By Donna Baron.
The Gaithersburg West Master Plan proposes 20 million square feet of commercial space and 9 million square feet of residential space on an area of about one and a half square miles. It is difficult to visualize what that might look like. The Pentagon has 6.6 million square feet of gross floor space. If 29 million square feet is divided by 6.6 million square feet, the answer is 4.4 Pentagons in a congested suburban area between Shady Grove Road and Muddy Branch Road, five miles from the nearest Metro station.
Why does the County think we need four and a half Pentagons in our established suburban area? Johns Hopkins Real Estate wants to build a gigantic high-rise commercial complex for 15,000 – 20,000 people on a beautiful historic property, Belward Farm, which was sold to them for a gift price to build a minimally intrusive medical or academic campus. In order to accommodate Johns Hopkins’ massive plans, the County has declared the area “urban” and is rezoning the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center and Belward Farm for a high-density, high-rise “live, work, play” complex.
To accommodate the 60,000 to 80,000 people proposed by the Gaithersburg West Master Plan, the Corridor Cities Transitway will be built to carry about 12 % - 15% of the people, and for the remaining 85% who will be in their cars, there will be six- and eight-lane highways and 10- and 12-lane multilevel highway interchanges...immediately adjacent to residential neighborhoods. Johns Hopkins’ self-serving plans would overwhelm the community and gridlock the roads.
The residents have been saying for over two years the Gaithersburg West Master Plan does not make sense and needs to be scaled back. Phil Andrews and Marc Elrich have said repeatedly that the plan does not make sense and needs to be scaled back. Now the Cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville have said the plan does not make sense. We can see the obvious errors in the transportation analysis and the fiscal analysis, but Councilmembers Knapp, Floreen and Leventhal refuse to budge. They appear ready to risk the wrath of the voters in the fall in order to approve this master plan.
Those of us who see the plan as fundamentally flawed have asked that it be sent back to the Planning Board to be scaled back and rewritten honestly and accurately. We have been asking for honesty and accuracy for over two years, but we have been met with arrogance and a blatant disregard for the concerns of the residents.
Donna Baron
Coordinator
The Gaithersburg - North Potomac - Rockville Coalition
www.scale-it-back.com
Friday, March 19, 2010
Gaithersburg West – A Total Lack of Good Sense
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
The Science City: A Massive Growth Community
By Donna Baron.
Once again, Johns Hopkins (JHU) tries to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Let’s deconstruct Elaine Amir’s missive on the features of JHU’s massive proposed development on Belward Farm and the “Science City”, now referred to as the “Shady Grove Science Center” that will be created by the Gaithersburg West Master Plan.
The claim that this development is “smart growth” has been debunked so many times by Smart Growth advocates I won’t even bother to reiterate all their points.
Elaine waxes on about the walkable-bikeable neighborhoods created by the monstrous Science City development. She fails to mention, however, that the area would be divided into five distinct parts separated by six- and eight-lane highways, the central feature being a ten- or twelve-lane multi-level highway interchange.
The razzle-dazzle about the “New Plan is a Huge Improvement over the Current Master Plan” tries to disguise the fact that under the current master plan there would be a total of 38,000 workers in the Life Sciences Center. Whereas under the “new and improved” Science City there would be at least 40,000 additional workers and residents for a total of over 60,000 people in the less than two-square-mile area. When our roads and schools are already over-crowded, that can hardly be considered an improvement.
Elaine uses the euphemism “some taller buildings” on Belward Farm instead of saying their buildings will be up to 150 feet tall, even though the high-density development on the farm, expected to accommodate 15,000 people on the historic 107-acre Civil War-era farm, is immediately adjacent to three residential neighborhoods.
JHU has requested that the Corridor Cities Transit (CCT) traverse the farm and travel out onto Muddy Branch Road. That would require a twelve-lane multi-level highway interchange at the corner of Muddy Branch Road and Great Seneca Highway which is surrounded by four residential neighborhoods. I have seen the footprint of this interchange and it is massive. It will result in the loss of homes and will require the redesign of at least two of the neighborhoods.
