commuting time, destroy affordable
housing, demolish homes & businesses
The "new" members of the "new" 2018 Montgomery County Council faced their first test of loyalties Tuesday, as they voted on the controversial and unpopular Veirs Mill sector plan. Well, as I warned everyone during last year's election, the "new" Council proved to be just like the old Council, but worse. Without Marc Elrich on the body, all nine councilmembers voted for the pro-developer plan.
Gabe Albornoz, Evan Glass, Will Jawando and Hans Riemer all received thousands of dollars in developer contribution in 2018. And their "Yes!" votes yesterday were a thank-you to their developer sugar daddies for the hefty election help.
The plan will allow demolition of single-family homes and businesses along the Veirs Mill corridor between Wheaton and Rockville. Changes to the layout of Veirs Mill Road, reduced speed limits, reduction of left-turn lanes, and longer stoplights are estimated to extend travel times for commuters up to 35 additional minutes on the already-congested road. Single-family home and public recreation properties are rezoned for mixed-use, "town-center" urban-style development in the plan.
 |
| The developer-driven plan will allow clearcutting of this wonderful green space... |
 |
| ...and demolition of several homes behind it on Robindale Drive, Adrian Street and Weiss Street, replacing them with a steel-and-concrete urban town center development |
This is the same thing the Council is allowing to happen on Battery Lane and Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, where many people who can't afford market-rate single-family homes and newer apartments - but who make too much to qualify for MPDUs - currently live. They've already done it in Glenmont, where many residents of apartments like the wonderful Privacy World were forced out never to return to Glenmont.
 |
| The Council-approved plan allows this tree-lined green Montgomery County-owned property at 4010 Randolph Road to be redeveloped as a steel-and-concrete urban town center - and you can bet the Council will sell it to one of their developer sugar daddies at a sweetheart price! |
Even while failing to defend the interests of current homeowners, business owners and commuters who are paying record high taxes, the Council bizarrely found time to add a racially-charged political diatribe to the plan. To score political points, and create division among residents, the Council added a section that falsely claims racial covenants ensured the communities around Veirs Mill Road were white-only. In fact, enforcement of such covenants was banned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948.
The Veirs Mill sector plan as passed will displace thousands of residents, greatly increase traffic congestion, and radically transform the existing green, suburban character of Veirs Mill Road to a stifling corridor of vehicle exhaust and boxy steel-and-concrete Soviet apartment blocs. It was hard to believe that even some civic groups were fooled that the "new" Council would bring back residents' role in planning decisions, and not vote for this kind of pro-developer sector plan. Now it's just plan laughable.
You got steamrolled again.
You can't say I didn't warn you. And while media outlets like the Washington Post colluded with the Montgomery County cartel to prevent candidates like me from getting our message out, I certainly did notice the sheepish smiles of some "woke" voters who knew it was morally wrong to vote for Albornoz, Glass, Jawando and Riemer, who clearly did not represent the change they were claiming to seek in the planning process. Voting simply to ensure a sweep of all nine Council seats by one monopoly party was a really bad idea, now with tragic results for yet another Montgomery County community with this sector plan.
Next up: Aspen Hill. Fasten your seatbelts, folks.
I've never met someone so comically stuck in the past. Rundown areas like Westbard and Veirs Mill should see reinvestment; you being against that is idiotic.
ReplyDelete3;19: Demolition and corruption are not "reinvestment."
DeleteYay! This is great news.
ReplyDelete5:00: If you're a developer, yes.
DeleteWhat do you have against developers? Isn't your favorite president the greatest developer of all times?
DeleteRidiculous. I live in the condos across the street from St Jude's. It's a huge problem that despite excellent traffic and reasonably good demographics there is not much community amenity available at Randolph or Atlantic shopping areas. We've had many fatalities because Veirs Mill Rd is poorly designed for it's current uses. And the area would benefit greatly from more townhome and common ownership properties as proposed zoning in the plan indicates. If you'd been at the community meetings held in the area, you'd have heard specific concerns and worries, sure, but generally positive reaction to the VMSP and BRT.
ReplyDeleteWant a story? Ask Hans about the Veirs Mill/Twinbrook Bridge to Nowhere.
I do think we can make Veirs Mill safer without making an already horrible commute worse for drivers. Cyclists and pedestrians also have to do their part and obey the laws that apply to them, as well.
DeleteI not only was at several of the meetings, but I also reported on them on this website. The final plan looks a lot like the one the County first floated, which doesn't reflect much community input.
I agree that bridge is a waste. The Montrose Parkway should be extended under Veirs Mill to Connecticut Avenue (as proposed decades ago), and take the Henson trail alongside it under Veirs Mill. That would make a 100% safe crossing for trail users, and be cheaper as part of the larger project rather than a separate capital expense.