Writing on behalf of Donohoe, VP Jad Donohoe notes that the plans are not definitive on the exact setback for The Claiborne on Auburn. Were the building not to have the 35.5' distance from the center of Auburn Avenue as the Gallery was required to provide by the Board, Donohoe writes, the block will look poorly planned and The Claiborne will obstruct views of the retail at the Gallery.
Second, Donohoe advises the commissioners to require undergrounding of utilities and Bethesda Streetscape sidewalk standards around the block from Norfolk Avenue to the point where Donohoe provided such at their Gallery site on Del Ray Avenue. "Failure to complete a whole city block adjacent to Woodmont Triangle’s 'Main Street' [Norfolk Avenue] would be a missed opportunity," Donohoe writes. Currently, planning staff are only asking developer Novo to complete the streetscape on Norfolk up to where it meets Del Ray, not all the way down to the Gallery.
There is also concern for the noise impact from rooftop mechanical systems at The Claiborne on residents in the Gallery, as the new building is proposed to be set back only 15' from the Gallery. Donohoe says noise shielding of those systems with wells, solid walls and a trellis could help solve the problem.
Finally, Donohoe recommends The Claiborne's garage entry next to the Gallery's ground-level retail have more-attractive translucent panels instead of blank steel, and that the garage door and loading dock keep their doors lowered except when vehicles are entering or exiting from them. He points out that this will give pedestrians more time to react to vehicles using these entries.
Planning staff is recommending approval of the sketch plan, with conditions. They write that the concerns Donohoe raised will be addressed at the Site Plan stage of the project.
44 comments:
This article omits several key facts that would be useful for readers - e.g., that this is the Steamers site, and the name of the developer.
Why no mention of recent activity at Community? Have they not promised you free food and drink?
Yes, including that info would get my interns and freelancers up to speed on what's going on in Bethesda.
Is Dyer's shill claiming that the only people who read Dyer's blog, are the staff of Bethesda Magazine?
8:38 AM You clearly don't get out much around Bethesda if you think no one reads this site.
It will flood the schools with condo riff-raff and fill the roads with more cars. It will create too urban of a landscape. Just say no!
"You clearly don't get out much", says the anonymous weirdo who spends his days and nights stalking anyone who says anything even the slightest thing critical of his hero Robert Dyer.
10:37am Lemme fix that for you:
Copy & paste that comment and insert Hands Reamer instead of Robert Dyer.
10:37AM Here's something funny in that hmmm way. My wife thought I'd made the comment @ 8:40. Wasn't me. Hello to my fellow Dyer fan @8:40.
@8:10 AM
Umm...what?
11:07 please pick up some milk on the way home.
If the staff of Bethesda Magazine is all "interns and freelancers", what does that make Dyer, with his free Blogspot blog updated all by his little self from his beanbag chair in rent-free Mom's basement?
Successful.
2:16pm you forgot to include "self published" or "self proclaimed".
You seriously sound like a broken record, for several years now.
Shouldn't you be picking up the councilman's dry cleaning?
"You seriously sound like a broken record"
Followed by...
"Shouldn't you be picking up the councilman's dry cleaning?"
LOL, what a Birdbrain. He only made it to 11 minutes that time.
7:12: You lie. The exact street address and name of the developer are in the article. Good God.
"Self-proclaimed recording artist."
Ooops! Dyer absent-mindedly signed in @ 3:35 pm.
Dyer @ 3:33 pm - The developer's name appears nowhere in the article. And few readers would know instantly that "4820 Auburn Avenue" is the Steamers site, since most think of that place as fronting Norfolk Avenue.
4:47: Third paragraph, last sentence. Perhaps reading before trolling would help.
Wow, Dyer sure did a good job of burying the name of the developer of the Claiborne. It almost seems like he wants readers to think that Donohoe is the developer.
Trump 2016!
Term limits 2016! MoCo could care less about Trump/Clinton,county residents want Leventhal banned from his seat.
If County residents want Leventhal "banned from his seat", then how come they keep re-electing him?
Keep Leventhal from his seat. Enough deadwood.
Ban him, term limit the guy.
"MoCo could care less about Trump/Clinton"
It's hard to take you seriously if you're going to write howlers like that one.
8:53: Maybe because only 14% of voters voted in 2014? Of that ridiculously small sample of the population, you have a core group of diehard Democrats who vote D no matter what. And you have a second group of low-information voters. Finally, you have the voters from the cemetery precincts. That combination gets you councilmembers like George Leventhal. That's why term limits are needed to break the MoCo cartel's grip on power.
7:26: You did a good job of making yourself sound like a complete moron. Apparently, you are the only person who would find it sensible for a development firm to write a letter complaining about itself to planners.
View of retail at the Gallery??? Yeah, everyone wants to get a good look at the 10th convenience store in Woodmont Triangle.
That sounds kinda pushy of Donohoe. If they wanted to control the building on the site, they should have bought the land themselves. Doesn't this seem the same as Clark and their attempt to control a building plan?
@8:25am Anon. Hmm, Donohoe wants their neighbor to provide the same sidewalk width that they had to? Sounds fair. So, no, not like Clark.
@Robert Dyer. They had a second rendering that looks pretty good. Maybe show it?
Robert Dyer said...
8:53: Maybe because only 14% of voters voted in 2014?
38.92% of eligible voters participated in the 2014 election. Not 14%.
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Elections/Resources/Files/htm/2014/generalelection/results/electionresults.htm
Most jurisdictions across the country have far worse turnout in their local elections:
http://theatln.tc/2ekAVOA
6:38: Not true. I believe the combined turnout in the 2014 primary was 17%. Pathetic. No wonder we have such incompetent leadership. #MoCoTermLimits #ThrowTheBumsOut
And the Republican Primary for the at-large seats was uncontested. Meaning that Dyer showed up, and magically got "nominated".
@6:38 -- Still not 14% as claimed. Still, 68% of the Democrats who voted in the 2014 Primary chose Leventhal. Your argument that a larger Democratic turnout for the Primary would have led to a loss for him is an incredible claim; quite simply, it is nonsense.
8:47: He could have been stopped in the primary with larger turnout; he could have been stopped in the general with high Republican and independent turnout. Part of their game is to so demoralize enough voters into believing their votes don't count, that they stay home. Then that little group can go out an reelect Leventhal and his MoCo cartel cronies again and again.
@ 8:47 AM - 6:38 AM here. To clarify, previous comment was not in support of Dyer's nonsense. But rather to shoe that Montgomery County's voter participation in local, off-year elections is much higher than the national average.
8:58: To the MoCo cartel, facts are nonsense. 17% turnout in a primary election is good? Come on. Even you don't believe that.
Dyer, what is your source for "17%", and what is the typical turnout nationwide?
9:05: Montgomery County Board of Elections official results. Typical turnout nationwide is higher than 17%, I can say with some confidence.
Not sure what "typical turnout" you are referring to. Typically, voter participation in years with a Presidential election are two and a half times larger than mid-term primaries.
National voter participation for the 2014 Primary election was 14.5%.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/03/08/so-far-turnout-in-this-years-primaries-rivals-2008-record/
Imagine how much worse Dyer's defeat would have been, had the turnout been higher.
12:41PM - There you go again --dreaming about Dyer. You little fanboy !!
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