Infrastructure responsibility is a must

Poplar Run developers face unprecedented
requirements to contribute

by Maggy Baccinelli

Infrastructure responsibility was a hot topic last week as a Montgomery County Planning Board approved a 773-unit housing development, but voted that the developer must reserve and dedicate property to county public schools.

The board’s 3-2 vote requires Winchester Homes to reserve 10 acres of the Poplar Run Site, located on the former Indian Spring Country Club, for 36 months. If Montgomery County Public Schools decide to build an elementary school on Site, Winchester must also donate three of the reserved acres.

Requirement discussions have continued since January, as Winchester disagreed with Park and Planning resolutions, which suggested the 10 acre reservation. In a letter dated Sept. 12, from Winchester’s attorney to Park and Planning staff, Steven A. Robins calls the requirements “unprecedented.”

Unprecedented standards, based on the potential number of school children the development will move to the site, may be the first strokes of a bigger picture portraying the need to hold developers accountable for infrastructure.

“I personally don’t think it’s enough,” said at-large Montgomery County Council Member Marc Elrich (D- At Large), of the approved requirement. “I think we should be exacting more from development than we are doing right now.”

Council members and community members are expressing increased concern about Park and Planning’s neglect to be realistic in evaluating the costs of new developments in the county, and failure to pressure developers to cover this cost fully.

“In any development we do, you can see part of the cost in the buildings, but there are also hidden costs- environmental and traffic costs and all of that,” said Silver Spring resident Richard Jaeggi. “That development should be self-sustainable and able to cover those costs itself, without the help of the county. Evaluating these costs can be so complex though, and lawyers are so clever that what you see is not really what you get in a lot of cases.”
As the county grapples with growth issues, concerns about the cost implications of the Poplar Run site include those about increased traffic on Randolph Road, a consistent commuter problem area in Silver Spring.

Robert Kronenberg, the development review supervisor for the Park and Planning committee, who oversees the Poplar Run Site, said “Winchester has a long list of improvements to address before they are granted a permit.”

They are required by the State Highway Administration to contribute $2.1 million to a grade separation project that will eliminate intersection strife at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Avenue by having one road run below the other, according to Michael Lemon Development Manager for Winchester

Whether or not this plan will relieve traffic is a debated topic amongst residents.

“Every applicant has to follow formula in terms of mitigation,” said Kronenberg.“Whether or not it really happens is a debated subject by everyone. A lot of people who live there say there’s no way (Winchester) can mitigate the traffic costs even by following the formula and some people look at it and say ok.”

As the County Council is reviewing the annual growth policy and will vote on the issue in mid-November, Park and Planning requirements’ alleged effectiveness versus actual effectiveness continues to be a present theme.

“A big battle is changing growth policy in the county and coming up with real standards,” said Elrich. “Now, (Park and Planning) routinely gives credit to projects that don’t deserve credit; they say an improvement will take 100 cars off, but they know it doesn’t. Then they pretend to be surprised when the improvement doesn’t happen.”