Thursday, August 17, 2017

Trees being cut down at Apex Building as plaintiffs continue fight to stop Wilson Store move

On Wednesday, workers began cutting down street trees around the Apex Building on Elm Street. Meanwhile, the local residents challenging the move of the historic Wilson Store/Community Paint and Hardware building next door to the Apex say they plan to appeal the recent Montgomery County Circuit Court decision upholding the Historic Preservation Commission's approval of the relocation to Middleton Lane.

The appeal is complicated by the wait for the judge's transcript that will make his decision final, before which time the appeal to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals cannot be filed. Plaintiffs are asking that production of the transcript be expedited. A second practical challenge is the fact that Carr Properties plans to move the building this weekend. Through their attorney, David Brown, the plaintiffs have asked that Carr postpone the move until their appeal can be heard.
Wilson Store
If successful at the Court of Special Appeals, the residents would then have standing to challenge the move before the County Board of Appeals. As I reported yesterday, the building has already been chopped in half and loaded onto the motorized dollies for this weekend's move.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a lazy reader. Is there a scheduled time this weekend for the move? Can we come out and gawk like when they moved Tastee in Silver Spring?

Anonymous said...

Forget about Middleton Lane. Put it in the middle of the Vollmer-Schwartz* driveway.

*Recently Ms. Vollmer was heard pronouncing the name of her neighbors, the Schwartzes, in the most politically-incorrect manner possible.

Robert Dyer said...

5:53: Yes, the building is scheduled to move Saturday night between 9 PM and 5 AM. I don't yet know if there will be any obstacles or sidewalk closures that will restrict viewing locations.

Roald said...

It is too late now, but I still question why move this? It's small enough to build around. I would have just given more height to the project rather than move this old building.

Anonymous said...

"It is too late now, but I still question why move this? It's small enough to build around. I would have just given more height to the project rather than move this old building."

Without moving it there wouldn't be enough space for a plaza at Elm and Wisconsin and the Red Line elevator bank. Many residents have been advocating destroying it entirely. I think it should stick around in some form, and the relocation seems like a good compromise. We still have the Bethesda theater, old post office, and Farm Women's market along Wisconsin.