There is a proposal to change the zoning of the Surrey School to be commercial to transform it in to a hotel, while the neighborhood prefers the building remain a school, a hotel is a better alternative than some options, the problem lays with the proposed parking design. 

The proposed design turns the building which has been accessed via Virginia Avenue since 1908, to also be accessed via Summit Avenue SEVERELY IMPACTING our neighborhood. The design also does not allow the parking in the rear of the building to be accessed from the parking in the front of the building meaning in the event one lot is full, vehicles must travel on OUR neighborhood streets to check the other lot. Streets in which our kids play on. 

This parking design changes the entire neighborhood to be mixed use, as where leaving the parking only accessed through Virginia has very little impact to our neighborhood. There are already commercial businesses on Virginia Avenue and it is set up for commercial businesses with hardly any houses being directly accessed off of this stretch Virginia. 

While 25 rooms do not seem like it will be a lot of traffic, the building also will have a 200 person capacity restaurant and host events severely increasing traffic on on not only Summit Ave, but Reynolds and Dunn Irving.  

The design and zoning change is trying to be snuck in without a voice from the neighborhood. There was no mailing, a wet folded over sign you can’t read, and no contact to the neighborhood group.

The neighborhood has been working as a group to reduce and slow traffic down on Summit Ave for over 12 years. While the designers claim to bring “dc flavor” to Hagerstown, Hagerstown is not DC and the design must not be at the cost of a historic neighborhood.