Mall Expansion Wins Approval
Westfield Plan Reflects Compromises

By Michael Tunison
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Montgomery County Planning Board last week unanimously approved a revised proposal for the expansion of Westfield Montgomery after the developer and several communities surrounding the mall reached a compromise on issues relating to transportation, pedestrian safety and the size of a parking garage.

As a result of negotiations with the Montgomery Mall Citizens Advisory Panel, which represents 15 communities around the 60-acre property at Democracy Boulevard and Westlake Drive, the developer, Westfield Group, agreed to decrease the number of mall access points along Westlake Drive. Other changes include adding a three-foot-wide bike lane on both sides of Westlake Drive between Westlake Terrace and Democracy Boulevard, along with a one-foot shoulder. An eight-foot-wide bike path will be added along the east side of the road, along with a five-foot-wide sidewalk on the west side and an eight-foot-wide raised median or a 10-foot-wide left-turn lane.

"The developer has said they want to compete with Tysons Corner," West Spring Condominium resident Beth Landing told the Planning Board last Thursday. "Nobody lives there, and we don't want to either," she added, referring to the Northern Virginia shopping mall's reputation for being traffic-clogged and not pedestrian-friendly.

Residents had also complained about a parking garage along Westlake Drive, saying that its appearance was a blight to the neighborhood and asking for more street-front retail space. Westfield responded by scaling back the garage almost by half and designing a more pleasing facade. With the scaled-back garage, the mall would still have more than 7,000 parking spaces, which developers said they believe is sufficient.

"All in all, we're pretty happy with how they responded and worked with us," said Pete Downes, president of the citizens advisory committee. "The community, because of the covenants in place, had significant leverage with the developer, and I believe this helped us get many of the demands that we had."

Some Planning Board members said they also were pleased with the process. "I think it's significant how much you've worked with the community," board member Jean Cryor told Westfield representatives.

The $350 million expansion of Westfield Montgomery, in the works for three years and initially approved in 2005 at 500,000 square feet of additional retail space, has been reduced over time to 360,000 square feet. That space includes 25,000 square feet at the adjoining Westlake Crossing shopping center, which Westfield acquired this year.

With the expansion, Westfield Montgomery will have 1.6 million square feet, making it the fourth-largest mall in the region, behind Tysons Corner Center, Springfield Mall and Fair Oaks Mall.

The plan calls for an expansion of the Macy's department store, relocating the Sears Automotive Center and adding an outdoor civic space and promenade, with a U-shaped row of restaurants facing a tree-lined parking lot and with an area for a farmers market. The developer originally had planned to include a theater complex but scrapped those plans after determining that the demand for movie theaters has dropped in recent years.

Westlake said the expansion will generate about $10 million annually in additional tax revenue from an increase of $200 million in sales and will produce about 1,000 construction jobs. When the expansion is completed, it will offer 400 full-time jobs and 200 part-time positions.

To make room for the promenade, the developer is replacing the existing transit center near the intersection of Westlake Terrace and Westlake Drive with a new six-bay bus transit center near Westlake Drive and Interstate 270. Residents complained that the new location, which would be farther removed from housing, would be an inconvenience to many residents, as well as to Walter Johnson High School students who live too close to the school to receive bus service and who have come to rely on the transit center to get to school.

A dozen representatives from citizen groups testified at the Planning Board's meeting Thursday, many echoing concerns on road congestion and pedestrian safety.

A persistent issue was the county's proposal to change a three-way turn lane at the southbound intersection of Westlake Drive and Democracy Boulevard to a right-turn only lane.

"The county's proposal is unacceptable to us," said Alan M. Ehrlich, president of the board of Westlake Park Condominium "A".

"At peak times -- rush hours and holiday shopping -- traffic backs way up Westlake Drive, and most of the cars are turning left. Channeling more cars into the left lane will cause longer backups, certainly all the way to Westfield's new garage entrance, if not further," Ehrlich said.