FLOG – the Friends of White Flint Blog

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Magazine/March-April-2012/In-Like-Flint/index.php?cparticle=1&siarticle=0#artanc

Bike sharing is a new concept similar to Zip-Car and other automobile-sharing programs. You rent a bike for a period of time from a public location and return it when you’re done. Red bike sharing sites are popping up across the Washington area.

In Montgomery County, bike sharing programs are envisioned in Rockville and Shady Grove. The new White Flint, with its increased bicycle-friendly mobility structure, would also be a good place for bike sharing.

Now the Montgomery County Dept. of Transportation is soliciting comments on new bike sharing locations. Here’s their announcement:

Bikesharing Locations: Your Input Needed

 The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) invites public input on bikesharing locations and opportunities in the area of the county stretching from the D.C. line to the Beltway along the Metrorail Red Line including, Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Forest Glen, & Wheaton on the East Leg, and Friendship Heights, Bethesda, and Medical Center along the West Leg.

 Public Forum: Please attend a public open house on Tuesday, November 29, from 6:00pm–8:30pm, to provide your comments on the County’s grant application to the Maryland Department of Transportation to obtain funding for this bikesharing initiative. The event will take place in the lobby auditorium of the Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe Street in Rockville, a short walk from the Metrorail Red Line’s Rockville station.

 What to Expect: The meeting will consist of a short presentation on bikesharing and an open house to solicit input on locations for bikesharing stations in that area.

 Background: This effort is part of a larger MCDOT initiative to institute bikesharing throughout Montgomery County to increase options for non-automobile travel.

 Questions: Email mcdot.CommuterServices@montgomerycountymd.gov.

 McDoT, with its “auto is king” mentality, has long been a thorn in the side of New Urbanism activists, putting, for example, nearly-useless surface parking lots in White Flint when there are lots of other possibilities. http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/2010/04/28/from-the-people-who-brought-you-more-surface-parking-in-white-flint/

It’s good to see McDoT waking up to alternatives to the car.

Barnaby Zall

In June, the Montgomery County Department of General Services held two meetings to receive public input on the location and exact description of the public amenities proposed in the White Flint Sector Plan. http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/2011/05/23/white-flint-charettes-june-1-16/. The charettes followed months of controversy about the consulting contract, and especially the cost. http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/2011/04/12/do-you-know-who-youre-hiring-april-11-meeting-of-white-flint-implementation-committee/, http://blog.friendsofwhiteflint.org/2011/04/13/diane-schwartz-jones-responds-to-concerns-about-public-amenities-charette-process/.

The consulting contract was for $100,000. The report was finally released today, and can be found at:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/DGS/DBDC/RegionalProjectPages/BethesdaProjects/Resources/WF-Final-Report.pdf.

The report is brief, with 15 pages and lots of tables in the appendices, but essentially boils down to a list of features requested by residents, with some comments by the county agencies and property owners who will have to build and maintain the amenities. Notably, the “wish list” of features in the tables in the appendices are not coordinated with the property owners’ development plans; for example, the residents asked for “children’s sailing ponds,” which last night’s White Flint Mall presentation showed would likely already be available in the “Piazza” portion of the 43.5 acre site.

Still, there are some interesting suggestions in the report.

Barnaby Zall

From Nkosi Yearwood, chief planner for White Flint:

The November meeting of the White Flint Implementation Advisory is scheduled for Monday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Wall Local Park (5900 Executive Blvd). The proposed sketch plan for White Flint Mall is the main agenda item.

Nkosi Yearwood (c) chairing April 11 WFIC meeting, with (from left) Mike Coveyou of the County Executive's Office, Jacob Sesker of the Planning Department and Dave Freishtat, Co-Chair of WFIC (and FoWF Board Member)

Barnaby Zall

The Friends of White Flint Board of Directors decided last night to hold a meeting to discuss the future of the organization and its web sites. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held on Monday, October 24, at 7PM, at the offices of Federal Realty, 1626 East Jefferson in Rockville.

