On April 6, by a vote of 5-4, the County Council sitting as the District Council permitted the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) to dismiss its application without prejudice. MCA and the Hearing Examiner for the County Council had recommended to the Council that the application be dismissed with prejudice.
The effect of a dismissal with prejudice would have precluded FAES or another owner of the property in question from submitting another application for the zoning requested, RT-8 within 3 years or for any other type of zoning within a period of 18 months. As it now stands, a new application could be submitted at any time by FAES.
MCA has collected funds for legal representation to defend against the previous application. In light of the current situation for possible development of the property, the membership at its May meeting will decide whether to return these funds or retain them for a future fight.
Back in October 2009, the Hearing Examiner held a public hearing on the application submitted by FAES to rezone property it owns bounded by West Cedar Lane, Cypress Avenue, and Acacia Avenue. The Examiner issued his opinion in February and found that the proposed rezoning would not conform to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan, was too dense, and would not be compatible with the rest of the neighborhood.
Montgomery Councilmember Roger Berliner is sponsoring a public forum on Woodmont East II, a proposed mixed-use development on the corner of Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues. The developers will present their revised plans. Members of the public will be invited to ask questions and express their views. The meeting will be held on Tuesday January 8th, 2008 between 7 and 9 PM at the BCC Regional Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane.
Woodmont East is a proposed 539,825 square foot mixed-use development project (hotel, retail, and housing) located at the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, extending to Elm Street. After concerns were expressed by community members, the Montgomery County Planning Board, and Councilmember Berliner, the project developers asked the Planning Board to defer action on the proposal until they had an opportunity to revise the plan. The presentation will reflect the project sponsor’s response to the concerns raised by the community.
MCA has learned that The McLean School, which is currently housed in a closed Montgomery County school in Potomac, has been in negotiations with the American College of Cardiology to purchase the College’s property to use as a high school for 300 students. Under the school’s proposal, the existing building would be retained, but most of the trees on the property would be removed for the construction of soccer fields, and reforestation would be done closer to Old Georgetown Road.
At the present time, no traffic plan exists for the school’s desired use of the property, and the school has not committed to attending the November MCA meeting to present its plans more formally. The ACC still intends to proceed to present its residential development plans to the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission but has not rejected the school’s offer. MCA will discuss both of these proposed uses at the November meeting to see if there is a preference for one over the other.
Yesterday Montgomery County Planning Board failed to approve the preliminary plan for the Woodmont East project. Apparently the developer, JBG Associates, has withdrawn the application for development on this site, at least for the time being.
After a day when both the Washington Post and Bethesda Gazette published articles that featured Councilmember Berliner’s proposal in favor of keeping the green space at Woodmont East, his office released this statement:
Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to preserve open space in the heart of Bethesda. After 3 ½ hours of effective testimony from the community and increasingly skeptical questions from the Board, the developers withdrew the application. As Chairman Hanson was reported to have said, this project needs to be totally reoriented – it should first focus on the public space and then build in a manner that enhances that space. It is my hope that the developers will choose to work with the community in a formal, collaborative process to produce a result that we can all be proud of.
The Washington Post article stated that “angry residents of several Bethesda neighborhoods are mounting a letter-writing campaign” and featured this conceptual drawing that Berliner’s office commissioned to show what the site might look like if green space was preserved.
An ongoing battle has ensued over the little slice of open space at the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues. (You know, where you sat and ate Giffords ice cream after the movie last summer?) The Mongomery County Planning Board has issued a report (PDF) recommending approval of a preliminary development plan for the north side of the intersection, a two and one half acre development that would include retail space, offices, 250 residential units and a 12-story hotel.
The project, officially known as Woodmont East II, has been opposed by a number of Bethesda civic associations and other residents, who have come together under the moniker Take Back Bethesda. A proposal to nominate Woodmont East for the Legacy Open Space program was turned down by the Planning Board, which is meeting November 8th to consider the matter.
Note that Woodmont East II is not the same as the Lot 31 development which is on the south side of the intersection and has already been approved, to break ground in 2008.
Recently, Councilmembers Roger Berliner and Marc Erlich have added their support for a new park at the Woodmont East location. David Lublin, who teaches government at AU, has posted a more in-depth summary and opinion of the issue on his blog Maryland Politics Watch. For more information on how to get involved, see this forwarded email thread on the Maplewood Listserv.
Both the Washington Post and Bethesda Gazette filed reports on the recent Maryland Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) subcabinet meeting in Rockville, which was chaired by Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.
On April 6, by a vote of 5-4, the County Council sitting as the District Council permitted the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) to dismiss its application without prejudice. MCA and the Hearing Examiner for the County Council had recommended to the Council that the application be dismissed with prejudice.
