Politics & Government

Meeting Roundup: WRAC October Meeting

The Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee hears presentations from the Coalition for the Fair Development of Wheaton, Alliance Realty, and Costco.

Last night the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee met in a packed room in the Mid-County Services Center to receive redevelopment updates from Alliance Realty Co. and Westfield.

The meeting got off to a slow start, with speakers pausing every few sentences to allow a translator to translate their words into Spanish for some of the public attendees. But eventually, the translator moved into simultaneous translation, speaking softly into a microphone that transmitted her words to headphones around the room.

Here’s what was discussed:

Wheaton Sector Plan
A WRAC subcommittee met on Sept. 29 and sent a letter to the Montgomery County Planning Board with comments on the Draft Urban Design Guidelines for the Wheaton Sector Plan. But the Planning Board, which had originally planned to meet to discuss the guidelines on Oct. 6, changed the date to Oct. 13—and changed the version of the guidelines under review.

Pete McGinnity of the Wheaton Redevelopment Program said that because WRAC only meets once a month, there was no time to update the comments put forth in the letter. But McGinnity also said that “a lot of the comments we made were still relevant,” especially the ones about technical language in the text that could confuse the public. For example, words like “legibility” mean one thing to the general reader and apparently quite another thing to a planner.

The County Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) will hold its second—and what it anticipates to be its final—work session on the Wheaton Sector Plan on Oct. 31. Topics for discussion include the Kensington View neighborhood, transitional zoning, open space and environmental issues. If there are no more work sessions, WRAC expects a full council vote on the Sector Plan in November.

Coalition for the Fair Development of Wheaton
Manny Hidalgo, executive director of LEDC, presented a petition to WRAC for the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton. The petition lists its priorities for redevelopment, emphasizing that small businesses not be displaced and that new businesses coming into Wheaton create jobs for Wheaton residents. “There are certain things we won’t sacrifice in the redevelopment of Wheaton,” Hidalgo said. He added that the county has had the petition since February and has been receptive, “but nothing has happened.” Hidalgo concluded by saying that he wants WRAC to hold a vote at its next meeting to officially endorse the petition.

Another priority listed on the petition is that the community services located in the Mid-County Services Center building have long-term security. Simeona de Leon, who identified herself as a patient in Proyecto Salud, a community health service housed in the building, spoke in Spanish about her concerns that the program that has changed her life will be displaced.

Alliance Realty
Chris Todd of Alliance Realty presented the developer's plan for a new apartment building at the corner of Blueridge Avenue and Georgia Avenue. Alliance recently signed a contract with the previous developer, Avalon, to take over the project. The Alliance plan is primarily residential, with 255 apartments planned—the majority of which are one-bedroom. The plans also include some retail space on the ground floor and a parking garage.

Todd said Alliance will be going through a standard method of development instead of an optional method. This means that the development will conform to the written standards of the Zoning Ordinance—and it means that development will move more quickly. “Our goal is to be approved and under construction in 2012,” Todd said, adding that he expects the first apartments to be ready 14-16 months later.

Westfield

  • Westfield anticipates opening a new H&M store in November.
  • Jim Agliata announced that Westfield is about to sign a lease with Dick’s Sporting Goods for the space right below the Costco site. “Without the Costco, we wouldn’t have gotten Dick’s,” Agliata said.
  • Ana Mendez University, a bilingual university system based in Puerto Rico, will open Nov. 16 in the old Circuit City space and will hold its first classes in January.
  • Agliata said that the long-term plan for the mall is not to convert it into a city center as Wheaton becomes more developed. “It will always be a mall in our eyes,” he said.


Westfield/Costco

  • Agliata showed WRAC a presentation with site plans for the Costco, noting that customers will have to enter the big-box store through the mall. “That was an important part for us because we wanted to energize the mall,” he said.
  • Agliata also displayed some plans for pedestrian walkways around the perimeter of the Costco. 
  • Westfield, Costco and the Kensington Heights Civic Association will hold a public meeting Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Kenmont Swim & Tennis Club. The meeting will address Costco's application for a special exception to the county's zoning laws in order to build a gas station.


The mission of WRAC, as stated on its website:

The mission of the Redevelopment Advisory Committee is to advise the County Executive, the Director of the Wheaton Redevelopment Program, and the Director of the Mid-County Regional Services Center on all phases of the revitalization of downtown Wheaton which consists of preserving and improving the neighborhoods and business centers in the downtown area.

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Editor's Note: A previous version of this article reported an incorrect time for the Oct. 25 meeting. It has been changed to the correct time: 7:30 p.m. We regret the error.


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