Planning Board trying to dissuade attorney general investigation

The chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board is urging the attorney general not to investigate wrongdoing in Park and Planning — including accusations of an unlicensed engineer signed off on major projects — because he says his department has concluded there are no problems.

The investigation Royce Hanson is citing, though, was done internally, which has a number of citizens and lawmakers doubting its veracity.

Del. Herman Taylor and Montgomery County Council Member Marc Elrich sent a letter earlier this month to Attorney General Doug Gansler asking him to step in because they said Park and Planning officials were not aggressive enough in their inquiries into several resident issues — from whether illegal clearing was glossed over to whether Lee Sutherland has practiced as an engineer without a professional license.

The accusations chiefly relate to Ashton resident Steve Kanstoroom, who told officials that land-cleaning near his property violated the Forest Conservation Law.

The subsequent May 30 letter Hanson sent to Gansler states that “the complaints alleged ... were thoroughly investigated by staff.”

“We believe these cases are closed as they have been thoroughly examined,” Hanson’s letter states. “... after repeated reviews, we believe the decisions were appropriate and transparent.”

His letter also makes mention of an August internal investigation by Park and Planning that partially looked into the unlicensed engineer, Sutherland.

That investigation painted doubts about some inconsistencies in the permitting process, but overall was not highly critical.

The auditors, however, said they confirmed allegations that Sutherland had forged documents with signatures of engineers who are licensed.

“It appears evident that the signature of the professional engineer was, in fact, cut and pasted on certain documents,” the investigation summary states.

Such an astounding finding is precisely why community activists Harriet Kuhn and Sue Ghosh-Stricklett say the attorney general does need to become involved.

“I really believe that if they have nothing to hide they would welcome an external investigation by either the Montgomery County Inspector General or the AG,” Kuhn said.

Calls to Gansler’s office about whether the attorney general will investigate were unreturned Monday.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com