MNCP&PC: A Well Trained and Compliant Lap Dog

What we are dealing with is privatized profits and socialized losses due to inadequate facilities to accommodate all of the proposed growth.

The Friends of White Flint is one of those Orwellian advocacy groups established to sell the sizzle, not the steak for the radical transformation of the White Flint Pike District Area. Though the plans have been more than a decade in the making, the reality of a traffic congestion problem that just will not go away has raised alarm bells from Annapolis to North Bethesda. All the buzz and hype with the on the table projects rubber stamped to move forward by the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission (MNCP&PC), including the near completion of Pike & Rose, revolves around "the boulevard concept of pedestrian oriented mixed use development where wide sidewalks link everyone with everything around a transit system." With RideOn, Uber, and Metro either a text or a short walk away, who needs cars, right?

Congestion and overcrowding are good, Winston. Big Brother, does that mean suburban developments are bad? Yes, Winston. Tall buildings near Metro stops will one day solve all of the traffic congestion problems caused by suburbs. So will toll roads.

Share holders in REITs and hedge funds with a stake in White Flint Pike District Area's redevelopment are driving for 10,000 new condominiums and 5.7 million square feet of new commercial, retail, and office space. Impact taxes for critical roadways, however, were not collected from past over development and from proposed development across the county. The burden if left unchallenged, therefore, is passed onto real estate tax paying homeowners and toll paying commuters. What we are dealing with is privatized profits and socialized losses due to inadequate facilities to accommodate all of the proposed growth.

Consider one small piece of the White Flint Pike District Area, a five acre parcel dubbed Grand Park Development across from the main entrance into Pike & Rose. This small parcel located just a quarter mile walk from White Flint Metro, owned by Old Georgetown SAAB Property and Old Georgetown Nissan Property, LLC, is located at 5995 Executive Blvd., 11565 Old Georgetown Road, 11575 Old Georgetown, and 11605 Old Georgetown Road in Rockville. The owners have proposed to MNCP&PC “a mixed use development with approximately 1,051,012 square feet of gross floor area including: up to 1,000 multi-family dwelling units [with one parking space per unit] and 110,169 square feet of commercial development on two lots.” With zoning permitting 250 foot tall buildings with 22 floors, the density of the zoning only includes a half acre multi purpose green space. Enter Friends of White Flint to sell the sizzle to the community, but not the steak.

"We are trying to become like Arlington," said Amy Ginsburg to a poorly attended public meeting on Thursday January 17, 2019 at the Shriver Aquatic Center just walking distance from Pike & Rose. "They built and traffic congestion declined."

Friends of White Flint does not advocate a “Turn in Your Car Day” as a prerequisite for purchasing any of the proposed condominiums. Area roads as they now exist are not adequate to accommodate what this and similar projects would bring in the way of traffic to add to existing over congestion. The green light for these projects only makes sense if the prospective condominium purchasers do not have cars for these walkable communities.

Right now, gridlock during rush hour on I-270 and I-495 produces a 15 mph crawl. That is the recipe for texting while standing in traffic and road rage. And, the state has no funds on hand to change that right now. In other words, both the state and the county lack the adequate public facilities to accommodate the congestion that will result from all of the radical transformations that investors and developers would like to bring to the 20852 zip code. New development will pull in more cars, SUVs, trucks, busses, motorcycles - even with development clustered around Metro.

Nearby subdivisions, like Windermere, which was developed between 1970 and 2000, only have about 200 homes. Tree lined streets attract many within the community to walk, exercise, meet neighbors and talk, and take their pets out for their three times a day ritual. Many are retired, and some work out of the house. A few of the residents use the RideOn to get to Metro. Some use Uber to get around. Most, however, drive because, they commute to and from work, they are soccer moms, or the children go to private schools. While the new nearby restaurants and theater are appealing, the relatively small condominiums are not viable move down options, and the added burden to already congested roads is reason to be concerned about the ramifications of overdevelopment of the White Flint Pike District Area.

"Reducing congestion is key to making travel reliable, improving quality of life, and spurring economic development," said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. The State of Maryland has no plans to take homes through eminent domain grabs to widen I-270 and I-495, but will be exerting its existing right of way to implement a $9 billion plan to widen the over congested roads that have resulted from years of rubber stamped development projects that outpaced the capacity of roads to handle additional traffic.

The cost to widen I-270 and I-495 would in part be funded by commuters paying tolls. There are toll roads in the U.S. owned by European-based corporations, which means money leaves this country, and it does not reinvest into the tax base to service public debt, or into the economy to stimulate businesses. That is economic death due to short term thinking to address only immediate needs. This is the selling of our birth rite as vested stakeholders, as North Bethesda residents, as taxpayers, and as citizens.

Governor Hogan's recent proposal for "Lexus lanes" as a solution, the public-private partnership toll roads for I-270 and I-495, is not only absurd, but evidence of poor fiscal planning and management. It's evidence of poor coordination between MNCP&PC and Annapolis. It's the worst form of sell out due to failure to actually plan ahead and lead.

Though they see and understand the problems, no one in the governor’s mansion, no one within MNCP&PC, and of course none of the investors in the REITs and LLCs are bowed down with shame.

This is the tenth article in a series on Windermere and community planning in North Bethesda.

Visit www.WindermereNeighbors.org