A broad group of incorporated towns, citizens associations and homeowners embraced suggestions to slow planned development for Chevy Chase Lake at a Planning Board Hearing last week.
The Connecticut Avenue Corridor Committee, which includes veteran civic activists and officials from almost the entire spectrum of Chevy Chase communities, told the Planning Board it should not approve additional density for Chevy Chase Lake until a planned Purple Line station for the area is realized.
The Corridor Committee, made up of the Town of Chevy Chase, Chevy Chase Village and 13 other incorporated towns or civic associations, has been working with the Chevy Chase Land Company throughout the process.
The Land Company, which owns the strip shopping centers on both sides of Connecticut Avenue from Chevy Chase Lake Drive to Manor Road, wants to rebuild the area into a mixed-use residential and commercial development around the planned Purple Line station.
The concern of the Corridor Committee is that the added traffic to an already clogged Connecticut Avenue would make things worse, especially if the currently unfunded Purple Line never comes to fruition.
From the Corridor Committee’s written testimony:
No additional density should be approved for the pre-Purple Line phase of the Sector Plan in excess of current density approvals which cannot meet the traffic test under 2012 conditions.
To guarantee that additional development will not occur prior to the Purple Line, we agree with Staff that there should be two sectional map amendments: the first limited to the location and density currently approved which can proceed prior to the Purple Line; the second applied to the rezoning of the remaining properties that must await the Purple Line.
Now, the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan must be reviewed by the Planning Board. Its recommendations will be forwarded to the County Executive and County Council, which will decide on the final details.
