The new dealership site would be at the vacant BAE Systems property, located at 4115 Aspen Hill Road. If approved, the dealership would be a win for businesses in the nearby commerical area of Aspen Hill, which the BAE site is right on the border of behind Home Depot and Dunkin' Donuts. Anyone who has bought a car, or had their car serviced at a dealership, knows there can be quite a bit of downtime in either situation. Walking less than a block to buy a donut or hamburger is a likely move for many such customers.
A dealership would also be a satisfying short-term defeat for the Montgomery County political cartel, which imagined multi-family housing for this site. They utilized the interest of Walmart in the property as a poison pill, to convince residents to endorse mixed-use or multi-family housing from a favored developer, who just might have made a political contribution or two. Instead, the property will now revert to a very traditional Aspen Hill commercial use, recalling the vintage dealerships located along Georgia Avenue during the golden age of Aspen Hill and Glenmont.
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| Current site of Lindsay Ford in purple on left side of Veirs Mill Road, with maximum height of 100' in sector plan |
The Lindsay Ford move would leave another shoe to drop - - the future redevelopment of the current dealership site, located at 11250 Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton. That property was given a maximum height of 100' and a Floor Area Ratio of 3.0 in the Wheaton sector plan approved by the Montgomery County Council in 2012.
"A dealership would also be a satisfying short-term defeat for the Montgomery County political cartel"
ReplyDeleteSpeak for yourself, Robert. No one else has this insane, obsessive, unending grudge that you do.
More shuffling of auto dealers. Wheaton had a bunch before. Dodge used to be here.
ReplyDelete"[T]he Montgomery County political cartel...utilized the interest of Walmart in the property as a poison pill, to convince residents to endorse mixed-use or multi-family housing..."
ReplyDeleteThat's very different from how you portrayed it three years ago - the MoCo Cartel conspiring against WalMart, contrary to the wishes of MoCo residents.
"...from a favored developer, who just might have made a political contribution or two."
This kind of baseless speculation and innuendo totally falls within the bounds of journalistic ethics...oh, yes it does...
2:51: It's exactly the same as what I said 2 years ago. MoCo cartel didn't want Walmart. Used Walmart as poison pill to preserve this land for mixed-use residential. They absolutely did conspire against Walmart. Walmart could have sued if they wanted to, after the Council passed their anti-Walmart bill.
DeleteUsing Walmart "as a poison pill" would not work unless residents of the meighborhood were already massively opposed to having one in their neighborhood.
DeleteOr do you not know what the phrase "poison pill" actually means?
7:38: No kidding - that's why they used it as a poison pill. "Agree to what we're proposing, or you get Walmart."
DeleteI live in Aspen Hill. About .2 miles from this site. Nobody wanted a Walmart because nobody wanted that kind of traffic going through Aspen Hill Rd which was already busy. There was no "poison pill". People just don't want a Walmart in the middle of their neighborhood. You're such a drama queen.
Delete9:26: No one disputes that a very large group of people in Aspen Hill did not want Walmart. The question is, why was Walmart proposed? Answer: To make those upset residents agree to a mixed-use for the Vitro site. The developer did not want to be chained to office use. Walmart was a poison pill - either he would get a damn good deal from Walmart, or the poison pill would get him the best scenario, mixed-use residential.
DeleteThe best part is, while he got that mixed-use zoning, there was apparently no demand in the market, and it now ends up as a car dealership.
Who calls someone a "drama queen," anyway? Sounds very similar to our usual MoCo cartel troll on here.
The Council has made it clear they don't want a second Walmart anywhere in the county.
ReplyDelete"...from a favored developer, who just might have made a political contribution or two."
ReplyDeleteYour conspiracy makes no sense, Robert. Lee Development - the owner of the Aspen Hill site that you feel was screwed out of Walmart by the council - is a contributor to multiple councilmember campaigns. If anything, you're proving the opposite of what you claim (which seems to be a recurring theme of yours).
4:57: It's safe to say that firms like EYA hold more power over the Council today than Lee Development. Otherwise, they would have put their ideological hate for Walmart aside and rammed the Walmart through to please Blair Lee. They imagine an urban Aspen Hill. Fortunately, we're likely to have a new Council by the time they vote on the next Aspen Hill plan.
Delete"Otherwise, they would have put their ideological hate for Walmart aside and rammed the Walmart through to please Blair Lee."
DeleteI love how you skip over the obvious answer: the council does what it thinks is best for the county even when the negatively affected developer is a campaign contributor.