In addition to the above havoc at this intersection, the installation of railroad-style gates may be required at the entrances to two of the neighborhoods in order to facilitate the passing of the CCT.
Elaine mentions the CCT and its importance in handling the resulting traffic from 40,000 additional people. Quite to the contrary, the CCT will not be the magic carpet it is touted to be. See “The Gaithersburg West Master Plan and the Magic Carpet.”
Elaine says there will be no permanent housing on Belward Farm. There will be 300 “temporary housing units”. She said earlier the housing would be for people who are visiting for seminars. JHU will maintain 300 housing units for people who might or might not choose to stay on Belward for seminars? Sounds fishy to me.
Elaine refers to the “parks” on the perimeter of the Belward Farm development...Muddy Branch “Park” and Darnestown “Park.” Muddy Branch Road is adjacent to the farm and is scheduled to be widened to a six-lane highway to accommodate the resulting traffic. Also, JHU is requesting that the Corridor Cities Transit (CCT) traverse the farm and travel out onto Muddy Branch Road. The buffer along Muddy Branch Road is now scheduled to be 300 feet. No definitive answer has been given as to whether the 300 foot buffer will be used to widen the road or accommodate the alignment for the CCT. Also, having recreational fields in a strip along Muddy Branch Road which will be a six-lane highway seems less than bucolic.
The Darnestown Road “park” is a 60 foot buffer between a six-lane highway and high-rise buildings. This is almost as inviting as the “linear parks,” otherwise known as median strips, planned for Key West Avenue which is scheduled to be widened to eight lanes.
Elaine mentions the “street grid” within the Science City that will disburse the traffic... if the traffic still has to come out onto the six- and eight-lane highways that surround each part of the Science City, I fail to see how a few internal cross-streets will disburse the traffic. Also, the Smart Growth advocates have said the “blocks” created by the cross-streets are too big to be walkable so essentially the cross-streets were inserted to accommodate more buildings.
One of the “major recreational features” touted for the Science City is the LSC Loop which is a combination of roads around the Science City. The Loop will have twenty intersections which would involve crossing the eight-lane highway twice and the six-lane highway twice. I doubt that many people would want to risk life and limb to use the Loop for recreational purposes.
On to the assertion that “The Community’s Voice has been Heard in Crafting this Plan.” Johns Hopkins Real Estate did hold a series of community meetings and then announced in December that they would build 4.6 to 6.5 million square feet of space in 12- to 15-story high-rise buildings for 15,000 people. I attended those community meetings and I don’t recall anyone requesting that the farm be filled with high-rise buildings for 15,000 people.
To the contrary, we knew Johns Hopkins had purchased the farm for a fraction of its value by accepting restrictions in the deed. We assumed they would abide by the deed restrictions and fulfill the wishes of the former owner, Elizabeth Banks, whom Elaine Amir knew very well. It was Ms. Banks’ wish, and understanding, that Johns Hopkins would build a minimally intrusive medical or educational campus that would carry on the legacy of Belward Farm, a farm that had been in her family for over 100 years. Instead, Johns Hopkins has chosen to completely ignore the deed restrictions and her wishes to build a massive high-rise, high-density commercial complex that will dwarf the historic buildings and the surrounding neighborhoods as well as create gridlock on our roads.
Needless to say, there is wide-spread opposition to the Gaithersburg West Master Plan, the Science City (aka the “Shady Grove Science Center”) and to Johns Hopkins’ plans for Belward Farm. A website has been set up to monitor the plans and to disseminate information to the community: www.scale-it-back.com
Donna H. Baron
Coordinator
The Gaithersburg - North Potomac - Rockville Coalition
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Gaithersburg West Master Plan and the Magic Carpet
By Donna Baron.
