Bethesda Zoning Dispute Is Case Of Goliath vs., Well, Goliath

Harris says Meridian already has the right to build.

Taking a page from community activists' playbook, the opponents said in numerous filings with the planning board and in interviews that their clients are the unhappy victims of an aggressive and secretive development company trying to end-run the master plan.

"There is no more density available," said Gus Bauman, a former planning board chairman who represents Chevy Chase Land Co.

Bauman, along with attorney Jody Kline, who represents Clark, and Harry Lerch, who represents Chevy Chase Bank and whose own office is in the building slated for demolition, have accused Meridian and Harris of secretly trying to hatch a deal with the planning agency more than four years ago to ensure approval of the project. They also suggest that Meridian is responsible for killing off what life there was in the plaza by pushing out tenants at the now-closed food court.

"Everyone built their projects according to the official plan and oriented our buildings towards the open area. They are saying, 'Oh, to heck with that.' This is a case of homicide, and we didn't see it coming," Bauman said.

If county plans must be changed to allow construction at the site, the public process, which can involve extensive hearings, should be followed, Bauman added. Some staff at the planning agency have suggested in memos that the opponents' reading of the rules is correct, and that a major revision of longstanding official plans would be needed to allow the building.

The opponents also have found support among tenants in nearby buildings who have written to say a tower would cut off their light and affect the quality of their work life. But others who work nearby have written in favor of the project.

The next step is up to the planning board, whose top attorney is reviewing briefs from both sides.

Rollin Stanley, the county's new planning director, is eager to promote new thinking about how best to use the undeveloped space that remains in Montgomery. He had proposed a public gathering to solicit ideas about reinvigorating the plaza. But the lawyers so far have delayed that, instead asking that the planning agency first formally answer the basic legal question: Does Meridian have the right to build anything so large on the plaza?