Who owns Silver Spring?

Public rights collide with private property
in the town center

by Sara Wald

Why can we photograph, skateboard and do as we please in Ellsworth Park but not on Ellsworth Drive?

The question is not a riddle, but an issue that has been hotly debated by residents, government officials and authorities from PFA Silver Spring LLC, the developers and owners of downtown Silver Spring. Yes, that’s right, downtown Silver Spring has an owner and it has recently become common knowledge that the downtown pedestrian-only portion of Ellsworth Drive is not a public street but private property.

Attention to the issue climaxed when Chip Py, a 12-year resident of Silver Spring was stopped by a security guard from taking pictures on Ellsworth Drive on Tuesday June 12th. Py, who describes himself as an urban landscape photographer, was taking pictures of downtown Silver Spring to post in the DC Neighborhoods group of Flickr, a popular photography website. Soon after he started taking pictures, he was approached by a private security guard who told him photography was not permitted in downtown Silver Spring and referred him to the Downtown Silver Spring management office.

Silver Spring's fountain mandala, photographed without controversy
by Voice photographer Julie Wiatt

Py was shocked, “I am on a city street in a public place, taking pictures is a right I have protected by the first amendment.”

However, when Py spoke to Stacy Horan, a marketing official, he learned that Downtown Silver Spring is not a public place, but private property subject to the rules of PFA Silver Spring LLC.

“How could (they) have a policy that limits our individual rights when downtown Silver Spring was built with public money?” asked Py.

An interest in Py’s story came almost immediately, newswires were quick to pick up the scoop, government and council members e-mailed back-and-forth to determine legalities and local Internet blogs buzzed over the issue.

“Photography was just the catalyst, the spark,” said Py. “The issue is that your freedoms, whether it be freedom of speech, freedom of protest, or freedom to rally, they have been taken away from you and given to a public corporation who is limiting what you can do.”

As Py said, photography is just the spark that set off the fire. A list of other activities including campaigning, protesting and skateboarding have been in contention since the area was developed by PFA Silver Spring LLC.
In fact, 22-year-old Silver Spring resident Lisa Jaeggi is surprised that people are just becoming aware of the restrictions on certain activities in Downtown Silver Spring. Two summers ago, Jaeggi was told by a security guard that she could not skateboard on Ellsworth Drive.

“It baffled my mind,” said Jaeggi. “Something seemed shifty.”

After researching the issue, she found that part of Ellsworth Drive is private property while another part is public property. Armed with this knowledge of boundaries, Jaeggi skateboarded only on the public parts of the street.

“I found that security guards didn’t know the rules and would tell me I couldn’t skateboard on the public part of Ellsworth,” said Jaeggi.

To increase public knowledge about the boundaries, Jaeggi organized a demonstration of skateboarders to skate on the public side of Ellsworth and made a video documentary.

“At the time it helped, and we were left alone but I’ve noticed it has slowly gone back and those people have forgotten,” said Jaeggi.

Jaeggi who uses her skateboard as public transportation instead of a car says that she understands why the rules are in place, but is bothered by the inconvenience it causes her.

 “I think the real issue is damaging property, but skateboarding is my daily transportation,” says Jaeggi. “It’s a hassle to have to skate around that portion of Ellsworth Drive, or pick up my board and walk it.”

The issue hit home for councilmember Marc Elrich, who serves on Montgomery County’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee. Last summer, prior to the 2006 elections, Dale Tibbits, one of Elrich’s campaign members was prevented from campaigning in downtown Silver Spring.

“I would never construe management of the use of the space as anything related to a rights issue,” said Elrich.

“Telling me where you can put something and how you can move this tree are completely sensible, but I kind of err on the side that this is the right the photographer has.”

According to I.J. Hudson, an attorney who represents the developer, the part of Ellsworth Drive bounded by Fenton St. and Colesville Rd is privately owned by PFA Silver Spring LLC and should be treated like an indoor mall.

“We believe that that area is controlled by us through the leasing that was done at the time,” said Hudson.

So what exactly is allowed in downtown Silver Spring?

On June 28, PFA Silver Spring LLC issued a statement allowing photography in downtown Silver Spring with the exception of any activity considered harassment by patrons and tenants. Furthermore any activity that would interfere with pedestrian or vehicular movement requires advance management approval.

However, Chip Py and what he calls his rag-tag team who have come together over this issue, believed that PFA Silver Spring LLC didn’t go far enough. Py and his team still believe the question is unanswered of where the public’s civil rights end and the corporation’s privacy rights begin. And where does the company stand on other activities that may infringe upon first-amendment rights such as skateboarding and campaigning?

According to Hudson there are currently no specific written policies on skateboarding and campaigning, but the issues will be met as they come up. However, Hudson does point that there is a sign downtown that says “no skateboarding.”

“We wanted to handle the photography issue as quickly as possible,” said Hudson. “We are open to discussing other issues.”

It is almost certain that the battle won’t stop here, Py and his team as well as others have gained interest and personal stakes in the issue. Py has helped plan a 4th of July march on downtown Silver Spring, to perpetuate the continued attention he thinks is deserved to this topic. 

“They are our streets,” says a message posted on the freeourstreets.com website started by Py and his team. “If we are free then they should be free.”

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