Steve Burns
ROCKVILLE, Md. – (WMAL) It’s an issue Montgomery county knew was on the horizon for nearly ten years, but is still unsolved – where to store over 400 school buses as the lot near the Shady Grove Metro station gets redeveloped. The county council has a work session planned Tuesday to determine its next steps with mounting opposition to the sites currently on the table.
“No one would ever accuse us of rushing through anything around here!” Montgomery county Council President Nancy Floreen told WMAL. “It’s a challenge. Folks don’t like buses near them. We need a fair amount of land to accommodate them.”
The county included the lot currently used for bus parking in its Shady Grove Redevelopment Master Plan passed in 2006. It had planned to sell the lot to developers by the end of this year, though that deadline could be moved back further.
“We’re really trying. We’re listening to communities,” Floreen said after being asked why a solution has been so hard to come by. “We’re really being thoughtful about what opportunities may be out there.”
Two sites currently on the table include a parking lot at the Carver Educational Services Center, and another lot on Westmore Avenue. Floreen said she’s heard the loud opposition to both.
“It’s a little murky right now. I don’t blame them,” Floreen said. She would not reveal her personal position on the sites.
Residents and leadership in the city of Rockville have been organizing in protest of the sites.
“We’re putting the desire to bring in new residents in front of the need to protect and serve existing residents,” Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton told WMAL. “Why would you adversely impact an existing community to benefit a community that’s not even here yet?”
Newton noted her unfavorable stance on both sites, especially on the Westmore location, situated just 50 feet from houses in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
“Access is off of city streets that are windy, not built with curbs. There is a children’s park (nearby) that has no protection for the children,” she said. “We have given the county several suggestions. One is the Gude Drive landfill, which is just outside the city limits. One is the Public Service Training Academy, which is off of Shady Grove. I know there’s the Laytonsville Landfill.”
Newton said the city had asked for a seat at the table at Tuesday’s work session, but was denied by the county. Floreen said they heard all they needed from Rockville.
“I hope the city will be with us, listening to all of this, and sharing in our evaluation of it,” Floreen said.
Newton remained unsatisfied.
“Why does this county just continue to think they need to grow, grow, grow, without taking into account the infrastructure needed to support that growth?” Newton asked. “We have to stop allowing neighborhoods to be pitted against each other.”
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