The girl who kicked the can down the road

While I wish this story had its origins in Scandinavia, unfortunately its genesis can be traced to the heart of Montgomery County. However, it's not without corporate villains, conniving government officials, helpless victims, and the suspense of how it will end is certainly killing me.

Monday morning was the last worksession for the County Council Planning, Housing & Economic Development (PHED) Committee to address concerns about amendments to the new Commercial/Residential (CR) Zones, which left many of the present, yet invisible, civic activists upset and hanging on to the edge of their seats about what the full Council will do next week. The zoning amendments have been very contentious to all major stakeholders, from the Planning Board and their staff to commerical property owners and neighborhood associations. This was the ninth PHED worksession on CR Zones, and commercial interests and the Planning Board had the last word. During the meeting a citizen gave voice to the collective frustration of many silenced civic activists shouting, "We're invisible!"

The City of Takoma Park added to the drama when its staff advocated for the interests of commercial property owners in the Takoma/Langley Crossroads (T/LC) area, wringing their hands and wailing about how onerous the zoning ordinance is to those who stand to benefit the most. And yet there wasn't a word about the concerns of citizens in the surrounding neighborhoods, i.e., Hillwood Manor and New Hampshire Gardens, who will have to shoulder the effects of more traffic, less on-street parking, and a general reduction of the quality of life in their existing neighborhoods due to encroaching, higher density development. Not your mother's proudly progressive Takoma Park of historic bungalows and brightly-colored Victorians that gets praised in The Washington Post.

Most importantly, there was no mention of how residents in Ward 6 were deeply upset that they had worked with City staff for 3 months on Urban Design Guidelines for T/LC, which were rejected by self-professed, economic development guru and Planning Department Director Rollin Stanley, who admonished the well-intentioned for being too specific in their vision. Under Stanley's direction, the Planning Department has been developing new zoning ordinances, master plans, and design guidelines with very general terms to allow commercial developers the most flexibility while planning and implementing projects. In response to this, County Councilmember Marc Elrich remarked, "The flip side of flexibility is uncertainty."

What is certain is that the biggest tragedy of the whole scene was at the end of the 3-hour meeting when Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier disclosed the Planning Department's revision of the County's zoning laws will also include a consolidation of all residential zones. Chair Carrier suggested the Council could deal with this now or put it off, to which Councilmember Nancy Floreen quipped "We will deal with that later."

And so the curtain falls on this cliffhanger with no resolution until the next act of theatrical shenanigans plays out in Rockville at the September 27th full Council worksession. If you missed Monday's performance, I encourage you to look at the PHED 9/19/2011 video and stay tuned for a full Council vote on the CR Zones amendments as early as October 4th. And if you're proudly progressive, I recommend you write to both the City and County Council and get engaged before the opportunity is lost.