Anger and disappointment pervaded Tuesday night’s meeting of the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee, hours after the Montgomery County Council that would build a new Park and Planning headquarters in downtown Wheaton--instead of the platform that WUDAC and County Executive Isiah Leggett supported.
Committee members took out their frustration on Councilmember Hans Riemer, who came to delicately explain how the council’s budget decision was only a part of Wheaton revitalization and why the council needed WUDAC members to stay involved going forward.
“I know this has been contentious, but I really believe that we’re going to get a better and faster implementation” for Wheaton redevelopment with the council’s plan, Riemer said.
Riemer suggested quarterly meetings for all stakeholders going forward, so that everyone would be able to stay on board with the redevelopment process. But committee members, who are appointed by the county executive, said that they felt ignored by the council.
“You have to admit that it seems as if our input went for nothing with the latest budget investments, so after we’ve been deflated, it seems kind of hard to imagine that we’re all going to come and talk about the future of Wheaton,” said William Moore, who owns the IHOP on Grandview Avenue.
Moore added that the council’s plan was not subject to the same degree of public review as the B.F. Saul proposal. “I think what disappointed everybody was the fact that this new proposal seemed to come out of the blue and all of a sudden now it’s accepted,” he said.
WUDAC members went around the room, voicing their complaints.
Ken Nelson, who represents the Wheaton & Kensington Chamber of Commerce on WUDAC, said that he felt like their proposal was “smacked down like the NBA finals.” Linda Amendt said that she was “very disappointed.” Henriot St. Gerard, , told Riemer that “to me, this feels like a startover.” And Hollywood East owner Janet Yu said she believed that “the community should be owed an apology.”
“There’s a sense of disgust in the way the plan was passed,” Devala Janardan said.
Much of the disappointment centered on a feeling that one office building and a town square was not the expected scope of redevelopment Wheaton deserved. Riemer agreed that more was needed, particularly services that WUDAC could play an important role in lobbying for in the budget, such as programming for the town square.
“I’m trying to revive the sense of community purpose. I think that’s crucial, and I’d like to do what I can,” Riemer said. “We’re going to need those of you who might be bitter not to go home.”
Marian Fryer, WUDAC’s vice chair, said that she’s feeling optimistic about the future because although there has been plenty of talk about Wheaton redevelopment in the past, this is the first time the council is attaching money to any plans.
“We may be unhappy about how it came down, but I’m happy about how it’s going to end up because the money is going to be there,” Fryer said.
WUDAC meets the second Tuesday of every month from 5-6:30 p.m. at the . Meetings are open to the public.
1. Is the council paying attention? 2. Will it respond in a knowledgable (thorough) and respectful (not defensive) manner? 3. Will it consider meeting with the community? 4. Will it make adjustments to its plan accordingly? We understand, I think, that sometimes politicians don't get things right the first time (don't get the big picture) when they have so many pieces of legislation to balance. However, at the end of the day, can they make things right? This, I believe, is the true test of responsible leadership. We're all watching and will decide accordingly on election day. Some may even vote with their feet and move.
If that's all they're giving us lets fight to make it REALLY good , unique a destination in its own right. It's all about PARKS and PLANNING . Let the building embody that, push the boundaries of what real green community oriented building is.
Unfortunately, unless the office building is truly mixed use, it will offer very little value to anybody except the workers inside and the businesses within a VERY short walking distance. As a resident, that's a pretty poor bargain for a lot of money, money that we will continually be reminded the Council has spent on Wheaton. Housing and retail appear to be the better bets for the community at this time. I have faith that Wheaton has too much going for it to not redevelop eventually, but I lack faith that the Council sees likewise. Perhaps the Council wants to ensure that there are affordable places to live in a County where most other areas have already gone up steeply in price. As long as Wheaton prices can continue to lag other areas, it will still be an "affordable" area compared to many other areas of the County. If the Council would meet us, at least some of this type of speculation might decrease. If the Council has done what it wanted to do and does not care about differing viewpoints, the deal is done.
A large office building will be a very poor choice for the space, but then again, the Council never really asked what residents want. I'd personally rather risk a one-year wait and potentially losing the County building if that allows open discussion of the issues instead of being forced to accept blindly what I'm told is what's good for me.
On the other hand, a modern-looking Parks and Planning building and a nice residential-retail building would provide (1) the needed new space for the M-NCPPC HQ and (2) the potential for nighttime foot traffic that would benefit local businesses (except lunch-only businesses that may not care about nighttime foot traffic, even if residents do) and would likely appeal to a broad cross-section of the the entire Wheaton community.