RESIDENTS STILL NOT ON BOARD AT WESTBARD SECTOR PLAN SCOPE-OF-WORK MEETING

Rain didn't stop a flood of Bethesda residents from turning out at the Montgomery County Planning Department's Plan Westbard Scope-of-Work preview last night at Walt Whitman High School. After a brief assessment of where the 1982 Westbard Sector Plan succeeded and failed, Project Manager John Marcolin outlined what the broad goals of the new plan might be. It would be designed within the context of the Westbard area as a smaller-scale, low-density area; preserve light industrial uses that serve the residential neighborhoods around it; "embrace the community's character;" and create new public gathering spaces while improving stormwater management. The Scope-of-Work report will be presented to the Montgomery County Planning Board on October 30.

Residents were more concerned about the elephant in the room. Namely, developer Equity One, which is planning to redevelop the properties it controls within the so-called Westwood Complex - Manor Care Springhouse at Westwood nursing home, two Citgos, Bowlmor Lanes, Westwood Tower apartments, the Westwood Shopping Center, and the Westwood Center II. And Equity One was literally in the room, as were partners EYA and their development attorney.

While planners said they know nothing of Equity One/EYA's specific plans, other than having a grocery store at the Westwood Shopping Center, speaker after speaker insisted residents are being denied information by the developers about their designs for their Westbard properties.

"The developer doesn't have any vision? You're kidding me!" said Charles Kauffman, a nearby resident and member of the Montgomery County Commission on Aging. One Kenwood resident argued, "something is being hidden from us here."

Paul Mortenson, a senior urban designer with the county, laid out an event-packed week of November 10, in which planners will hold walking tours and meet with residents, business owners, government agencies, and landowners (developers). All of those meetings will be open to the public, Marcolin assured attendees. One businessperson from the Westwood Shopping Center expressed doubt that her primary concerns would be addressed, if the conversation only centered on designs for redevelopment like loading dock configurations. Many current tenants there are uncertain if rising rents and redevelopment will allow them to stay through the upheaval.

Planners would also spring into action on designing some sketch plans that very week, for presentation to the Planning Board. Resident Phyllis Edelman questioned the intense schedule and short timeframe of the process Mortenson outlined. "It's almost unfair to our community to expect us to come out every night of the week," she said. Marcolin said residents would only need to come out once or twice to be heard that week.

Schools remain the third rail for any future Westbard growth. Marcolin promised that planners would "ensure school capacity meets current and future demands." That's a hard sell when MCPS has been so off-base on projections of student population in recent years. Sumner resident Sally McCarthy, speaking on behalf of parents at already-overcrowded Wood Acres elementary, noted that out of 500 school families, only 2 parents were present in the room last night. Planners should recognize the challenge for young parents to attend evening meetings, she said. Marcolin said more morning sessions could be added to accommodate those residents.

What I found concerning, was the insistence that the intense dialogue of the Charrette week in November would bring about "consensus." But how? There is a development partnership that clearly wants high-density multifamily housing. And there are residents and parents of children in overcrowded schools who clearly don't buy into that concept. We saw recently in areas like Chevy Chase Lake that it was the residents who were absolutely steamrolled in the process, much as the Westbard area was during the Betco property decision disaster several years ago. Do you provide a plan so appealing that parents give the green light to losing their school's music room, and replacing it with a cart? Or does the plan just drop the hammer on the residents, as in Chevy Chase Lake? Or can Equity One come up with a proposal that preserves the character and popular businesses of the area, provides needed new restaurants and some additional retail and office space, and protects the Little Falls Stream watershed - while at a density that doesn't impact schools and roads? Only time will tell.