12:18: You'll have a hard time convincing anyone this comment wasn't posted from a Council office computer. LOL
DeleteIt wasn't. LOL
Delete"A dealership would also be a satisfying short-term defeat for the Montgomery County political cartel, which imagined multi-family housing for this site."
ReplyDeleteOnce again we find Mr. Dyer rooting against the interests of County residents in service of his personal grudge. (You don't think multifamily home dwellers would patronize a Dunkin Donuts?)
Meanwhile booming, transit-oriented upper Rockville is replacing moribund car dealerships with -- you guessed it -- multifamily housing.
12:12: Meanwhile, moribund Century Ford walking distance to Town Center and Rockville Metro was replaced by...Roy Rogers. LOL
DeleteSuburbs 1 Urbanization 0
Holy moly, they put in a restaurant? Total suburb move. As everybody knows, people in mixed-use areas don't eat.
DeleteReality 1 Dyer 0
Why does the Council hate Walmart so much? Even if you wouldn't shop there, having one in the neighborhood means more competition, so Giant, Safeway, Teeter, etc. have to be more competitive in prices.
ReplyDeleteThe council's stance against Walmart could be a reflection of county residents' preferences. Or it could be in reaction to the fact that Walmart's low wages are subsidized by public assistance funds.
DeleteA wealthy councilman living in luxury housing blocking affordable food, clothing and household goods is bad optics.
DeleteI've never seen a survey of county residents against Walmart. The Milestone location is packed.
5:33 PM - But Robert Dyer called the proposal to put a WalMart at the Vitro site a "poison pill", which seems to indicate that WalMart is extremely unpopular with the residents of Aspen Hill.
Delete12:10: If it wasn't at the start, the Council made sure it was by the time it counted. When you realize the environmental impact of a car dealership is far higher than a Walmart, you realize you've just been played by the tools on the County Council (even though the last thing in the world the Council wanted was a car dealership - God help me, I do love it so [pumps fist]).
DeleteBut Dyer... If you say that a proposal to build a Walmart at that site was being used as a "poison pill", that would necessarily mean that the residents do not want a Walmart.
ReplyDeleteWhich contradicts your earlier claim that County residents were denied their God-given right to shop at Walmart.
@ 12:58 AM - Dyer always tries to have his cake and eat it too. He can't type more than a few words before his arguments become wildly self-contradictory.
Delete#FractallyWrong
Robert Dyer eats his cake, then yells up to Mom upstairs that Hans Riemer stole his cake.
Delete2:08: Hey, troll, you forgot that your other character uses the "fractally wrong" phrase on my Bethesda blog. Can we speak to "Anna" now? LOL
DeleteYou deleted my defense.
DeleteYou are happy to infer that I'm fake and a liar, then you delete my reply that i'm not.
Why would you do that?
I'm a middle-aged woman who has lived/worked here since 1963. I call you out when you fudge numbers and when you call your opinions "facts."
I'm appalled at your campaign to discredit me for absolutely no reason.
7:17: A "campaign?" That better describes your efforts to disrupt and defame. The problem with your fake crusade explanation is that I don't "fudge numbers and call opinions 'facts.'" Even if somebody did "fudge numbers," that wouldn't give you the right to stalk, harass and defame them. Good Lord.
DeleteYou went to a website that I do not frequent to assail me.
DeleteDo you understand how twisted that is?
I have NEVER stalked, harassed or defamed you. NEVER. That's all you blindly accusing me.
I HOPE THEY BUILD A HOJO'S NEXT TO IT JUST LIKE HILL & SANDERS HAD!!!
ReplyDelete"Do you like orange sherbet? You're in for a treat."
Deleterobert you didnt get my email. westfield financially isnt doing well. they are making lindsay move. they are selling that land on veirs mill rd, wanting a hi rise like the solaire wheaton!
ReplyDeletewill get top notch services in both cases because PBTB Moving Company New Rochelle has proven numerous times that they are true professionals. apartment moving
ReplyDeleteWhat will replace Lindsay ford in wheaton
ReplyDeleteI don't see the need for an isolated car dealership in a residential neighborhood. When shopping for a vehicle, many people like to go to several dealerships before making a selection. It makes more sense to have dealerships clustered together. As a resident of the Aspen Hill area, I believe we would be better served by another grocery store to compete with the Giant or a restaurant or eatery of some kind.
ReplyDelete"What will replace Lindsay ford in wheaton?"
ReplyDeleteMontgomery County bought the property and will develop it for 'mixed use'. You better bet subsidised housing for illegals is on the way. MoCo Council - ruining the quality of life one day at a time.
And Kaiser Permanente is going on the Vitro site.