Will the Westbard redevelopment blow up the Whitman cluster?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WMAL's parent company selling 75 acres surrounding its radio tower in Greentree Road:
http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1632:washington-radio-station-acreage-up-for-sale&Itemid=766

Nice! Maybe some more high density pods can go up there too! Soon Bethesda can look like the waterfront of Vancouver following the Olympics build-a-thon!

This big of an increase in units will really compress prices down for everyone.

Developers are building "high density pods" because people are buying them.

And yes, increasing the supply of something whose demand exceeds its supply does tend to result in lower prices. That is the free market at work.

We all know that. The conversation is beyond that and focused on the many negative externalities associated with inserting 1-3 high density housing complexes into an established SFH/some multifam community with fixed land, roads, schools and resources.
At a bare minimum, enjoy your magnified gridlock and pod classrooms forever!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We all know that. The conversation is beyond that and focused on the many negative externalities associated with inserting 1-3 high density housing complexes into an established SFH/some multifam community with fixed land, roads, schools and resources.
At a bare minimum, enjoy your magnified gridlock and pod classrooms forever!

Define "high density housing complexes".

Also, I seriously doubt that the master plan will include plans for lots more people but no plans for transportation or schools. Every other master plan in the county includes these plans. But I haven't been to any of the Westbard meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We all know that. The conversation is beyond that and focused on the many negative externalities associated with inserting 1-3 high density housing complexes into an established SFH/some multifam community with fixed land, roads, schools and resources.
At a bare minimum, enjoy your magnified gridlock and pod classrooms forever!

Define "high density housing complexes".

Also, I seriously doubt that the master plan will include plans for lots more people but no plans for transportation or schools. Every other master plan in the county includes these plans. But I haven't been to any of the Westbard meetings.

No, seriously. I've been to several meetings. During the charrette, there were potential sites set aside for a new ES, but the planners later said that MCPS didn't ask for space and in fact said that no new site would be needed. Then lo and behold, the set aside for a new school site was apparently dropped entirely. MCPS planner Bruce Crispell said during the charrette that there would not be any plan worked out to accommodate more students until after the master plan was approved and the developers are done...because I guess it's premature to do any planning before the children are lined up at the bus stops to be counted? Crispell mentioned a vague plan to redistrict and do some expansions at nearby ES if it became necessary, but we all know that would take years and years to accomplish, especially if we are talking about expanding several campuses, so if that process starts only after it's evident that Westbard is attracting families with children, we are screwed. Never mind that Wood Acres, Pyle, and Whitman are already overcrowded and in need of help.

[Anonymous]

Will the Westbard redevelopment blow up the Whitman cluster?

Yes it will. Simple as that.
Of course it will be 10-15 years away and by then either the area will have quadrupled with children as all of the area neighborhood bungalows and ramblers have been torn down for bigger homes or the opposite - we will have priced all of the young families out of the area.

[Anonymous]

The county screwed up shuttering Brookmont Elementary in the 80's and passing it off to the Waldorf School (not that any of these residential neighborhoods can manage the parking for school events). The kids in Sumner and Glen Echo Heights lost their school, and went to Wood Acres as a result. The deal back then was that the kids got to go to Whitman. Thus the odd equation of kids not attending the neighborhood junior high...

Which shell has your card under it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The county screwed up shuttering Brookmont Elementary in the 80's and passing it off to the Waldorf School (not that any of these residential neighborhoods can manage the parking for school events). The kids in Sumner and Glen Echo Heights lost their school, and went to Wood Acres as a result. The deal back then was that the kids got to go to Whitman. Thus the odd equation of kids not attending the neighborhood junior high...

Which shell has your card under it?

The county may have screwed up in letting Brookmont go three decades ago, but what explains the continuing failure to address the recent overcrowding? It's not as if Wood Acres was overcapacity by 200 students overnight. So why did MCPS sign Brookmont away to the Waldorf School for another 30 years in 2012? Maybe through some extraordinary efforts, MCPS can wrest Brookmont back, but the Waldorf board feels confident enough in their lease to make long term investments in the building now. http://www.washingtonwaldorf.org/site/assets/files/1058/messenger_12-13v6.pdf Why not pursue expansions at other schools now? Wood Acres will be overcapacity the day the expansion is complete. Why not start floating redistricting balloons now? You need community buy in for that for sure, and it's not as if there isn't going to be more growth in 20816 even if Westbard doesn't happen for another 10-15 years. Anyone who has eyeballs can see that every house hitting the market now is going to a young family with children. We just moved to the area a few years ago (with children) and are shocked at how many more children (ES age and their infant and toddler siblings) we've seen move in over this short period of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The county screwed up shuttering Brookmont Elementary in the 80's and passing it off to the Waldorf School (not that any of these residential neighborhoods can manage the parking for school events). The kids in Sumner and Glen Echo Heights lost their school, and went to Wood Acres as a result. The deal back then was that the kids got to go to Whitman. Thus the odd equation of kids not attending the neighborhood junior high...

