Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Square footage and building heights scrutinized; others praise the plan's transit-oriented nature.
Residents took concerns about the size of the “Town Center” portion of the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan to the Montgomery County Council at a public hearing Tuesday night. Nearly 40 people testified before the council about the plan recommended by the county Planning Board. Many took issue with the size of the “Town Center” portion of the plan, particularly the number of square feet the board recommended be built before the Purple Line is constructed. The Purple Line, a proposed 16-mile light rail line from Bethesda to New Carrollton, would have a station in Chevy Chase Lake. The board recommended that the old Chevy Chase Lake Shopping Center (on the east side of Connecticut Avenue at Manor Road) be built up to 790,000 square feet of mixed…
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Don't wait to sign up to testify at the March 5 public hearing before the county council on the Chevy Chase Lake Sector plan.
Have an opinion on the proposed plan for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector? Sign up to speak at a public hearing on the Chevy Chase Lake Sector plan on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the county council headquarters (100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, in the third-floor hearing room). Only 30 speakers will be allowed to testify at the hearing, according to an email message sent by the Town of Chevy Chase office. The Town of Chevy Chase and the Connecticut Avenue Corridor Committee already have signed up to testify, the email added. To sign up to testify, call the county council at 240-777-7803. The deadline to sign up to testify is 10 a.m. on March 5, but the 30 available spots are likely to be taken long before that, the Town of Chevy Chase advised. …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
County planners present design guidelines for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector to the county planning board on Thursday, Jan. 31.
Montgomery County planning staff will present design guidelines for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector to the county planning board at the board's weekly meeting on Thursday. Staff planners recommend that the board approve the guidelines and send the guidelines to the county council for approval, according to the meeting's agenda. One of the key issues addressed by the guidelines is making buildings look smaller in the proposed new development (called Town Center East) on the east side of Connecticut Avenue between Chevy Chase Lake Drive and Manor Road, according to the background information for Thursday's work session. To make buildings seem smaller, the guidelines advise: In terms of building materials, the guidelines advise using local red …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan will go to the county executive and Council on Jan. 31, The Gazette reported.
The Montgomery County Planning Board's draft of the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan will be presented to the county executive and Council on Jan. 31, 2013—only a couple months behind schedule, The Gazette reported. Additional work sessions are scheduled for Jan. 10, 17 and 31, "when the board is scheduled to approve its draft version of the plan," The Gazette added. Once County Executive Ike Leggett provides commentary on the draft, the draft will be passed to the County Council, which will hold a public hearing before approving a final sector plan, The Gazette reported. Read more about the process by which the planning board's draft could become the new plan for the sector on The Gazette's website. Last September, county planning staff …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Planning of the Chevy Chase Lake sector's redevelopment is behind schedule, The Gazette reported.
A building adjacent to the proposed Purple Line could be as tall as 150 feet in the redevelopment of the Chevy Chase Lake sector, The Gazette, The Washington Examiner and Bethesda Now reported. In a meeting earlier this month, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the 150-foot height limit for a building adjacent to the proposed light rail line, provided the rail line is funded, The Gazette reported. The Connecticut Avenue Corridor Commission, which represents many of the municipalities and neighborhoods near Chevy Chase Lake, had requested a 90-foot height limit for that building, The Examiner reported. Still, the county council has the final say on building heights in the Chevy Chase Lake sector, The Gazette added, so some county…
Carol O. Roberts
3:58 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Professional planners from the County Planning Office worked for more than two years to develop a viable two-stage (pre- and post-Purple Line) scheme that recognizes north-south traffic on Connecticut will not be alleviated by the east-west Purple Line - if ever it is built. The CPO's study was dismissed summarily by the Planning Board without any apparent thought. I don't envy the Couny Council … more ›