Henriot, you may want to get WUDAC and others engaged with this Wheaton Redevelopment forum on Montgomery engage: http://engage.montgomerycountymd.gov/wheaton-redevelopment. It may be a good place for stirring some discussion and hopefully keeping Wheaton in the Executive's eye.

Henriot,

Thank you for representing Wheaton on the WUDAC. Regardless of which redevelopment plan a person likes, it’s difficult to argue that the Wheaton community's input was weighed by the Council before its plan was both created and approved.

Going forward, I strongly recommend that we seek a primarily residential building on Lot 13 to accompany the MNCPPC building. People want Wheaton to be “walkable.” If there were work-hour, weekday office workers and 24/7 residents in the heart of the Triangle, there would be walking there throughout the day and night. The Triangle could be an inviting place throughout the week for both people and businesses.

On the other hand, I believe that a second office building on Lot 13 would make this win-win result unfeasible. I question whether people would want to stroll through an area at night that has—at its center—two largely abandoned office buildings (both of which presumably block visibility from one side of the Triangle to the other). If the area won’t be inviting to residents, it's hard to see what businesses or type of businesses would decide that Wheaton, or at least the Triangle, is the place to be.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks for your time here and on the WUDAC.