New Wheaton Redevelopment Proposal Guide

Tuesday morning, the Montgomery County Council is scheduled to discuss Wheaton redevelopment. The session will be streamed live online at 10 a.m.

On Friday, senior legislative analyst Jacob Sesker released a packet of information that will inform Tuesday’s council proceedings. Under discussion is the CIP request for the Wheaton Redevelopment Program.

Here’s the packet in a nutshell:

Comparing the three visions for Wheaton redevelopment
County Executive Isiah Leggett recommended the following (see page 5):

• A public-private partnership with B.F. Saul to construct a busbay platform as a base for office, retail and hotel development above;
• Constructing a town square on Lot 13, across from the Mid-County Regional Services Center.

At its March 12 meeting, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee recommended the following:

• Constructing a county or M-NCPPC office building (without specifying which one) on either Lot 13 or the  site;
• Constructing a town square on Lot 13.

The alternative PDF, released Friday, recommends the following (see pages 3-4):

• Constructing an M-NCPPC headquarters building;
• Constructing a town square on Lot 13 that is at least one-third of the site’s area;
• $650,000 for consulting services in fiscal year 2013, partly to evaluate the financial feasibility of developing the WMATA busbay site.

Parking
In response to concerns about parking access, the alternative PDF calls for “a comprehensive parking study to identify potential disruptions to parking supply and changes in parking demand that result from redevelopment and how those changes in supply and demand might affect existing businesses in Wheaton, and to identify potential solutions (including, but not limited to signage, parking management, and temporary interim parking).” For more on parking, see pages 7-9.

Sequencing
Jacob Sesker points to the findings of the Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel in 2009 as support for his sequencing decisions. Sesker’s recommendation that the county prioritize Parking Lot 13 over the busbay site fits with the panel’s classification of the first site as a “short-term opportunity” and the second as a “long-term opportunity.” (See page 7.)

Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton
The Coalition has requested the inclusion of language that would protect small businesses and provide for local job creation and training opportunities. (See page 18.)

Have you read the alternative PDF? What stands out to you? Tell us in the comments.