Between 60 and 70 protesters gathered July 4 on Ellsworth Drive to argue for the right to take photographs, assemble, petition and distribute literature, which they say a developer has denied to them on that stretch of road.
The Peterson Cos., which leases Ellsworth Drive and its surrounding development from the county, recently relaxed its photography policy on the site following complaints from local photographers that they were not allowed to take pictures. But some residents say their other civil rights, like petitioning and organizing, are still being compromised.
The issue was raised when a security guard stopped Silver Spring amateur photographer Chip Py a few weeks ago and told him he could not take photographs on the property. Py, who said he had been taking general photos of the area because it was a nice day, argued the street should be treated like public property since about $450 million of public money has been invested into the redeveloped downtown along Ellsworth Drive.
The Peterson Cos. relaxed its policy last week. Now, photography and videography are permitted as long as patrons are not photographed or filmed over their objection. The company reserves the right to modify the policy.
But some residents say because of the amount of public money invested in that development, the space should be treated as public. On July 4, protesters carried signs saying ‘‘Public Money, Public Space” and wrote things like, ‘‘I’ll lease it for $2” in chalk on Ellsworth Drive. The Peterson Cos. leases the property from the county for $1.
Technically, protesting is not allowed on Ellsworth Drive, said I.J. Hudson, communications director for Bethesda law firm Garson Claxton, which represents the Peterson Cos. But because the protest occurred on the Fourth of July, he said, ‘‘We’ll cut them some slack.”
‘‘The sign behind me says, ‘Road closed,’” event organizer Wayan Vota told the crowd before the protest began, standing on a wooden box with ‘‘soap” written on it, a bullhorn held before his mouth. ‘‘We can think of it as saying, ‘Rights closed.’”
Vota founded freeourstreets.org, a coalition of residents who joined together following the initial debate about rights on Ellsworth Drive. That group believes the road should be treated as public.
Public money was spent on the development, Py said, and he believes all civil liberties should be allowed on the site, including the rights to organize and distribute literature.
The message protesters were sending was important, said Mike Mage, co-chairman of the Montgomery County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who attended the protest.
‘‘I think it’s important because the public⁄private partnership is becoming more common and bigger across the country,” Mage said. Eventually, he said, there won’t be public space left and it will be important to address what public⁄private space really means.
‘‘I think they’re making a good point,” he said of the protesters.
Ellsworth Drive, located in the middle of the development, is leased to the developer but maintained as a public access road, said Gary Stith, director of the Silver Spring Regional Center, at Monday night’s Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board meeting. The Peterson Cos. maintain that road — not the county — but the public can still use it to access the shops on either side. The partnership needed to be in place to make the project function, he said.
The issue has raised the question of what defines public access, said Eric Hensal, a Silver Spring resident and advisory board member. Currently, it seems like Peterson can have people on the site but keep out what it does not want to see, Hensal said.
But then there is the issue of maintaining tenants’ success, said Deborah Linn, a Silver Spring resident and advisory board member. Leafleting and organizing can be disruptive to shoppers, particularly when it is occurring in front of stores, she said. However, she said, the street as public space could be used as a good compromise and a legitimate place for the community to exercise its rights.
Hensal said he understands store tenants also have rights — they don’t want their customers to be hassled or for groups to block access to their stores — but the community does, too, and should have a spot to express itself.
‘‘Give me a white line. Give me clarity, then we can abide,” he said.
Peterson has been charged by the county with managing the site to the best of its ability, Hudson said. That means determining what actions should and should not be allowed on the property. And, he added, people doing things unobtrusively are less an issue than people who are impeding shoppers and diners. Someone stopping people in the middle of the sidewalk with literature is more of an issue than someone who pulls a willing patron aside, out of the way of foot traffic, to distribute information, for instance.
If people feel there is an issue that needs to be dealt with, they should come and discuss it with Peterson management, Hudson said. Like the photography policy, something likely could be worked out, he said.
‘‘We’d like to listen to people and to respond,” he said. ‘‘The photographers asked for something and we essentially gave it to them.”
