Court Rules Land Where Moses Cemetery Stood Can Be Sold

Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition announced it intends to appeal Wednesday’s state appellate court decision that the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC) can sell the land that once was home to a cemetery.

The court held that the law “does not compel HOC to seek court approval for the sale. If HOC can find a potential buyer that is willing to take the property subject to the rights of the holders of the burial lots, HOC can sell the property without court approval.”

The 66-page opinion concerning Moses Cemetery stated, “This is a dry and emotional case about a dry and technical statute.”

Members of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition blasted the court ruling, saying in a news release that it meant “that Black ancestors and Black families have no rights that developers are bound to respect. The Court issued a decision that will allow developers to exploit Black cemeteries without consequences.”

The court’s action, according to coalition members, is “appalling, shameful.”

“The Court ruling signals to developers that it is open season on Black cemeteries and Black land. That Black lives have no intrinsic value whether alive or dead. This ruling is also intended to send a message to Black people of their sub-human status in this society. It shows no sensitivity to or understanding of the nature of African-American burial grounds. It treats the rights of the owner of a parking lot that was built over hundreds of African-American graves as superior to the dignity of the people interred in the burial ground,” the coalition members wrote in a news release.

The coalition’s attorney, Steve Lieberman of Rothwell Figg, called the ruling “shocking, and plainly incorrect.” He further noted in a statement that the “Court twisted entirely out of shape and thereby elevated the rights of property owners over the sanctity of the hundreds of human beings buried beneath the HOC parking lot.”

Lieberman also wrote, “If this ruling is permitted to stand, it is open season on traditional African American burial grounds in Maryland.”

Since the late 1960s, the burial ground in Bethesda has been paved over and used as a parking lot for Westwood Tower on Westbard Avenue. In 2018, HOC acquired the 212-unit apartment building.

HOC wanted to sell the complex, but a 2021 court ruling by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily halted the sale to Charger Ventures LLC for $51 million.