SILVER SPRING, MD – On
Thursday, Sept. 20 at approximately 1 p.m., the Montgomery County
Planning Board will review a revised expansion proposal for Westfield
Montgomery, a 30-year-old mall near Bethesda that could include new stores,
restaurants, parking structures and freestanding retail shops along the entry
street.
Developers of Westfield Montgomery, located on 60 acres at Democracy
Boulevard and Westlake Drive, want to modify an expansion plan that was
approved by the Planning Board in 2005. The 2005 plan was approved for 308,000
square feet of new retail. The new proposal includes approximately 60,000 feet
of additional retail, including 25,000 square feet recently acquired from an
existing strip mall.
The board’s planning staff recommends approval of the
expansion.
Area residents have expressed concern about pedestrian safety
on Westlake Drive and overall transportation improvements. As a result of their
concerns, the developers revised their original plan to better address safety
and aesthetics. Some of the planned improvements to Westlake Drive include a
new hiker/biker path, shade trees and a raised street median.
In their list of conditions for the applicant, planners ask
for a new pedestrian crossing requested by the community along Westlake Drive.
As part of its expansion plans, Westfield, Inc., would enlarge
the Macy’s store, relocate Sears, renovate the food court, realign the road
that rings the site and construct a six-bay bus transit center at I-270 and
Westlake Terrace. The bus transit center was approved in 2005 and will not be
re-considered as part of Westfield’s application.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Hearing on Westfield Montgomery, a proposed mall expansion off
Democracy Boulevard near Bethesda
WHEN:
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007 – approximately 1 p.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, Md.