SILVER SPRING – The County Council’s decision last week to approve a redevelopment plan for Wheaton includes relocating the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission-Montgomery County staff from offices in Silver Spring to downtown Wheaton.
Moving the Planning Board, Planning Department and administrative functions of the Department of Parks to a consolidated Wheaton headquarters would both improve the agency’s efficiency and help boost the local Wheaton economy, says Planning Board Chair Françoise Carrier. Moreover, she says that the effort invested between planners and the Silver Spring community two years ago in designing a new headquarters at the agency’s current site on Georgia Avenue is time well spent, as much of that knowledge can be transferred.
Councilmembers last week approved a Wheaton redevelopment plan that features a 150,000- square-foot headquarters building for M-NCPPC on a parking lot bounded by Reedie Drive, Triangle Lane and Grandview Avenue. If it were to move forward, the project would take place in phases, and would be funded as part of the six-year county Capital Improvements Plan starting in 2013.
Three years ago, staff from the Department of Parks and Planning Department oversaw an effort to redevelop the MNCPPC-Montgomery County headquarters on Georgia Avenue into a new, mixed-use development called Silver Place. Silver Place would have housed both departments – now in separate office buildings about a mile apart – as well as the Planning Board.
The Silver Place plan called for structured parking and residences built on what is now a surface parking lot. A week-long public design workshop involved residents from Silver Spring, who reached consensus on how the property might develop. The workshop resulted in a set of goals, such as an emphasis on great design and a spacious public park populated with mature oak trees.
The Silver Place plans fell victim to the recession. Three years later, with changing priorities and an improving economic climate, Council members support moving the agency to Wheaton as a way to jumpstart the community’s economy with an infusion of more than 400 workers. In addition, officials hope the steady stream of customers who regularly visit the agency also will support the Wheaton community.
In Silver Spring, development of United Therapeutics, which has transformed Spring Street near the M-NCPPC headquarters, will help bring new office workers into the area, offsetting the economic impact of the agency’s potential move.
If the move takes place as proposed, the Planning Board will consider the possible sale of the Silver Spring property to help finance the new headquarters, or its possible use by another government agency. The Board will encourage any potential purchaser of the Georgia Avenue site to take into serious consideration the recommendations of the community design workshop in forming their redevelopment plans.
The potential new agency headquarters would also benefit from the work completed as part of the Silver Place project, such as a series of design and space requirements, planners said.
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