Reply to Will the Westbard redevelopment blow up the Whitman cluster?

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Reply to "Will the Westbard redevelopment blow up the Whitman cluster?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Maintain or slightly increase the current retail square footage but rebuild/renovate the current buildings. Bring in other mixed use (ie, a nursing home again, dogpark, daycare, etc.). Build only more residential that can be supported by current school capacity (when Woodacres is renovated, and also factoring in Pyle and Whitman). The fact is simply there is no where else (and no $) to build more schools in the area - so new development has to be supported by these current schools. That is what I meant by low density.[/quote]

Master plans are supposed to last 20-30 years, so I don't think it would make sense to limit the master plan based on current limitations. There would be places to put schools, if MCPS changed their requirements for school sites. Do elementary, middle, and high schools really have to have 7.5, 15.5, and 35 acres, respectively?  And while there is currently insufficient capital funding for schools, we shouldn't assume that there will always be insufficient capital funding for schools.

Maybe the solution is to add school staging requirements for residential development -- for example, no more than x residential units until MCPS has acquired a school site; no more than y residential units until capital funding for the school is in the five-year plan etc.[/quote]

Staging is a good idea -- but MCPS would have to actually give a crap and sit in on these meetings to tell planners and developers what the limits of the school infrastructure are and to be honest about what that will mean for smart and sensible growth.  Instead, MCPS's attitude has been, "just tell us when you're done building and there are kids who want to go to school, and we'll figure it out somehow."  A complete abdication of responsibility to the community, if you ask me.  And there won't be places to build schools of any size if MCPS keeps telling planners they don't need to reserve any space out of the land that *is* available, so that new facilities can be built.  I get that it's MCPS's policy not to direct development or tell developers what they can and can't do, but it seems like it is going out of its way to make things harder for itself and the community in years to come.  At least give planners and the community better information and guidelines for what will work for what we've got, rather than giving developers a blank check that MCPS and the community cannot cash later.

And by the way, while developers try to sell the planning commission on the idea that no one but retired and single/childless people will buy in Westbard, just wait till the marketing materials come out and trumpet the great schools and kid-friendly amenities.  Great schools are always a big draw -- even for those without kids, great schools keep the property values up.  But developers will kill the golden goose if they overstuff the community with housing that the school infrastructure can't handle.[/quote]

It might not be MCPS' job to tell developers what to do, but it is the job of the Planning Commission to approve such large projects.  The public needs to ensure that MCPS is engaged in the review process and informing the PC of its conclusions.  Many projects of this size require the provision of "community amenities" and funding in escrow that partially funds construction of new public school space would be a very appropriate and needed amenity.  In other parts of the country, developers are routinely expected to pay for infrastructure[/quote]

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