Wayne's family requested that donations in Wayne Goldstein's memory be sent to MPI, P.O. Box 4661, Rockville, MD 20849-4661.

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Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 30, 2009

Wayne Goldstein, 56, a landscape designer and influential Montgomery County community activist focused on historic preservation and land-use concerns during a period of rapid growth and development, died April 27 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville after a heart attack.

Mr. Goldstein, who served as president of historic preservation and civic organizations, collapsed in Rockville on his way to a county hearing about the proposed expansion of Suburban Hospital.

His death brought an outpouring of warm sentiment for the Kensington resident, whose trademark ponytail and affinity for offbeat hats made him stand out in almost any crowd.

County Council President Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville) praised Mr. Goldstein for his tenacity, research abilities and advocacy for historic preservation. He said Mr. Goldstein's death "is a terrible blow to the community."

At his death, Mr. Goldstein was president of Montgomery Preservation. In recent years, he had served as president of the Montgomery County Civic Federation and the Kensington Heights Citizens Association. He was a columnist for the Sentinel weekly newspaper.

Mr. Goldstein played a key role in many community efforts across the county, including the preservation of a Cesar Pelli-designed Comsat office building near Clarksburg.

In 2007, he was credited with helping persuade the developer and County Council members that the Comsat building was among the few architecturally significant structures in Montgomery County. Pelli, a former dean of Yale University's architecture school, designed the North Terminal at Reagan National Airport and Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mr. Goldstein's efforts could be seen as bruising. He was the target of a $2 million defamation lawsuit brought by developer Aris Mardirossian.

Mardirossian's suit was based on a letter Mr. Goldstein wrote to him asking about a rumor that the developer planned to cut trees to create a view of the Potomac River from his property. Mardirossian alleged that the letter was "widely circulated" in the county and harmed his reputation, but Mr. Goldstein's attorney called the suit frivolous. The case was pending at the time of Mr. Goldstein's death.

Wayne Michael Goldstein was born Nov. 8, 1952, in Washington and was raised in Chevy Chase. He was a 1970 graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and a 1975 graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. As a part of his self-designed college curriculum, he studied horticulture and organic gardening.

He owned and operated a landscape design business for much of his career. His community activism budded in the late 1990s when he joined an effort to rid Montgomery County of speed humps.

His most prominent early role was his unsuccessful attempt to stop Montgomery officials from razing the historic Silver Spring Armory to make way for a $321 million "town center" redevelopment project to revive a deteriorating downtown.

The armory was in severe disrepair, and Mr. Goldstein began his testimony before the county Planning Board in an eye-catching way: opening an umbrella and doing his best imitation of Gene Kelly's song-and-dance routine of "Singin' in the Rain."

Most of the armory had been demolished by the time a judge issued an order halting the work. "There's a tremendous amount of principle involved here," Mr. Goldstein told The Washington Post. "We're doing this to say, 'This was an important, historic building and this still is an important site, and we had a right to be heard and not be pushed aside.' "

Mr. Goldstein became immersed in the minutiae of county planning codes.

Amy Presley, a member of the Montgomery County Planning Board who rose to prominence when she and other Clarksburg residents uncovered irregularities in the planning process, said Mr. Goldstein had been one of her early tutors, helping her sort out the often confusing documents on file at the planning agency and describing what builders and developers are required to do.

"I have never met a more tirelessly selfless community advocate than Wayne Goldstein," Presley said. "I knew him as a tenacious and passionate leader, a brilliant and compassionate friend -- my personal primer into the world of preliminary plans, site plans and the mysterious 'Code.' "

Survivors include his mother, Trenice Goldstein of Chevy Chase; and two brothers.

Civic activist dies on way to hearing

Goldstein mourned as ‘pillar' of community
by Janel Davis | Staff Writer

Longtime civic activist Wayne Goldstein died of a heart attack Monday morning in Rockville on the way to testify at a hearing before the county's Board of Appeals, family members said Monday afternoon.

Family members and friends reported that Goldstein, 56, was scheduled to appear for the hearing at 9:30 a.m. but never showed up. A card belonging to his cousin, a dentist in the county, was found in his pocket. A call to Goldstein's cousin set off a round of calls to family members, said Goldstein's mother Terry, who lives in Chevy Chase.

Goldstein was reportedly taken to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville.

"They wouldn't tell me anything over the phone, but once I arrived they did let me see him, and he looked just like he was sleeping," Terry Goldstein said. "I'm devastated. That's my oldest son. It's terrible. It's a shock."

Goldstein was a former president of the county's Civic Federation, a current columnist in The Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper, and a consistent advocate for community issues throughout the county.

On the morning of his death, Goldstein was scheduled to testify about Suburban Hospital's planned expansion.

"If ever you can say someone went out with his boots on, Wayne was doing what he loved right up to the very end," said Drew Powell, former executive director of Neighbors PAC and a fellow civic activist.

Wearing his traditional flat cap and ponytail, Goldstein had become a fixture at County Council and community meetings.

"I knew Wayne as a close friend, a fierce defender of the environment and historic preservation," said Steve Kanstoroom, also a civic activist and past County Council candidate. "He selflessly gave 110 percent to improve the quality of life for county residents, often for people he had never met, never asking anything in return."

Hours after his death, the civic community was lamenting his passing.

"He was a huge figure in the preservation and advocacy realm and there are going to be huge shoes to fill. It's really a sad day for the community," said Eileen Sobeck, vice president of Historic Takoma Inc.

County Executive Isiah Leggett said he was "deeply saddened" by Goldstein's death. "Wayne was an earnest and perceptive watchdog on county government and county politics, but he never let that earnestness get in the way of a delightful sense of humor and love of life," Leggett said. "Wayne could disagree without being disagreeable.

County Council President Philip M. Andrews called Goldstein a "pillar of the civic community."

"It's a terrible loss to his family and to the people of this county. He was a strong advocate for the public interest," Andrews said.

In addition to his civic duties, Goldstein also was well known for his horticultural work. He operated a landscaping business and grew extensive gardens at his home in Kensington.

In 2008, during his time as president of the civic federation, Goldstein received the Star Cup from the organization for outstanding public service. Goldstein had served as an officer in the Kensington Heights Citizens Association. He had participated on planning and public safety committees as a member of the civic federation and had served as the first vice president from 2004 to 2006, then as president from 2006 through 2008.

In addition to working with the federation, Goldstein has served on the Montgomery Preservation Inc., a group that promotes and lobbies for historic preservation.

In addition to his mother, Goldstein is survived by two younger brothers who live in New York and Minnesota.

Visitation is 7-9 p.m. Thursday. The funeral is at 1 p.m. Friday at Danzansky-Goldberg Memorial Chapel, 1170 Rockville Pike in Rockville. Burial will follow at Garden of Remembrance Memorial Park, 14321 Comus Road in Clarksburg.

Staff Writers C. Benjamin Ford, Douglas Tallman, Sean R. Sedam, Jeremy Arias and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.