February 16 FoWF Board Meeting

Councilmember Nancy Floreen (L), Dan Hoffman and the Hoffman kids at the "White Flint Is Open For Business" Celebration

Suzanne Hudson, FoWF Co-Chair for Residents

Nkosi Yearwood (c) chairing April 11 WFIC meeting, with (from left) Mike Coveyou of the County Executive's Office, Jacob Sesker of the Planning Department and Dave Freishtat, Co-Chair of WFIC (and FoWF Board Member)

Prior to the meeting, Federal Realty will be presenting some changes in its plans for Mid-Pike Plaza. Not sure what they are, but Evan Goldman suggests that they are “minor.” Federal Realty is seeking community input on the changes before offering them to the Planning Board for review.

Artist's Rendition of planned Mid-Pike Plaza, courtesty Federal Realty

And after the meeting, the Friends of White Flint Board of Directors will hold a brief, informal meeting to discuss a process for considering and evaluating various proposals for the community organization’s interaction with the County government and the Planning Board. Some have suggested that the website whiteflint.org be operated by, or in conjunction with, the County; others have proposed that FoWF itself become closer to one or more County agencies.

Reaction to the proposals has been mixed. County Councilmembers and others who have reacted to these plans have cautioned against losing the organization’s independent voice. So the FoWF Board is trying to determine how to proceed on these suggestions. Tuesday’s meeting will just determine whether a FoWF meeting is warranted and set a schedule.

Barnaby Zall

Today’s Washington Post has an extensive Business section article on the history and planning for the revitalization of Tysons Corner Center in Fairfax County, Virginia. The article explains that Tysons blossomed from the confluence of several trends: regional retail magnets, booming government contracting businesses, and a lack of zoning that permitted the car to remain king.

Tysons Corner -- from BeyondDC.com

From the beginnings of the White Flint Sector Plan in 2006, many of us involved in the planning process for White Flint looked to Tysons for lessons, both good and bad. The report of the Montgomery County Planning Board’s White Flint Advisory Group was expressly modeled on a similar report from a similar citizens’ group looking at Tysons’ plans for renovation.

Many of the same concepts appear in both Plans: mixed-use developments; transit-centered planning and a reduction in the role of the automobile; sustainability; and more attention to pedestrian safety and convenience. Both Plans want to retain the retail engine that drives the local economy while building new communities. Some of the same faces are behind both Plans, notably the Lerner Corporation, which launched Tysons Corner Center in the 1960′s and is helping to drive the White Flint Plan today.

Francine Waters, Lerner Representative to Friends of White Flint

And there are major differences between the two: Tysons is much bigger. Tysons features new Metro lines, a massive investment designed to help remedy a woeful dependence on the automobile. White Flint expressly integrates the surrounding communities.

But perhaps one major difference can explain a lot: Tysons does not have the unified group of major landowners that White Flint does. As a result, White Flint is built on a new “skeleton” of roads and infrastructure, essentially remaking the area. Tysons, despite having new Metro assets, still fights with developers about breaking up the “superblocks” that are the main impediment to pedestrian safety and convenience. As a result, White Flint is much more pedestrian-friendly, much more likely to ease traffic congestion, and perhaps much more likely to gain the spark of spontaneous combustion to generate the feeling of a new town.

So it will be interesting to see what happens as Tysons spends a lot of its energy on internal friction, where White Flint can be more nimble. It’s an old story: big inertia providing the impetus to power through obstacles vs the smaller, but more flexible competitor. Apple vs IBM, anyone?

Barnaby Zall

Thank you to everyone who has attended one of the Preliminary and Site Plan presentations about Federal Realty’s upcoming redevelopment of Mid-Pike Plaza.  We appreciate the community support that we have received for our plan, and we are excited to deliver a new place to live, work, shop, dine, and be entertained in the heart of Montgomery County.  For those who have not had a chance to see our presentation, we have made the slides available at:
http://www.federalrealty.com/media/leasing_kit_documents/Mid-Pike-Site-Plan-Presentation.pdf

Thanks for your continued support, and we look forward sharing more as our plans evolve.

Best,

Tommy Mann, Federal Realty Investment Trust
midpike@federalrealty.com