Plan for Condos Rankles Neighbors

Parking at Issue In Silver Spring

Five years ago, Charles Segerman and Robert Middleton were among the urban homesteaders who settled in Cameron Hill, a 57-unit townhouse community a block from the Silver Spring Metro.

They -- and county officials who backed the project -- bet that having homeowners downtown would help turn Silver Spring around.

Time has largely proved them right. New restaurants, shops and the AFI Silver Theatre have opened just blocks way. Segerman and Middleton worked to build a community. Segerman, owner of the North Bethesda real estate developer Tower Cos., helped develop the nearby Blair Towers. Middleton became chairman of the Silver Spring Urban District Advisory Board.

But now, Segerman, Middleton and several other Cameron Hill residents, along with the proprietors of Cubanos restaurant, find themselves at odds with county officials over a proposed condominium development on their doorstep.

At issue are plans for a 13-story condominium on Fidler Lane called the Portico Project. The high-rise building will replace a .65-acre surface parking lot with 158 units -- 24 of them moderately priced. The sale prices for the Portico have yet to be worked out, said Leith Wain, president of the Patriot Group, the developer of the project. But the Patriot Group is marketing comparable-quality lofts on Newell Street in downtown Silver Spring for about $355,000.

Opponents of the project said the proposed structure is too large and is out of proportion with its immediate neighbors.

"It's not a question of fighting development but building something compatible with the neighborhood," Segerman said.

Middleton said residents preferred Patriot's original proposal for a six-story building with 68 units.

Patriot Group officials, however, are moving forward with the 13-story design with the blessing of county officials and the planning board, which approved the project plans in September.

"The policy has been for the greatest density to be in the core of downtown, closest to Metro. This is a block from Metro, so it's in keeping with policy," said Gary Stith, director of the county's Silver Spring Regional Center.

The project "is complementary to the range of community and residential characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood," the planning board staff concurred in a September report.

Segerman and his neighbors, however, plan to appeal the planning board's decision. "Smart growth doesn't mean unlimited development by Metro stations. It is building within the capacity of the infrastructure that is there," Segerman said.

By infrastructure, Segerman and his neighbors mean parking.

The Patriot Group plans to furnish 89 below-ground parking spaces, including 20 spaces for which the developer will have to secure a right of way from the county.