee Rochambeau Washington, purchased the land on River Road. In Potomac, the foundation saw a chance to consolidate two crowded facilities: an elementary school in Chevy Chase, and an upper school in Bethesda.
Before the land was purchased, the foundation consulted environmental engineers, transportation specialists and others to ensure that its plans would meet the county's laws and regulations, Lerch said.
But if school officials were expecting a warm reception, they underestimated Potomac's capacity for community activism. And as the two sides exchange volleys of charges, the dispute on occasion has escalated into an ugly brawl.
The community's opposition has been interpreted by some to be a thinly veiled attempt to keep foreigners out of Potomac, since many of the school's students are from France, Belgium and French-speaking African countries. Bold red signs that read "Stop the French School" have been plastered throughout the area, to be torn down almost as quickly as they've appeared. Both sides regularly question the other's information, and integrity.
"One thing I don't like is the anti-foreign climate that's developed," Karnow said. "It's unfortunate that it's come to that."
Ultimately, it will be up to Montgomery County officials to decide the victor. Officials with the Park and Planning Commission are preparing their own report on whether a zoning exception should be made, taking into account issues such as transportation, site design, historic preservation and the environment.
The county's planning board will then use this information to make a recommendation to the county's Board of Appeals, which has the final word on zoning matters.
Residents also will have an opportunity to voice their concerns in a series of hearings to be scheduled for November and December.
