By Dawn Budd
The West College Park Citizens Association (WCPCA) includes residents of College Park Woods, Crystal Spring and Acredale. These neighborhoods are unique, in that each one has only one point of access from Metzerott Road, near the University of Maryland.
The association was incorporated on Nov.12, 1987 – Happy 33rd Anniversary! Suchitra Balachandran is WCPCA president. “We need to organize and find other people to take it over, but the community is changing with more rental homes, and we have not found interested volunteers to run it, “ Suchitra said. She had agreed to lead the association in 2005, when it was “in a state of hiatus, and we needed to rev it up to oppose the University of Maryland Connector Road that would have linked the campus to I-495.” Most recently, the WCPCA took the lead in opposing an attempt to restructure and develop the golf course at the University of Maryland.
The opinions and recommendations of citizens associations are valued by the city council. As Councilmember Maria Mackie (District 3) said, “… [the council] worked with the WCPCA on our design for the meeting space at the former Swim Club. I would love to work with the WCPCA more, and I am very open to hearing from them and working with them.”
Membership is open to all residents of the West College Park area who are at least 18 years old. Dues are $10 per year. WCPCA is not currently meeting on a regular schedule but does reach out to the neighborhoods when issues arise.
