Business & Tech

WRAC Update: Looking for a Few Good New Committee Members

B.F. Saul initial plan presented to public partners last Friday.

Bob Wulff made one more stop on the Wheaton committee circuit to present the plan B.F. Saul gave to the public partners (Montgomery County, WMATA) last Friday.

Wulff stressed the plan had not been accepted by either the County or WMATA, but it would be one of the important next steps in the process, including Saul and the public partners agreeing on the value of the land.

“We’re doing this on spec now,” Wulff said, adding that once the land is transferred, “We can start acting like real developers.”

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The plan is largely similar to what he , with a few more cross-sections and different views of the project - in addition to some new views of the residential/retail section on the existing Parking Lot 13 site.

Wulff deferred talking about the town square portion of Parking Lot 13 until the meetings with an ad hoc advisory group (including participation from a few WRAC members) on the town square concept are finished.

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When asked about the portion of Parking Lot 13 that would used for the town square, Wulff said that “form would follow function”, and the company would aim for a square that wasn’t too small, “so you could have things like Taste of Wheaton” and but not so big as to not be inviting.  

Want to Be a Member of WRAC?

Because of term limits, the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee will be looking for multiple new committee members in the next few months. Residents, business owners and others from the Wheaton area will be able to apply through the county website.

WRAC’s primary function is to represent the community on a number of redevelopment issues, including hearing from developers and community organizations, delivering testimony to the Executive, the Council and the Planning board on Projects. Plus, a chance to be possibly quoted in Wheaton Patch.

Green Wheaton Aiming for Non-Profit Status

A joint committee of WRAC and Wheaton Urban Advisory Committee, Green Wheaton hopes to make the new developments in Wheaton more ecologically-sound and help greening efforts in the entire area. Ed Murtaugh reported that February’s meeting was largely “administrative” as the group attempts to become a non-profit.

Upcoming Meetings 

March 21 - Public meeting with representatives for Washington Property, developers of the First Baptist Church of Wheaton property. 7 p.m. at the Mid-County Services Center.

March 30 - Public meeting with representatives for the BB&T project (on University Blvd.), 7 p.m, Mid-County Services Center.


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