Friday, May 24, 2013
Officials want to brand the county as a place to live and play for all ages.
Relaxing liquor laws, later last calls for bars and restaurants and more nightlife businesses around Metro stations are just some of the solutions a Montgomery County task force is considering to pump up the county's nighttime economy. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) addressed the 20-member group at its first meeting Monday in Silver Spring, Bethesda Now reported. While most people like the idea of improving the county's nighttime economy, they might not like what it means, Leggett said. "People say, ‘I like the benefits of that, but I don’t want to deal with the practical effects of that,’” he said, Bethesda Now reported. Click here to read the article on Bethesda Now. In convening the group earlier this month, Leggett …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Some councilmembers want to move forward with the Park and Planning headquarters, separate from other redevelopment in Wheaton; others want the headquarters to be part of an overall redevelopment strategy.
In considering options for Wheaton redevelopment and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission headquarters, members of the Montgomery County Council found themselves equally divided on how to move forward at a joint committee meeting Wednesday. Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Valerie Ervin joined Council President Nancy Navarro in supporting a "split project" approach in which Park and Planning could move forward with its plans for a new headquarters building south of Reedie Drive, separate from the redevelopment possibilities being explored for other parcels of county land in Wheaton. Park and Planning prefers this option because it wants responsibility for its own building, Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier said. …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro laid out her concerns in a memo to County Executive Isiah Leggett Tuesday.
Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro took County Executive Isiah Leggett to task in a memo on Tuesday, criticizing his administration's "poor track record in its implementation of Wheaton redevelopment." During a joint committee meeting at the Montgomery County Council on Friday, councilmembers discussed plans for the new Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission headquarters in Wheaton. They decided to allow the Department of General Services more time to talk with private developers and report back on April 24. But Navarro said at the committee meeting that she was "not optimistic" about Leggett's approach, a theme she touched upon again in her memo: Your recommendation to solicit private development proposals …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Watch a video clip of Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett speaking to reporters Wednesday morning at the Wheaton Costco opening.
Standing outside the newly opened Costco in Wheaton Wednesday morning, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett talked of the $4 million subsidy that the county gave Westfield Wheaton for construction of the Costco. Related Articles on Wheaton Patch: - Costco Subsidy Passes Council (May 17, 2011) - Costco Subsidy Takes Nine Years to Pay Back, Westfield Held to Conditions (April 28, 2011) - Wheaton Costco Opens (April 10, 2013) - Photos: Inside the Wheaton Costco (April 9, 2013)
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The membership warehouse store opened to a flood of customers at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday in the Westfield Wheaton mall.
After a delay of almost six months, the Wheaton Costco is open for business. Pat Fahey, the warehouse store's general manager, cut the ribbon at the entrance at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, and a line of shoppers began streaming into the store, located in the old Hecht's location at the Westfield Wheaton mall. County Executive Isiah Leggett, whose office had announced that he would be cutting the ribbon, arrived shortly before 8 a.m. and the ribbon-cutting was re-enacted, holding up more shoppers who appeared impatient to get inside the store. Fahey said he decided to cut the ribbon earlier because "we have members who are waiting to shop." Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal (D-At large) also came to the Costco opening. "This is …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
In addition, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is recommending against moving county agencies from Rockville to share space with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in Wheaton, citing high costs.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is still on track to move its headquarters from Silver Spring to downtown Wheaton, but perhaps not to Parking Lot 13 as previously proposed. Instead, Park and Planning is looking across the street, to take over the site currently occupied by the Mid-County Regional Services Center at 2424 Reedie Dr. in Wheaton, according to a project description form submitted in March. (See attached PDF) If this goes forward, Montgomery County likely would receive the Park and Planning headquarters site at 8787 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring, in a land swap, said Greg Ossont, deputy director of the Department of General Services. Leggett: $67 Million More Would Be Needed to Move County Agencies to …
Monday, April 1, 2013
Montgomery County's executive says the move would cost too much, The Washington Examiner reports.
The redevelopment vision for the new Park and Planning headquarters in Wheaton included proposals to relocate certain Montgomery County agencies under the same roof. But County Executive Isiah Leggett says moving the departments of permitting services and environmental protection from Rockville to Wheaton would be too expensive, The Washington Examiner reports. What would be the estimated cost for the move? $67 million more than the $65 million already planned for the headquarters building. Read the full story at The Washington Examiner.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Find out ways you can comment on the budget proposals.
The Montgomery County Council will hold five public hearings in April on the county's operating budget for fiscal year 2014, which begins July 1. County Executive Isiah Leggett's $4.8 billion budget proposal, which he unveiled on March 15, would add more than 100 new jobs in public safety and libraries. Leggett also proposed a slight increase in aid for Montgomery County Public Schools to meet Maryland's maintenance of effort law, which requires that counties fund schools at the same level or greater from year-to-year or face a fine. The County Council will analyze these recommendations and adopt the budget in late May. Read more about the budget: The public hearings will be held in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office …
Friday, March 15, 2013
The plan holds the line on property taxes and schools aid and boosts aid for public safety.
A $4.8 billion county operating budget plan unveiled by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett on Friday holds the line on property taxes and schools spending and adds more than 100 new jobs in public safety and libraries. Leggett (D) presented his budget plan for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1, at a news conference in Rockville. The plan would keep property taxes within the limit allowed by the county charter and below the rate of inflation. Average monthly property taxes would increase by $6.67. Tax-supported government spending would increase by 3.9 percent—less than half the increase in fiscal 2013—to $1.3 billion. Leggett also proposed a slight increase in aid for Montgomery County Public Schools to meet Maryland's maintenance of…
The Montgomery County Executive explained his proposal to increase spending on public safety and hold the line on property taxes.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) on Friday unveiled his budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. Related Content:
jag
11:33 pm on Friday, May 24, 2013
Easy fix #1: Re: the new Scion opening... "Bar manager Tim Liu has taken advantage of D.C.'s lax alcohol laws to stock the Dupont restaurants with out-of-market beers from breweries like Colorado's Funkwerks and Oregon's Oakshire and Gigantic. But because of Montgomery County's more stringent regulations, he describes the current list of 12 drafts and 35 bottles as "a work in progress" and … more ›