Reply to Why do they allow all the tear downs in Bethesda?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
We live in one of those tear-downs, and were in competition with a builder who wanted to raze it down and build a McMansion.

However nobody cares about that, OP, compared to the scandalous overbuilding in downtown Bethesda.

For years, MCPS has ignored parents who kept warning that they should count the families with school-aged children living in high-rises, to correctly predict future demographics and school growth. MCPS did nothing, and current predictions for school population growth do not take these buildings into account. Result: the Bethesda Elementary school max capacity is 500 (counting recent addition) and the current number of students is nearly 700. We have portables, and children are obliged to go out in all weather to the main building to go to the bathroom. Portables are hot in summer and cold in winter and do not have the same security as the main building. Core spaces such as the cafeteria and gym are too small, leading to Kindergartners having lunch at 10:30am because mealtimes must be staggered. As a result of all these things, quality of instruction has suffered.

The county council is in the developers' pockets and has lied to the community about finding ways to slow construction of tall buildings while waiting to implement school solutions. Nothing short of a new elementary school would solve the problems here, but there are school issues up and down the county, and we are not a priority. Somerset and Westbrook have made a deal with shuttle some Somerset students to Westbrook. Boundary changes are perhaps in the works, which is a big deal for parents, who buy expensive housing for certain school districts.

The school field is full of dog poo because there are more dog owners than ever before and Bethesda does not have a dog field.

Traffic is a nightmare.

I could go on.

But McMansions, however ugly they are - and I agree with you on that point! - are not really in the top 10 problems.

[/quote]

Huh? There's no deal to shuttle Somerset students to Westbrook.  There is a placeholder in the capital budget whereby a solution to the Somerset overcrowding problem should be resolved sort of maybe in the next 6 years. I do agree with your point that McMansions, while being obnoxious when built on a 5000 square foot lot, are less important than the broader overcrowding issues.[/quote]

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