Wheaton Urban
District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Services
Center, 2424 Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes,
Thursday December 19th, 2013
Members Present: Henriot
St. Gerard(Chair), Devala Janardan(Vice-Chair), Dan Thompson, Mirza Donegan,
Tom Stanton, William Moore, Rick Kessler, Jeannette Feldner
Members Absent:
Luis Bonilla, Nadia Sesay, Marian Fryer
Staff Present:
Ana Lopez van Balen, Director, Mid-County Services Center
Guests: Harold Weinberg, Miles
Realty Co. Inc
Adam Fogel, Staff to Councilmember Navarro
Call to Order:
6:10pm by Vice Chair Devala Janardan in the temporary absence of the
Chair. Introduction of members and guests
followed. Meeting minutes from November
were reviewed and a motion was made and passed to accept the minutes without
changes. Devala then presented Harold
Weinberg of Miles Realty to address WUDAC
Community Concerns: Harold Weinberg distributed two letters to WUDAC, one from him and one from
Sam Mushahwar of Quick Printing Inc., addressing their concerns about parking
during the future development of a neighboring property known as the Avalon Bay
project at 11501 Georgia Ave. They are
concerned about where construction equipment and workers would park. They fear that construction-related vehicles
would fill the existing spaces and eliminate parking for their customers and
threaten the vitality of businesses that depend on those spaces. They need WUDAC's support to have these
issues addressed.
Discussion followed and in light of Mr.
Weinberg's presentation WUDAC will talk of amending an existing draft letter in
support of the Avalon Bay project.
Chair Report:
Henriot St. Gerard reported on a recent Wheaton Redevolpment public hearing
attended by three WUDAC members. Some
Highlights included:
1. Town square will not be continuous. Reedie Drive will be open to traffic
2. More greenery was added
3.Retail will occupy the bottom floor of the Park
and Planning building
4. Entrance to parking garage will be moved from
Triangle Lane to Grandview Avenue
Discussion followed on the need for Reedie to
remain open and related safety issues
The Design Committee will draft a letter to the
County Council outlining our concerns and suggestions
Henriot then went on to speak of a reply of
support from Councilmember Navarro to WUDAC's letter to the Council concerning
the development of the Rec Center.
Henriot also noted that the Night Time Economy
Task Force recommendations have come out and urged everyone to take a look.
He sent an email to Sidney Cooper, Urban District
Marketing Manager, about WUDAC's retreat and other topics to include in the
Urban District's newsletter.
Henriot concluded by announcing that Craig Rice was
the new President of the Montgomery County Council and wants WUDAC to draft a
congratulatory letter and introduce WUDAC to the new President.
Directors Report:
Ana Lopez van Balen handed out a newsletter on redevelopment and discussed
its progress. She is currently in
discussion with the tenants in this building on relocating.
She talked about the work of a graduate group at
the University of Maryland and their ideas for facade improvements and other
issues for small business.
She reported on a recent meeting of MCCAB which
was attended by Councilmember Elrich which focused on the zoning rewrite. Elrich spoke on the Bus Rapid Transit and
minimum wage issues.
The Night Time Economy Task Force will meet with
the County Executive in January on its recommendations.
Ana touched on a mixer held by the Chamber of
Commerce where the topic was permits and signage. The Urban District will be working with area
businesses to make sure signage is compliant.
She has been working with the Arts Council to get
an Arts and Humanities Council "Our Town" grant and needs letters of
support from interested parties. Rick
Kessler will try to initiate contact with Senator Mikulski and Rep. Van Hollen.
Council Report: Adam
Fogel, staff to Councilmember Navarro, shared that she sent a letter to the
County Executive concerning a Facility Planning Project Form to include an Arts
and Cultural Center in the capital budget.
Adam urged WUDAC to send a letter to the Council
and County Executive to include a Health and Human Services facility in Wheaton
as part of the facilities planning in the budget.
He reminded WUDAC that the time to market Wheaton
is now and that we need money in the operating budget for that purpose and
there also needs to be a public-private sector collaboration to market Wheaton
Sub-committee Reports:
Design: Dan Thompson reported the committee's
recommendations for money for Holiday lighting, Improved lighting for Veteran's
Park and the block of Veirs Mill Rd. between Ennalls Ave. and University Blvd.,
way finding signs, and outreach materials to business on county codes and
storefront improvements
Motion was made and passed to include the Design
Committees proposals in the budget letter to the County Council
Economic: Devala
passed out budget proposals for review.
He talked of need for a business/WUDAC partnership to spur events and
the need to move events to other areas besides Grandview Ave. He suggested the possibility of asking
Safeway and other businesses to sponsor events in places like Veteran's Park.
Devala presented and discussed the Ava Project
draft letter. In light of earlier
presentation by Harold Weinberg, the letter was sent back to the economic
committee for further review.
Discussion moved back to the committee's budget proposals.
A motion was made and passed to include these in our budget letter to the
county.
Adjourn: 7:50pm
