Falkland Chase

While other apartment complexes are adding space for community gardens, the JBG Companies is killing the two-year old garden on the north side of Falkland Chase by denying residents access to water. The residents had purchased a hose to run to the garden from an outside faucet because the garden is not near any apartment entrances or other ready water sources. JBG confiscated the hose, prohibiting residents from watering the garden.

If making dog parks and gardens unusable is part of a strategy to drive current tenants away (along with the black mold, rats, predatory towing, etc.), it's working. Wouldn't it be easier for JBG to get variances for their new high rises if Falkland Chase were condemned and abandoned?

Dozens of residents at Falkland Chase used to get together on weekends for cookouts, crabfests, and potlucks.



They would gather at the far end of a parking lot, next to the train tracks, talking, laughing, and playing music with their neighbors. When they were done, they would pack up, throw away all their trash, (recycle the rest:) and go home.



Sometimes these parties had a holiday-theme (like the annual Halloween dog costume brunch). Sometimes these parties were Happy Hours to celebrate weddings or graduations. Sometimes these parties were memorials for a beloved dog. Regardless, every time someone new joined in, they remarked on what a warm, welcoming, and inclusive group of neighbors lived at Falkland Chase.



And then one person complained. (Apparently, in between the CSX, MARC, and Metro trains going by 20 feet away, the music was too loud.)



The JBG Companies had any number of choices for handling the complaint. For example:

...JBG could have told the residents about the complaint and asked them to stop playing music or asked them to hold their gatherings earlier in the day. The residents would have done so happily.

...JBG could have looked at the north side and realized that ONE picnic table and ONE grill was not enough for 180 apartments and so it was understandable that residents had set up their own picnic areas. If there were adequate common areas for the number of people, the residents would have used those areas instead of grilling in a parking lot.

...JBG could have recognized the value in neighbors gathering for cookouts, crabfests, and potlucks and worked WITH the residents to foster that wonderful sense of community. In turn, the residents would have helped JBG leverage the value of community in making Falkland Chase a better place to live.



This is what JBG chose to do:

…Destroy the north dog park by confiscating the water hose, dog wading pool, and seating that residents had donated. By rendering the dog park unusable, JBG calculated that dog owners would no longer want to attend the neighborhood parties that were held next to the dog park, and this would cut down on attendance.

…Post lots of signs with rules forbidding residents to use the outdoor spaces at Falkland Chase.



Our choices define who we are. This is who JBG is.

JBG Companies just stripped the dog park of everything that made it usable -- water hose, dog wading pool, chairs. Seriously? The chairs? These are NOT nice people.

With nearly 200 dogs, Falkland Chase Apartments is one of the largest dog communities in Montgomery County. Dog owners pay a pet deposit plus a minimum of $300 per dog in pet fees each year.



On June 25, The JBG Companies confiscated the hose that residents had purchased and used for years to provide drinking water for dogs in the north side dog park. JBG also confiscated the "kiddie pool" that residents had purchased to keep their dogs from overheating since the park has no shade.



JBG said that confiscating these items would "return the dog park to function as it is intended."



Charles F. Doran said, "Folk will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog."