(Rockville) - The Montgomery County Council, as expected, passed the controversial Westbard sector plan today. The only surprise was that the vote was unanimous, with plan critic Councilmember Marc Elrich voting in favor.
Elrich paired his vote with a strong rebuke of the County planning department and Planning Board. He called for the return of citizen advisory panels with some voting power on master plan decisions such as this. His comments echoed community complaints that they were shut out of a process driven by planning officials and councilmembers cozy with developers.
Council President Nancy Floreen noted that the vote was delayed to give the community more time to comment. Yet none of the many comments submitted over the last few weeks were addressed in the plan that was passed this afternoon.
Councilmember Hans Riemer strongly endorsed the plan, taking a bizarre detour into talking about "social justice" and progressive values. What those have to do with private developer profit is unclear. Moreover, a councilmember who supported stripping the public option from the Affordable Care Act, opposes rent stabilization for low income residents in older apartments countywide, votes to demolish that existing housing, presides over a steep increase in the achievement gap since he took office, and whose campaigns are funded by Wall $treet pioneers in outsourcing like Mitt Romney's Bain Capital and Mitch Rales, has some nerve claiming the title of "progressive."
Stay tuned for further Westbard coverage and reaction from the community.
82 comments:
It started out as his first "breaking news" in quite some time, but it didn't take long for him to slip into complete irrelevance:
"a councilmember who supported stripping the public option from the Affordable Care Act"
Really, what does this have to do with Montgomery County? That's national legislation. And remind us of your Republican Party's position on the ACA?
Thank baby Jesus. Now maybe we can all move on with our lives. RIP asphalt lots.
I'm going to celebrate by having a SmashBurger.
Thank you to the MoCo Council! As a local resident, I'm happy to see the County is progressing with the MAJORITY of it's constituents! Thanks Hans, Roger, George, Nancy Etc...
1:09: Sad spam - spend less time spamming and more on the news.
Is Dyer sad that the requirement for MPDUs was increased from 12.5% to 15%?
Is he sad that the final plan includes requirements to naturalize Willetts Branch?
1:07: It has as much to do with Montgomery County as "social justice" has to do with redevelopment of a strip mall.
Riemer claiming to be a progressive saviour had to be fact checked, and I did that quite effectively.
Plenty of breaking news on this site as any reader can tell you.
"Developers ARE people, my friend!" - Montgomery County Council
“I have certainly gotten the message that this vote may cost me politically,” Berliner said Tuesday. “However, part of the reason why people have lost faith in their elected leaders is because they see them constantly trying to see which way the political winds are blowing rather than standing by their convictions. I am going to stand by my conviction that we are doing the right thing by approving this master plan.”
1:19 why didn't you post Elrich's comments?
1:19: Part of the reason we've lost faith is that the votes of the Council line up exactly with their financial contributions from developers.
Always funny how someone will post on another site, with their name, and then post the same thing here and think they're anonymous.
@ 1:21 PM -
Patience, Grasshopper.
“People on the other side shouldn’t oversell doom and gloom and we shouldn’t oversell the brilliance of our plan,” Elrich said. “It is, I believe going to be better than what is there now, certainly for the shopping center.”
It's a shame we don't have legalized betting here, I'd be a millionaire. Why, cuz I told you so. Now all you NIMBY azz Real Turds of MoCo STFU!
Oh darn there goes that "MORIBUND" protest. It may be a loss because of your efforts Dyer.
Police will be patrolling the neighborhood in search of garages with cars idling inside them, tonight.
Watching this battle was almost a good as the White Flint war back in the 70's. Only this one winds up being a quickie.
@ 1:30 PM - Imagine if Dyer had not gotten involved. The NIMBYs might have had much more credibility.
Thanks, Dyer! :)
Hey Dyer- what are you gonna do all day now that Westbard passed? This blog sure is gonna have nothin to bitch about anymore! How does it feel to be a real life LOSER!!!!!!!
WEST WHAT?! WEST BARD!
WEST WHAT?! WEST BARD!
WEST WHAT?! WEST BARD!
I'm going to chalk up the Save Westbard campaign as a failure, I think.
Lol Dyer a REPUBLICAN expects us to evaluate how progressive someone is?! Since your party hates progressives with a passion shouldn't you be praising Riemer if he is indeed a "false progressive?"
Losing is what happens when Dyer supports your cause.
ALL HAIL HANS RIEMER ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US
"1:19: Part of the reason we've lost faith is that the votes of the Council line up exactly with their financial contributions from developers."
Exactly what contributions has Elrich received from developers? Sounds more like he voted on the side of common sense to me. The basis of our nutty conspiracy theory is in tatters.
1:56
Lol!
Hoping for less density in the next one up, Lyttonsville!
"What those have to do with private developer profit is unclear. " Equity One is public you birdbrain
Listening to Berliner speak in his condescending tone toward the people he claims to represent makes me sick. Sounds like Barry! No mention in the meeting of the monumental opposition to this soon to be disaster area everyone will avoid like the Zuka virus. His and Leventhal's hatred for Suburbia and wild dreams of a perfect Urban subsidized society is frightening. Westbard is ruined. Fire them all!
"No mention in the meeting of the monumental opposition to this soon to be disaster area everyone will avoid like the Zuka virus. His and Leventhal's hatred for Suburbia and wild dreams of a perfect Urban subsidized society is frightening. Westbard is ruined. Fire them all!"
LOL. Your crazy NIMBY grandpa, everyone!
Westbard is ruined. I'm climbing to the top of Westwood Towers and I'm not coming down until the vote is reversed. Goodbye all.
Now EYA has a place to park all those MCPS school buses they want to move from Shady Grove!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reimer reading his canned speech was hysterical.
The westbard protesters got the council to cut the plans in half and that is a loss?
riemer started his next campaign today with his sad sack typed speech - that was a loss.
This plan makes sense, but EYA are total douche bags, plus all their projects are the exact same thing recycle time and time again mixed feelings on this one.
This is wonderful news. The next step for fans of community outreach is to make sure that our voices are heard in the selection of retail tenants. I think we can all agree that Thomas Pink, Vineyard Vines, Coffee Bean and Tea leaf and an artisan truffle oil boutique are non-negotiable and must appear at the new Westbard.
Imagine being able to buy "The Green Fairy" instead of lime-flavored malt liquor in Westbard.
Now that all of the developer trolls on this site who work for Chesapeake Public Strategies and Maier and Warner Public Relations can apply for a job at a real land use shop like Saint Consulting.
You already are using the phony names.
That's it I am voting Trump.
"You already are using the phony names."
"Anonymous" is a "phony name"? LOL
Another great case study for the PR firm! They successfully got a neighborhood plan passed over the noisy majority of residents.
They trolled a local news site and made weird, stalkerish comments about the journalist.
A record to be proud of!
@4:06 Sorry Westbard people, but I am afraid you have an unwarranted sense of self importance. People have been posting creepy things about Robert on here for years on articles which have nothing to do about Westbard.
Poppy, good luck to you getting the retailers you want to come and open shop.
The plan was going to pass, this much was clear. But major props to SW who made the council squirm and see this will not be business as usual. While this plan passed, the fallout will be felt for a while yet.
And to all the silly inconsequential rude childish posters who's vocabulary consists of NIMBY and the more NIMBY, well just keep "at it".
:-)
And the silent majority has spoken via their elected officials.
It's really funny how the Westbard NIMBYs imagine that they are the only constituents of all nine Councilmembers.
Thanks for all of the updates, Robert! It's unfortunate that more couldn't be done to adjust the proposed plan.
@4:06 PM: "Journalist"
LOL
I have decidedly mixed views about Councilmember Berliner's role in shaping the Westbard plan.
On the plus size, his compromise is better than what the Planning Department produced and delivers a significant number of affordable units.
On the minus side, the Berliner compromise was crafted to protect the development plans of Equity One and Capital Properties, left most of the River Road corridor in its current decrepit state, and was a slap in the face to Westbard residents concerned about development densities and heights.
I would be far more impressed with Councilmember Berliner's reference to following conscience had his compromise plan aligned less perfectly with the plans of Capital Properties and Equity One.
Councilmember Berliner deserves credit for taking on this complex issue, but his compromise is hardly reminiscent of Profiles in Courage,
Looking forward to the redeveloped shopping center, but not to 75-110 foot tall apartment buildings and 2,000 more cars on the road.
