Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Services
Center 2424 Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday November 12, 2013
Members Present: Henriot St. Gerard(Chair), Devala
Janardan(Vice Chair),Tom Stanton, Nadia Sesay, William Moore, Mirza Donegan,
Marian Fryer, Jeannette Feldner, Dan Thompson, Luis Bonilla
Members Absent: Rick Kessler
Staff Present: Ana Lopez van Balen, Director, Mid-County
Services Center
Guests: Clare Lise Kelly, Research and
Designation Coordinator, Historic Preservation Office of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning
Commission accompanied by a staff architect.
Laura Leigh Palmer from the W/K Chamber of Commerce. Tanya Sayyed,
student UMD, accompanied by an unidentified UMD student. Ed Latner, County
Attorney
Call to Order: 6:03pm
by Chair Henriot St. Gerard followed by introductions of members and guests.
The minutes from the October meeting were reviewed and approved without
changes. Henriot then turned the floor
over to Clare Lise Kelly from M-NCPPC
Park and Planning
Presentation: Clare Lise Kelly gave a background on historic preservation
efforts in the county, accompanied by a slide presentation. She presented a detailed history of the youth
center and why it qualifies for historic designation. She also noted how redevelopment can still be
achieved in spite of this designation. Questions from WUDAC members followed,
including:
1. At what point is it too expensive to preserve
2. Have you taken into consideration the needs of the
community
3. What is the cost of redevelopment with and without
historic preservation
A hearing will be held at 6:00pm at the Park & Planning
Commission 8787 Ga. Ave Silver Spring MD
Chair Report: Henriot St. Gerard remarked on the new
meeting agenda format and hoped it moves meetings along faster. He again noted the Youth Center hearing set
for Nov. 14. There is a County Executive
briefing on the Night Time Economy Task Force Recommendations set for 10:30am
on Nov. 14. He said he would email
budget to WUDAC members for review by next meeting.
Ethics
Presentation: Ana Lopez van Balen
introduced Ed Latner, a County Attorney to speak to WUDAC about the county’s
ethics law. His presentation included a
handout and he took questions from members.
Directors Report: Ana
touched on Redevelopment and would get info to WUDAC on a meeting on the
subject to occur in December.
Other Business: Henriot
introduced a draft of a letter on Veterans Park and the connectivity of the
Urban District to Brookside Gardens. Dan
Thompson explained the formulation of the letter. Henriot commented that he felt the letter
needed more detail on Veterans Park and how it fits into Urban Park guidelines.
A motion to approve the letter with a paragraph to mention including Veterans
Park in County Urban Guidelines passed.
The Economic subcommittee submitted a draft of a letter to
the Planning Board on The Rec Center redevelopment. Nadia Sesay gave a background on the letter
formation. A discussion followed in
light of Park & Planning’s earlier presentation to our group. It was noted that the letter must be
addressed to the County Council instead of the Planning Board. The letter was approved with amendments that
the Council make our views known to Park&Planning and that the designation
not delay the building of the Rec Center
Adjourn: 7:39pm