A circuit court judge on Tuesday granted the farm a stay, halting soccer field development for the time being.
The sight of children running around fields picking vegetables, feeding chickens and painting garden signs -- the scene at Brickyard Road in Potomac just a few days ago -- may be here to stay.
The children are visiting the Brickyard Educational Farm, part of the property currently housing a 30-year-old organic farm in the heart of Potomac. The farm faces eviction by Montgomery County and Montgomery County Public Schools so the carefully tended plots can be developed into MSI soccer fields, but a Circuit Court judge Tuesday nullified a lease agreement between Montgomery County and Montgomery County Public Schools, potentially allowing the educational farm to stay on the land indefinitely. The county and school board are in dispute with citizen groups and residents over use of the land, the legality of the county’s decision to develop the soccer fields and the transparency of its actions. Tuesday’s decision came hours after Gov. Martin O'Malley issued a statement on the controversy in favor of the organic farm.
