June
18th
Town Meeting Summary,
Page 3
Discussion
1.
How does
the overall square
footage of the two
plans compare?
The AMP plan is
slightly more than 97,000 square
feet, while the
SSARPC plan is about
75%
that size, or 72,000 square
feet. In
particular, the
anchor stores are
about 30,000 square
feet in the AMP
design (designated
as a grocery store),
and
15,000
square feet in the
SSARPC design. For
comparison, the
Giant in Olney is
approximately 40,000
square feet and
Roots in Clarksville
is approximately 11,000 square
feet.
2.
Will it be
difficult to get in
and out of the
parallel parking on
the street,
particularly when
there is a lot of
traffic? The
parallel parking
will be in indented
areas, not right in
the flow of traffic,
and this will make a
difference for
people getting in
and out. Both Park
and Planning traffic
experts and the
State Highway
Administration say
that the parallel
parking will create
no safety issues.
3.
Will the
traffic speed
present problems for
parallel parking?
The speed limit is
currently
30
MPH. Research has
shown that having
streetscaping
typical of a mixed
use town center
(e.g., sidewalks,
special paving at
sidewalks, trees,
street lamps,
on-street parking,
and active store
fronts) causes
drivers to slow
down. This should
limit any possible
problems with the
parallel parking.
4.
Will there
be changes that
focus on pedestrian
traffic? There
will be crosswalks
with push-button
walk/don’t walk
signals and
sidewalks all along
the area. As for
sidewalks on the
other side of the
street, we don’t
know the current
plans, but it is a
goal of the County
to have sidewalks
everywhere. There
will be sidewalks
from Sandy Spring to
the Ashton
crossroads.
5.
Will the
entrance on New
Hampshire Avenue be
safe and useful,
since so many cars
line up on New
Hampshire Avenue?
At times it will
most likely be
difficult to turn
left.
6.
Comment:
It is difficult
to increase the size
of the development
given the parking
constraints.
7.
What about
the northeast
corner? While
the southeast corner
is being worked on,
little work is being
done on the
northeast corner.
Redevelopment of the
northeast corner
depends on the road
work that is needed
for the southeast
corner. The plans
for the northeast
corner include a gas
station, car wash,
convenience store,
and offices, and
have not changed.
SSARPC has commented
on the plans and
will continue to
review and comment
as the project
proceeds.
8.
Comment:
We want to consider
all four corners of
the crossroads.
What is decided
about the AMP
project will set the
tone for the other
corners. It is
unclear what
incentives the owner
of Ashton Village
Center (on the
northwest corner)
will have to
redesign that small
area to better
support the Master
Plan.
9.
How many
tries does the AMP
developer have to
submit different
plans? We don’t
know of a limit.
Just because the
Planning Staff
recommends denial
does not mean that
the Planning Board
will vote for
denial. If the
Board is moving
towards denial, the
developer might ask
for the decision to
be deferred to a
later date to allow
time to modify the
plan. If there is a
denial, a legal
opinion covering the
reasons for denial
will be written for
the record.
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