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Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan Recommendations

92 Comments

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Amy Walker
9 years ago

This is not just about tax revenue. Quality of life should be a consideration for those that have to deal with the impact of this out of control growth.

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Joan April and Rick Greene
9 years ago

Traffic will be horrendous. Gridlock will be rampant. Schools will be overcrowded.

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Heidi Gertner
9 years ago

Keep the tall buildings away from the single family homes. Make sure the roads, parking, schools, etc can keep up with the increase in volume of residents.

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Dorian Patchin
9 years ago

Don't allow 250+ feet buildings next to edge neighborhoods in Bethesda!

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Marcie Sandalow
9 years ago

It's time to address infrastructure before building.

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Michael Guhin
9 years ago Featured

I strongly support properly staging development to ensure that our communities do not suffer unnecessarily, limiting the impact to the adjoining and surrounding communities and neighborhoods, and having the tall buildings as removed from the residential neighborhoods as possible.

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Wendy R Leibowitz
9 years ago

I hope someone is listening. Bethesda is precious, and our school is terrific. Let's preserve it!

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Carol G. Levin
9 years ago

I am very concerned about the impact of this proposed population density and its impact on schools in particular, on roads, traffic (which is already at a standstill on Wisconsin Ave., and on the metro system which is currently mired in disrepair.

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Marc Silver
9 years ago

The lack of interest in providing safe and friendly spaces for pedestrians and cyclists is appalling. The overbuilding of high-rise apartments and condos will only lead to a neighborhood of half-filled towers.

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Jody Ganiban
9 years ago Featured

The BCC cluster schools are over crowded, school buses have children standing in aisles, and traffic around Walter-Reed and NIH has objectively worsened. Additional developments need to be reconciled with the reality that Bethesda residents face on a daily basis.

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Ariel Flood
9 years ago

The proposed development will result in further overcrowding in Bethesda and the area. Already, the traffic levels are nearly untenable.

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richard weiss
9 years ago

It is ridiculous that the citizens of Bethesda should even have to fight for a reasonable sector plan. It is unbelievable that the Council would even consider the stilted and horribly flawed proposal from the 'Development Board'. Montgomery County does not have a Planning Board!!

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Jeanne A Weiss
9 years ago

A big casualty of the process is loss of confidence in the process and our elected local officials. As of now, there are no words they can use to explain their choices. Their actions alone are the only statement left.

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Peter Huybers
9 years ago

I strongly agree with this petition. We moved to Bethesda for many of the qualities that are jeopardized by unthoughtful growth, including the sense of open space, bike paths, and parks. At the same, improvements are clearly possible, some of which may involve growth, but this needs to be carefully balanced and in keeping with the needs of existing neighborhoods.

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Janine Weidow
9 years ago

We love urban living but building without regard for school capacity, parks and infrastructure is not "smart."

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Jane root
9 years ago

Growth is inevitable and maybe positive but let's do It in the right way!

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Paula Malozowski
9 years ago

The current traffic and school overcrowding is reason enough to reconsider these plans. I fully support slowing development and protecting our neighborhoods!

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Deborah Vollmer
9 years ago

I fully support this petition, and I have a little more to say on this subject.. We need to slow development in Bethesda.. The infrastructure, including but not limited to the school system and traffic, cannot support the level of growth that the Bethesda Sector Plan anticipates. Buildings at the edges of residential communities should be kept to a low profile, a human scale. We should be able to see the stars at night! Preserve the Tudor shops in front of Parking Lot 10 via historic preservation. Keep buildings close to the Farm Women's Market low, to avoid overshadowing this historic gem. There should be no building on Parking Lots 10 and 24; they should be preserved as open space, and continue to provide surface level parking to those who depend on these parking lots, with the possibility in the future of converting parts of these parking lots into green space, planted with trees (parks). No changes should be made to these parking lots without first seeking input from both current users of the parking lots, and residents of adjoining neighborhoods. The Jaffe Tower project should be scrapped; the proposed building is much too tall next to the residential community it borders. Communities, not canyons!

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Anonymous
9 years ago

Do not agree with the current development plan the council is considering.

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Michele Johnston
9 years ago

Please make your decisions on the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan as if you live in and around Bethesda and had to deal with the problems of overcrowded schools, construction noise and inconvenience, over burdened roads and loss of buffer zones.