The Gaithersburg West Master Plan is by all accounts unique among master plan nightmares. Not only has the Montgomery County Planning Board proposed to bury a large portion of the county in traffic, it is also permitting Johns Hopkins Real Estate to destroy one of the most beautiful Civil War-era farms left in the county, Belward Farm. In order to create a “Science City”, this plan will bring 40,000 more workers plus the residents of 5,000 multi-family housing units to an area that is less than two square miles, is already highly congested and is located five miles from the nearest Metro station.
Belward Farm
To justify these phenomenal numbers, the County and Johns Hopkins Real Estate announced that our established residential suburban community would become an urban “transit oriented development”. To effect this abrupt change, the County has rolled out 45-year-old plans for the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT), a rapid-bus that will meander through the area. Granted, the CCT would be a nice addition to our transit options, but the County, the developers and the politicians portray it as the magic carpet that will solve all of our transportation problems while allowing unlimited increases in density.
However, many areas of Montgomery County offer special challenges to those who would seek to increase transit ridership. The Planning Board and the developers have spent the past 50 years creating auto-dependant subdivisions filled with cul-de-sacs and limited access to secondary roads. Residents cannot get out of their subdivisions without their cars, so in order to go anywhere they have to think about where they will park their cars.
Curly Streets and Cul-de-Sacs
To make matters worse, the Planning Board, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to limit parking near the CCT stations. If residents cannot get out of their subdivisions without their cars and then must drive to the CCT, where will they put their cars once they get there? My guess is that they will drive to their destination rather than to the CCT.
Another troubling aspect of the proposal for the CCT is that the County has said it will be necessary to propose the addition of approximately 50,000 people to the “Science City” in order to secure funding for the CCT. However, the CCT is only expected to carry 15% of the population leaving 85% of the added population in their cars. This works out to be about 42,500 additional cars destined for the already congested roads in Gaithersburg, North Potomac, Rockville and Potomac.
To handle the 42,500 extra cars, the Planning Board has proposed six- and eight-lane highways around and through the “Science City”, complete with multi-level highway interchanges. And the state is examining options for I-270 north of I-370. However, these super highways will do little to mitigate the traffic on the other roads throughout the area. There is no assurance that the two-lane roads and the rural roads won’t be hopelessly clogged with traffic. Further, there is no assurance that those who live in the many subdivisions will even be able to get out of their subdivisions given the greatly increased level of traffic on the secondary roads.
And to make matters even worse, Johns Hopkins Real Estate is using the “Science City” and the CCT to justify building monstrous high-rises for 15,000 people on the pristine 107-acre Belward Farm despite their promises to the former owner, and despite the deed restrictions they accepted in order to purchase the farm for a fraction of its value. Even though Belward Farm is immediately adjacent to three established residential neighborhoods, JHU’s proposed high-rise commercial complex will have the density of a downtown area near a Metro station complete with 150-foot buildings.
In a suburban area where it is highly unlikely that most of the residents will be able to stop driving their cars, how can the addition of 42,500 cars on six- and eight-lane highways, with multi-level highway interchanges, be called a transit oriented development even if there is access to a rapid-bus?
It is easy to get lost in the circular reasoning used to justify the various and seemingly veiled objectives of the Gaithersburg West Master Plan. But it is clear that this plan needs to be rewritten in an honest, straight-forward manner with development that is in scale with our community, infrastructure that is appropriate for a suburban setting, and plans for Belward Farm that will respect and maintain the character of the farm. The opposition to this master plan is so widespread a website called www.scale-it-back.com has been created by civic and community organizations to voice our objections and offer alternatives.
Finally, to quote Royce Hanson, Chairman of the Planning Board, “Development of great centers need not occur at the expense of existing communities.” If only he and his Planning Board colleagues supported these words in deed.
Belward Farm and the "Science City" from a Presentation by Johns Hopkins Real Estate
Donna H. Baron, Coordinator
The Gaithersburg - North Potomac - Rockville Coalition
www.scale-it-back.com
