Washington Business Journal reporter Missy Frederick wrote,
The project, at Old Georgetown Road and Rock Spring Drive in Bethesda…received site plan approval from Montgomery County in February.Read more at the Washington Business Journal.
It will include about 550,000 square feet of office space within two buildings, 210,000 square feet of ground level retail, a 200-room hotel, 161 housing units and a movie theater.
And no children. These housing units will specifically prohibit residents from even thinking about having children that would go to public school. It will be a special clause in the agreement. It's the latest thing in long term planning!
ReplyDeleteHm. And I was going to ask why this developer (and all others building in MoCo) are not required to include child care centers or schools in their plans.
ReplyDeletePaula Bienenfeld said...
ReplyDeleteHeidi,
Developers are required to pay a development tax which is calculated to cover the school(s) required, based on the predicted no. of students, as well as certain infrastructure improvements. The predicted school population is calculated by Bruce Crispell of MCPS. MCPS goes to the Planning Department with the information. Regarding child care centers, the Planning Board can ask for certain amenities. Those calculations are made I believe at the Planning Department. Fyi, the Planning Board consists of 5 people, a mix of different political parties as required (no more than 3 members can be from one party); the County Council chooses planning board members in an open process. Positions are advertised. The applicants submit their resumes, information, and some financial information, this last is is confidential; the Council then chooses a smaller number of people to interview. However, the names of all the applicants are public and usually are covered by the local press. The interviews are open to the public and take place at the County Council. Right now there are 2 openings for the Planning Board; one Democrat, and one Republican or other party. the deadline for applications was April 27th, so you can follow the process at the County Council. Here is the link to the Planning Board website: http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/