Lexington board member says harassment prevalent after Chevy Chase clinic vote
One member of the Lexington Board of Adjustment says his vote to approve a mental health clinic in the Chevy Chase neighborhood in an April 13 vote has caused neighborhood residents to harass him at parks, lunches and over the phone.
Ross Boggess, a local developer and podcast host who serves on the Board of Adjustment, told the Herald-Leader his vote in support of Roaring Brook’s inpatient clinic has led to several instances of harassment. He says he has filed a police report on one person who confronted him just hours after the vote.
Boggess was one of four people to vote in favor of a needed permit for the facility, allowing Roaring Brook to move forward with its plans for the Duke Road property. The vote came after contentious debate.
“There was a very vocal, very rambunctious crowd that was in (the meeting), and they carried on that mood outside of the council chambers through the week, both with in-person harassment and online harassment,” he said.
On the night of April 13, just hours after the vote took place, Boggess says he was on a stroll through Woodland Park when a local resident, who had their daughter with them, followed him around the park.
“(The individual) came up and asked if I would explain to his daughter why she has to go to school next to addicts,” Boggess said.
Critics of the facility have repeatedly pointed out the site for the proposed facility is close to Christ the King School, Cassidy Elementary and Morton Middle schools. Christ the King School’s principal showed up to the April 13 meeting to oppose the idea of having Roaring Brook open nearby.
“I’m not worried about all 52 people at this facility,” said Principal Ann Brugeman, referring to the 52-bed inpatient facility. “I’m worried about the one who has a bad day, the one that leaves even though the doors are locked … no one can prove to me that this is not a safety issue for the schools in the area.”
Boggess said he tried to explain his vote to the person in Woodland Park, the role of the Board of Adjustment and how the city would ensure the Roaring Brook facility would remain safe and used as intended.
“He aggressively asked if I was proud of myself,” Boggess said. “And when I asked who he was, he — in a concerningly and threatening tone — said, ‘You’ll find out soon enough.’”
Boggess said he filed a police report over the interaction. It’s unclear if that report has led to any action from the police department.
Chevy Chase residents showed up en masse to the April 13 meeting to share their extreme opposition to the clinic. Some residents fear it will be a substance abuse rehab clinic, which Roaring Brook has repeatedly insisted is not true.
Other residents say even if its sole focus is mental health treatment, it will still pose a risk to the neighborhood’s safety.
The board voted 4-2 to approve the clinic. A chorus of boos and jeers immediately erupted after all votes were cast.
Boggess said the confrontation at Woodland Park was only the beginning of the intimidation he’s received in public.
“Having a confrontational interaction in a park that I walk every day was bizarre, but not concerning,” he said, “until I was having a meeting on Romany Road the following Wednesday, and somebody spit on my shoes while I was waiting on the guest I was having lunch with to show up.”
He said he’s also received several phone calls and hateful voicemails to his work phone over the last week accusing him of not caring about children’s safety.
Some social media posts have accused him of having a conflict of interest in the vote.
Boggess co-hosts the DevelopLex podcast with Weston Lockhart, a real estate advisor at SVG Stone Commercial Real Estate. SVG was the broker who listed the 319 Duke Rd. property for sale, and some social media posts allege he benefited from the Roaring Brook project because of that connection.
Boggess said the podcast does not make a profit and he has no direct affiliation with SVG as a professional.
“It’s interesting that we try to set examples for our kids, and we tell them the dangers of cyber bullying … but this is proving that people are not able to deal with their emotions when things don’t go their way, and they’re having a hard time seeing a bigger picture for the world that they live in,” he said.
Boggess said his vote to support the project came down to Roaring Brook’s proven ability to operate health facilities at other locations, as well as the ability of the building itself to host the clinic.
The building at 319 Duke Road was also built in such a way that there are not many other uses the facility is fit for, he said, which partially explains why several companies have moved in and out of it over the last several years.
The building is also designed with entrances and exits internal to the property rather than facing the street, which he says will greatly mitigate any impact on the neighborhood.
“I don’t think that people will notice a difference” when Roaring Brook’s facility opens, he said.
“The constituents that showed up fear for the worst, and this is one of the cases that the worst-case scenario is very unlikely to happen,” he said.
“Every neighborhood has hurting and healing people in it, and no neighborhood is exempt from being a part of solving those problems.”
