PLANNING BLUNDER: BETHESDA GAS STATION SITE CLEARED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF BANK (PHOTO)

The site of one of downtown Bethesda's last gas stations on Wisconsin Avenue has been cleared. There had been concrete and plant overgrowth on the site, as it waited dormant for redevelopment to begin. It once was known as Bethesda's "last gas" before the Beltway.

Replacing it is a small bank building, one of the more bizarre land use decisions by the Montgomery County Planning Board in recent years (although the Hoyt property decision is still at the top of the bizarro list). Allowing a bank branch on an urban main street near Metro, while plotting to jam high-density urban growth into suburban residential areas like Westbard and Chevy Chase Lake, is simply indefensible. Yet it is happening again with the TD Bank approval - just steps away from Metro - on the Shell station site on Old Georgetown Road. At worst, give us some additional retail and restaurant space along with the banks!

These decisions are contrary to all of the claims about smart growth we hear on a daily basis in the county.

Photo: Jason Yang

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT ON WESTBARD SECTOR PLAN

The developer-supplied renderings remain on the official Westbard Sector Plan website, sending the wrong message about the planning process before it has even begun. As I reported last week, Montgomery County planners have placed luxury townhome renderings created by developer EYA on the Plan Westbard website and social media accounts. The problem? EYA is one of the development firms seeking to redevelop multiple properties along Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road, and its fortunes will be greatly determined by what the finished plan recommends. Furthermore, single-family homes - not townhomes - are the prevailing dwelling type in the neighborhoods surrounding the Westbard commercial/industrial area. No single-family home is pictured in the marketing outreach by the planning department. Yes, images and the messages they convey matter, as they are critical tools in shaping public opinion.

One message given is a sense of approval of this particular developer, and of this particular style of housing, by planners. Another is that the developer has an inside track with planners that actual residents do not enjoy. Accurate or not, those are impressions given by the online platforms.

This isn't the first "rush to judgement" in official public dialogue on the Westbard plan. The evening of a meeting held this spring by EYA development partner Equity One, a County Council staff member tweeted a favorable response to the announcement of the partnership:

Cindy Gibson, District 1 Councilmember Roger Berliner's chief of staff, wrote: "EYA will be partnering with Equity One on the Westbard Plan in Bethesda. Seems like a good choice for this project."

I don't believe that those tasked with representing the interests of residents - the Council has final say on both the sector plan, and any specific development projects - should be passing judgment, or expressing opinions, on what is a good or bad choice at this stage. In my opinion, EYA does a great job of matching townhome designs to their environment, and in not providing the same cookie-cutter results on every project. But the citizens had not, and still haven't - as of today - concluded that high-density multi-family housing developments are the right fit for the Westbard area. That is yet to be determined in the planning process.

High-density development is probably not going to be "a good choice" for a neighborhood whose elementary school is maxed out with students. Even after the new addition to Wood Acres ES next year, the school will still be slightly over capacity, and the building cannot be expanded any further on the site. High-density doesn't fit for an area not in walking distance to Metro, with limited bus service to boot. Then there is the traffic situation on River Road and Massachusetts Avenue, which are already overwhelmed by the existing population. Beyond that, the overwhelming character of the area is that of single-family, residential suburban neighborhoods. Westbard is not an urban area; it is a commercial/industrial center that serves the residential neighborhoods around it.

The messages sent by government officials should be emphasizing inclusion and fairness, and - barring some future decision by citizens - not bending the representative character of a neighborhood to fit a particular message, or designate a predetermined goal. First we have to set the goals.

WESTBARD SECTOR PLAN LAUNCHES - FIRST MEETING SEPTEMBER 23 - WESTBARD REDEVELOPMENT

The Westbard Sector Plan process has officially launched, as the Montgomery County Planning Department welcomed the public to a new website with an overview of the process schedule. Residents, business owners and other interested parties can sign up for newsletters and RSVP for the first public meeting, which will be September 23, 7-9 PM at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda.

There are a couple of minor issues on the website and Twitter account. First, the images used could be refined to be more indicative of the true character of the west Bethesda area. Currently, the pictures include a Cherry Blossom-season photo from Kenwood (with homes cropped out) and a nature scene. Those are  accurate. The Capital Bikeshare photo suggests the goal of getting more people to ride bikes to or from downtown Bethesda, Friendship Heights, or into the District. Fair enough, and a laudable goal.

But the second photo isn't a photo at all - its an artist rendering taken directly from promotional materials for developer EYA's Little Falls Place townhomes. This seems inappropriate for several reasons.