Which shell has your card under it?

As a resident of Glen Echo Heights when Brookmont was closed I can assure you there wasn't any "deal that the kids got to go to Whitman". Sumner and Glen Echo Heights kids were already assigned to Whitman. The communities were moved from Western Jr High (now Westland) that had split articulation to both Whitman and B-CC to make room for the students from closing Leland Jr HS in the B-CC Cluster. Sumner and Glen Echo Heights kids, along with Woodacres kids, all who already were assigned to Whitman were reassigned from Western to Pyle for Jr High. I can also assure you the community did not view moving from Western to Pyle as a "deal" either, we were basically told we needed to move out to make room for the Leland students. The community fought hard to keep Brookmont open but lost the fight as did many communities in the 80's when MCPS closed schools. But MCPS does not seem particularly interested in re-opening closed neighborhood schools now that enrollment has surged and instead is intent on "mega" schools with as many students as can it physically fit at currently open school sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county screwed up shuttering Brookmont Elementary in the 80's and passing it off to the Waldorf School (not that any of these residential neighborhoods can manage the parking for school events). The kids in Sumner and Glen Echo Heights lost their school, and went to Wood Acres as a result. The deal back then was that the kids got to go to Whitman. Thus the odd equation of kids not attending the neighborhood junior high...

Which shell has your card under it?

As a resident of Glen Echo Heights when Brookmont was closed I can assure you there wasn't any "deal that the kids got to go to Whitman". Sumner and Glen Echo Heights kids were already assigned to Whitman. The communities were moved from Western Jr High (now Westland) that had split articulation to both Whitman and B-CC to make room for the students from closing Leland Jr HS in the B-CC Cluster. Sumner and Glen Echo Heights kids, along with Woodacres kids, all who already were assigned to Whitman were reassigned from Western to Pyle for Jr High. I can also assure you the community did not view moving from Western to Pyle as a "deal" either, we were basically told we needed to move out to make room for the Leland students. The community fought hard to keep Brookmont open but lost the fight as did many communities in the 80's when MCPS closed schools. But MCPS does not seem particularly interested in re-opening closed neighborhood schools now that enrollment has surged and instead is intent on "mega" schools with as many students as can it physically fit at currently open school sites.

So is MCPS' plan to send the communities back to Westland to relieve overcrowding at Pyle when B-CC's new middle school opens making Westland a split articulation school again?

[Anonymous]

They have no plan. They are also not making the developwr come up with and fund an infrastructure plan.
Those are the two glaring problems. They have their hands full with the 50+ problem schools to mitigate this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have no plan. They are also not making the developwr come up with and fund an infrastructure plan.
Those are the two glaring problems. They have their hands full with the 50+ problem schools to mitigate this.

I agree that it's clear that MCPS has no plan at all. It's one thing if they are focused on clusters with greater academic problems than ours, but we're not talking about benign neglect here -- MCPS seems to be actively telling the planners not to bother planning for or funding any new infrastructure that would be needed if Equity One builds several hundred new units.

There's apparently some meeting to discuss these issues on March 7 at BCC (9-4...all day?) Would be great to have a lot of parents there to raise hell about MCPS's utter failure to adequately manage the infrastructure needs in the Bethesda schools in view of the exploding growth AND plans for redevelopment at Westbard.

On Saturday, March 7, Councilmember Roger Berliner will be hosting a free public forum to identify and address the disconnects between Montgomery County’s land use planning and MCPS school planning. Titled “Infrastructure & Growth: Are We Keeping Pace?” the forum is from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM at B-CC High School. The morning will focus on identifying issues with current practices and policies. The afternoon is dedicated to brainstorming potential solutions. Members of the County Council, Planning Board and the Board of Education will be in attendance at this event and they need to hear our voices! Registration is limited and information is provided at http://montgomerycountymd.gov/berliner.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone go to the Council Meeting on the Westbard plan last night?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the projections say that the new developments will not have many children. The condos will be small and the townhouses expensive like the EYA ones on little falls pkwy so families are more likely to stick with single family homes at equivalent price points. Apparently there are only 2 kids in the EYA houses so far. The construction would likely take place over a 10-15 year period as well (a separate kind of hell) so it's not like it will be an instant thing. I am a little worried about impact on home values but I don't think we will end up getting redistricted.

Whitman already has an expansion plan in process-mostly in the Whittier woods space.

This is not entirely accurate. According to my friend who lives in one of the new townhouses on Little Falls Parkway, there are 8 kids (not 2 kids) in the development.