Known for its natural beauty and hiking trails, Sugarloaf Mountain typically draws many visitors this time of year who flock to the 3,400-acre Maryland property as temperatures cool. But there has been no access to the mountain since late August, after the private nonprofit corporation that owns and maintains the park abruptly closed it following a reported burglary attempt at a mansion on the property.
The closure has intensified a debate over the future of Sugarloaf Mountain, with a petition in support of preserving public access garnering more than 3,000 signatures. Stronghold, the nonprofit owner of the property, posted a notice of the closure at the top of the Sugarloaf Mountain website, but many visitors are still not aware of it.
“It was a mess at the base of the mountain on Saturday,” said Jeff Lund, sales director of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard. “Hundreds of hikers still showed up, struggling to park their cars.” Stronghold began aggressively towing these cars, only making things worse, Lund continued. A month after the summer burglary attempt, Stronghold has provided few details about the reasons for the closure of the property or its expected duration.
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Days after the burglary attempt, John Webster, president of the Stronghold board of trustees, told the Frederick News-Post that he was unsure when the property would reopen, saying he was waiting for additional security equipment to be delivered in the mail, the newspaper reported. A flier posted at the property said Stronghold is “focused on providing for and reassessing the security needs” of the property. Webster did not respond to voice mails or text messages from The Washington Post.
The status of Sugarloaf Mountain as private land for public use reflects the wishes of its original owner, Gordon Strong, a wealthy patent attorney who died in 1954. His will created Stronghold, the private organization, to ensure the natural beauty would be “available to all,” according to its website. The property, which is located north of the District, receives about 250,000 visitors each year, according to the website.
Todd Wivell, a spokesman for the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed Sunday that it responded to a report last month of an attempted burglary at Strong Mansion on the property. He said officers collected blood from the scene near a broken window and believe “the person who attempted the break-in hurt their arm so bad that they fled.”
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Wivell said the investigation into the incident is ongoing. The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office did not advise Stronghold to close Sugarloaf, he added. “We know people are concerned with why Sugarloaf closed,” he said. “We have nothing to do with that.”
‘A shot across the bow’
Some local conservationists view the decision to close public access in the context of the debate over zoning restrictions. Stronghold has opposed development restrictions in the area, suggesting it might close the park to public access if the local government moves forward. (The Frederick County Planning Commission is expected to submit a plan soon, setting the stage for a vote by the local council.)
The closure of the property feels to some like a power play, said Steven Findlay, a local conservationist who has followed the debate over zoning restrictions. People speculate that the closure is “a shot across the bow” to county officials, signaling that Stronghold can “close this mountain anytime we want,” said Findlay, president of Sugarloaf Citizens Association, a nonprofit group based in Dickerson, a town at the base of the mountain.
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In October, the Fredrick County Council rejected a compromise that would have taken the Sugarloaf property out of a larger overlay zoning district restricting the use of the land. The council sent the issue back to the planning commission, effectively restarting the discussions on protective zoning. Findlay said that as the issue moves its way toward another vote, “it is a very convenient and opportune moment” for Stronghold to send a message: “We can close this, and what are you going to do about it?”
Steve McKay, a member of the council, said he expects it will have a new zoning plan to consider within a month or two. He said he takes Stronghold officials at their word that the closure of Sugarloaf is related to the burglary attempt. “They had an incident which caused them to rethink some of their procedures,” he said. “I don’t think it goes any further than that. I certainly don’t think it is some game pointed toward Frederick County.”
Caroline Taylor, executive director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, which advocates for protecting rural and open spaces, said she texted Webster on Saturday, saying it would be a “beautiful day” for “a stroll on the mountain.” In his reply, which Taylor posted on the Facebook page of her group, Webster suggested that people who had parked on the property in defiance of the closure signs had been towed. “Closed means closed,” he wrote.
Fewer customers in area
This is not the first time Stronghold has closed the mountain. Those times, though, Stronghold cited tree removals or cleanups, said Lund, the vineyard director. Other times, “it would be because there would be too many people up there.”
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Scores of hikers have lamented to Lund that the latest closure of Sugarloaf is a “serious overreaction,” Lund said. All this leaves some nearby businesses with fewer customers. “We get a lot of first-time visitors from the hikers up there,” he said. “We certainly feel like” the closure has “negatively affected us.”
If Stronghold, “the entity responsible for managing Sugarloaf Mountain’s operations, will not change their practices and reopen this beloved landmark for public access, the state of Maryland and/or Frederick County should consider options to convert the property to a state or county park,” Lund wrote in a letter to the Frederick County Council on Monday. “Everyone in the community would be grateful.”
Victoria Jones, a hiker from Chevy Chase, organized the petition in support of public access. In an interview with the Frederick News-Post earlier this month, she said she “wanted to collect a record of how many people stand for Sugarloaf” because it seems like “every year it is threatened to be taken away or closed down or put up for grabs, and I want that to ultimately stop,” she told the newspaper. “My goal is for it to remain open in perpetuity” because “it is a very special place to me and thousands of other people.”
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