Townhome image (R) is taken directly
from developer EYA's promotional
materials 

First and foremost, EYA is one of the developers whose fortunes will depend upon the outcome of this Westbard Sector Plan. It has partnered with Equity One to redevelop the Westwood Complex. For the planning department to utilize a developer's promotional material for a process in which that developer stands to profit is unwise. It could - wrongly, I would hope - suggest that planners are showing favor to that developer, and to a particular land use with which it is associated - namely, high-density, multi-family housing.

Second, and not far behind, is the fact that townhomes and apartments are not the predominant land use in the neighborhoods served by the commercial-industrial area termed the "Westbard Sector." There should be a photo of a single-family home up there. The handful of high-rise buildings that exist in the Westbard area are not compliant with the new zoning that will be applied; they are grandfathered in. Single-family homes are the dominant land use, and should not be entirely missing from any promotion imagery used by the County in the planning process.

Finally - and most obviously - it's just a drawing! If you want to show a townhome, show one that already exists. As is, the image favors a developer directly involved in the Westbard process, and absolutely is not representative of the area as a whole.

The other minor issue was an inaccurate statement about the history of the Westbard area, and the residential neighborhoods around it. It reads:

"Over a period of years, the residential uses were built around the commercial/industrial areas which extend along River Road and Westbard Avenue."

In reality, several residential neighborhoods predate the commercial/industrial areas. The commercial-industrial zone itself was actually an African-American residential community, dating back to Maryland Emancipation through the 1950s. Kenwood was founded prior to World War II. Many homes and neighborhoods existed before the Westwood Shopping Center was opened in 1959. The history of the area is tremendous, and should be respected in the planning process going forward.

Going forward...

Have concerns about the outcome of the Westbard Sector Plan process? For news and analysis going forward, continue to follow this blog, and @BethesdaRow on Twitter.

If you're really interested in the Westbard process, you'll also want to follow this special @Westbard account on Twitter, as well.

OFFENSIVE COMMENTS, ORWELLIAN DOUBLESPEAK ON BETHESDA PLANNING RADIO

Yesterday there was an interesting discussion of the Bethesda Downtown Plan on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, and you can read an entire transcript here.

But I wanted to respond to a couple of misleading statements made during the broadcast by Washington Post columnist Roger Lewis, and Montgomery County Planning Director Gwen Wright.

I found Roger Lewis' comments offensive and troubling. Regarding "urbanization" (which is nonsensical, because downtown Bethesda is thoroughly urban already! We're not "urbanizing" Bethesda - we already did that), Lewis made the following statement:

Roger Lewis: "I think loading the dice against urbanism is usually motivated by either resistance to change, as we talk about all the time, or concern that I'm not going to find a parking space and I'm going to sit through four cycles of this signal at this intersection.

"I mean, I think traffic congestion -- I think a lot of what we hear are essentially code words, if you will, for what people directly experience and perceive and worry about urbanism, which is both -- well, it's traffic congestion. It's also the arrival of people who maybe are different. I mean there's a sociological dimension to this. I mean, that's my interpretation. Whenever I hear, if you will, the nimbi (sic) argument, it's almost always based on that."

This is complete hogwash. Along with Planning Director Gwen Wright's assertions that affordable housing will be magically-increased in the Bethesda Downtown Plan, and that millennials will be able to afford Bethesda, this was a truly 1984-esque moment in yesterday's broadcast. What is happening now, and unless there is a policy change that accompanies the passage of the new downtown plan, is the exact opposite.

We just witnessed - especially readers of this blog - the demolition of The Hampden apartments on Hampden Lane. Those are being replaced by The Lauren, an ultra-luxury condo building with units "from the several millions." The end result is a net loss of affordable units on that site (not to mention several mature trees).

Battery Lane will soon have several demolitions, again with a net loss of affordable units. The same is coming for a building on MacArthur Boulevard, and - potentially - along Bradley Boulevard.

All of those threatened buildings had, or have, something in common. They were, and are, among the last buildings that an actual millennial could afford to rent in.

Much as in similar demolitions across the county, such as in Wheaton, Glenmont and at Halpine View, they will be replaced with luxury housing, not equal or greater racial and economic diversity. The "arrival of people" resulting from this will be a group very much like the one that dominates Bethesda today - rich, white people. Roger Lewis himself admitted long ago that the DC area building boom is not going to generate the adequate amount of affordable housing it promised. Instead, we are getting luxury buildings, with a handful of MPDUs in each. At the same time, we are demolishing more affordable units than we are building.

Res ipsa loquitur. But don't come on the radio and mislead people about affordable housing. And absolutely don't come on and accuse the people trying to maintain diversity and affordable housing in Montgomery County of using "code words," or having a fear of people who are "different." That is Orwellian doublespeak at its worst (or, best?). Mr. Lewis should be embarrassed about that, given his previous admission that the building boom indeed will not provide the affordable housing he claims Bethesda fears.