Westbard Self Storage development could add to Willett Branch parkland in Bethesda (Photos)

View from River Road
and Capital Crescent Trail

The developer of a new self-storage facility behind the McDonald's on River Road plans to dedicate the remaining portion of the property to the planned Willett Branch stream greenway park, according to representatives at a meeting last night at Westland Middle School in Bethesda. While the Westbard Self Storage building's footprint will extend out into the roadway that currently separates the property from the McDonald's retaining wall, the developer will also leave a space for Montgomery County to build a pedestrian path. The path would provide access down to the Willett Branch park.

View from Bethesda Collision
(a.k.a. Channel 20); future
pedestrian path visible at
right beneath McDonald's
retaining wall

Utility lines currently in the path of the proposed 4-story self-storage building may be undergrounded, the applicant's attorney, Timothy Dugan said. The building will replace an existing auto repair facility on the site, but will not require demolition of the adjacent Bethesda Collision body shop and Enterprise Rent-a-Car (a.k.a. the Channel 20 building). From the McDonald's/River Road side, the structure looks like a standard self-storage structure. Looking from the Channel 20 building, it almost looks like a low-rise apartment building, save for the storage unit doors visible through the large windows.

This portion of the property
(within red lines) is planned
to be dedicated for the
Willett Branch stream park

The entire property
(bow tie shape within
red lines), with the
self storage project in
color at lower right

In short, the project is in keeping with the industrial character of the River Road area, but will also provide some significant benefits to the proposed park, and another future access point to it from River Road, McDonald's and the CCT. There will also be some landscaping, as there is at the McDonald's out front.