The one good thing about the adoption of this plan is that trolls like you might sink back into the depths.
Not so. Save Westbard has highlighted the need for process changes in making MoCo land use decisions, and woken up many as to the importance of local elections.
The handling of Westbard will alter the composition of the County Council going forward.
Elrich at least had the decency to acknowledge the deficiencies in MoCo's land use process and call for a change. That's better than what we've heard from his colleagues.
Private in the sense of non-governmental.
Riemer is toast.
Exactly, But the community will be better prepared next time. And I suspect that some Council seats will change hands in 2018.
My thanks to Robert Dyer for clear, consistent and detailed coverage on Westbard. Kudos!
I hope the save westbard crew remembers all this in a couple years. Robert has been on your side since the beginning. If you're dead set on punishing the council by not voting for any of the incumbents I certainly hope you'll also turn that anger into voting to elect Robert.
The plan is too dense/high, but that's the fault of MoCo officials, not EYA.
The developers would have made a lower-rise plan work, too,
2,000 MORE CARS!
2,000 MORE CARS!
So a couple thousand votes still doesn't bring Robert close to winning a seat on the council, even if those votes were taken just from the closest candidate versus spread out.
I give Berliner conscience points on affordable housing. On maximizing developers' profits and ignoring the views of most of his constituents, not so much.
I can't wait to start developing Little Flower and Kenwood.
7:19 PM - I agree.
If any of the save westbard folks want to get out before everything goes to heck, I'm in the market for a nice single family home in that area . . . at a considerable discount.
7:44 PM
I don't think any of our homes would suit your sensibilities. What would Leventhal or Reimer think if you didn't live in a mixed use development? You would be shunned at the next meeting.
That's it moving to Delaware.
"ignoring the views of most of his constituents"
Here we go again. Berliner represents one-sixth of Montgomery County, approximately 200,000 residents, in a district stretching from the District line to the Frederick County line.
It's not all about Westbard.
I can actually think of one good reason for voting for Dyer.
His press conferences would be a hoot.
So now that Westbard is behind us, who will Dyer blame as the source of all the trolls? He can't blame Equity One -- their trolls went into retirement today now that Westbard is a go.
"Welcome" "WELCOME"
9:35 obviously everyone here works for the "MoCo Machine" and Hans Riemer. Duh.
"I can't wait to start developing Little Flower and Kenwood."
See thats the one angle of all this that makes me feel sort of bad for the Westbard folks. The council would never dare touch places like Kenwood and Somerset because they are full of people like Poppy's husband. Lobbyists and politicians with power on a national level. It may be nice to fantasize about, but the people in those neighborhoods know they are safe. They wouldn't have to protest, they can just call in their real insider muscle.
People in Westbard aren't poor by any means, but they certainly don't have the sort of connections the real pedigree neighborhoods do. It is funny to talk about the picture from the protests of the kid hanging out of the sunroof of some huge SUV with a 'no to greed' sign, but the harsh reality for the Westbard folks is that SUV of theirs is a Toyota while everyone in the Poppy neighborhood drives by mildly amused in their Range Rovers.
"We're rich but not riche, says Westbard NIMBY.
Hmmm... Robert Dyer has been totally quiet for 15 hours now. I am concerned for his welfare.
4:24 AM
Dyer does have other blogs to manage as well.
3:55 AM - Good point. Those neighborhoods have a lot more political power.
@ 5:47 AM:
"New Signs Posted In Rockville Town Center"
"Rain Garden Relocated In Wheaton"
LOL
You all just exude envy. Sitting at work, posting BS on a blog to kill time while Dyer goes where he wants, writes about what he wants, can hang out where and when he wants.
You may not like the guy, but he is working at keeping our County Council accountable. And whether you felt Westbard was important or not, be3cause of the Westbard issue, the council now knows they have to do better with residents in the future and for that ALL county residents will benefit.
Or, he could have just spent his days, bored at work, & posting BS on someone's blog.
7:01 AM - ridicule is not "envy", you pathetically codependent dunce.
Is 6:17 AM hating on Wheaton?
Hit too close to home 8:24? No need to try and insult me. You would have to matter to me for it to sting. You don't and it doesn't. But your vicious attack belies your words. Quite telling.
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