Officials Say Tower Doesn't Fit Outline For Area, Won't Rule Out New Proposal
By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008;
B06
The Montgomery County Planning Board late yesterday unanimously rejected a developer's proposal to add a 16-story office tower to the Bethesda Metro center, saying that it didn't fit in with long-standing county plans for the area and would crowd its neighbors.
But the panel agreed that the proposal by Meridian Group had sparked a long overdue conversation about the plaza and the subway station, saying both are sorely in need of an upgrade. And the board left the door open for Meridian to come back with a different proposal.
"The plaza and the bus area desperately need attention," said Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson. "They are not working for the community in the way they should. I think this particular project also had problems that would need to be worked out." Hanson said the building would have been too close to a neighboring office tower.
Board member Jean Cryor said that she is willing to see more development on the site but that the proposal "overshot the mark. I am not opposed to seeing more development right there. I think it has to happen. . . . But this building a couple of feet away from another building isn't it. It just isn't it."
The seven-hour hearing included accusations from three Washington area real estate giants that the county's planning staff skewed its analysis to try to win approval of the 246,000-square-foot building that would have replaced a shuttered low-rise food court.
Supporters of the project said it was a needed "smart growth" addition that would provide more office space in the tight Bethesda office market and without requiring new parking garage.
Among those backing the Meridian plan was former Maryland governor Parris N. Glendening (D), who sat patiently in the audience before testifying that the proposal is "an exemplary redevelopment of an unutilized parcel that will significantly advance 'smart growth' practices." He is now a developer.
Office workers for American Capital Strategies, the company that is slated to be the principal tenant, would be encouraged to take public transportation or use existing parking spaces in two nearby garages, Meridian attorney Robert Harris said. The company also promised to fix up the Metro entrance and spend $2 million to improve the plaza's public areas.
Harris and Meridian said the opponents were concerned mostly about their "penthouse views" from the three nearby office towers they occupy.
But opponents representing Chevy Chase Bank, Chevy Chase Land Co. and Clark Enterprises said the tower occupies space that was supposed to be left open for public use and would reduce sunlight and particularly crowd the Clark building. They said allowing its construction would violate rules they followed when they built their nearby offices and ignore a plan for the area created more than a decade ago with substantial public input.
They also questioned Meridian's willingness to make good on promises to improve the site, saying the company failed to spruce up the plaza several years ago despite agreeing to do so when the planning board allowed the company to close a popular skating rink.
At times, the marathon session, which started after lunch and stretched into the night, seemed more like a courtroom debate than a discussion over planning. Both sides have said that no matter how the planning board ruled, the dispute was probably headed for court.
Harris said after the hearing that he will consult with Meridian officials before deciding the next steps.
"Obviously it is disappointing," he said. "They have a lot of different messages, but it is good that they agree that something needs to be done there."
Ed Asher of Chevy Chase Land Co. and Robert Flanagan of Clark Enterprises said they would try to push the companies on both sides to get together to try to improve the plaza and Metro station.
"We have always been open to that," Asher said.
During the hearing, the opponents offered expert testimony from John Westbrook, a nationally recognized planner who helped the county determine the original design for downtown Bethesda two decades ago.
Westbrook said he would support fixing the plaza and perhaps constructing a building but was worried that the planning board might ignore rules that call first for formal revision of the overall plan. "You will drive a stake in the heart of Bethesda," he said before the vote.
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