POTOMAC, Md. -
It's a battle that is cultivating a lot of hard feelings in Montgomery County.
Supporters of Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac staged another rally Wednesday to try and keep the county from turning the 20-acre spread into soccer fields. They say more than 50,000 people nationwide have signed online petitions to try and save it.
Nick Maravell, who has leased the county-owned land and run his farm there for 32 years, was at the rally. He is vowing to keep up the fight.
"We have challenged the county at every turn," Maravell says. "There are still some legal issues pending. So in our eyes, this is not resolved."
County Spokesman Patrick Lacefield says it is a done deal, mandated by the Potomac master plan. If the land on Brickyard Road isn't going to have a school on it, Lacefield says it has to be playing fields.
"We're committed to using public land for public purposes," says Lacefield. "We have lined up a private partner and will proceed with turning the land into soccer fields."
Dena Leibman's two daughters have played soccer on Montgomery County fields since kindergarten. She wants the county to keep its hands off Nick's farm land.
"I don't get it. Why scrape up that rich, organic soil that's taken years to cultivate and get to this point?" Leibman says. "Fix the fields we have."
Maravell and his supporters, and even some neighbors who live near the farmland with traffic and other concerns, say they feel the county is just trying to pull a fast one.
To date, there has never been a public forum or town hall meeting to get community input into the plan for the property, Maravell says.
The issue may ultimately end up in court.
Lacefield says the county wants to break ground on the new soccer fields sometime next year.
