Last week, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board voted unanimously to sell the grassy area beside the Takoma Metro station to Arlington-based Eakin/Youngentob Associates. The local developer plans to build 90 town houses plus parking on the site, which residents consider valuable green space (“Phantoms of the Park,” 4/21). Initially slated for 106 units, the project was reduced in scope to 90, in part to assuage neighbors’ concerns. The plan now heads to the D.C. Planning Commission for approval, with one possible detour: Takoma resident Francis Phipps, who was unswayed by the reduction, suggests that she and fellow neighbors plan on taking Metro to court to preserve the community land. “Let’s just say we are looking at a variety of options, including a lawsuit,” says Phipps. Metro officials say they’ve done their best to address community concerns. “I don’t know that there’s much more that we could have done,” says Metro spokesperson Ray Feldmann. —Holly Bailey

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