Dear Neighbor,
Although the developers behind the
Ashton Meeting Place shopping center claim that they have revised their plans
based on community input, all they have really done is ignore our community's
concerns.
More than eight months ago, when the
developers first revealed their plans for the Southeast corner of New Hampshire
Avenue and Route 108, many of us objected to a 250' long rear wall of a grocery
story only a few yards from Route 108. In the "revised" plan, which AMP's
backers have submitted for final approval and which they indicated is not
subject to further alteration:
-- The grocery store still has a
huge rear wall, more than 227' long, averaging about 22' high, only about 10'
from Route 108, which would alter forever what is now the rural approach to our
community;
-- Although the final AMP plan adds
doors (which will not be used) and windows (which will be fake) to the wall
facing Route 108, the wall in no way meets the "active front" requirements of
the Sandy Spring Ashton Master Plan;
-- The developers are still asking for
more than 97,000 square feet of commercial and residential development,
completely inconsistent with the Master Plan's requirement that any development
"maintain the small scale envisioned for the village centers" of Sandy Spring
and Ashton.
As you know, the Sandy Spring Ashton
Rural Preservation Consortium, has hired a lawyer, and a land planner, to ensure
that opponents of this proposed monstrosity will be heard at the Montgomery
County Planning Board. A
hearing should be scheduled soon before the Planning Board. We will need
your help
To update the community on these
developments, SSARPC will have a meeting on Thursday evening, June 22 (location
and time to be announced). Our nationally recognized land planner, Stu
Sirota, and the SSARPC design committee will discuss a workable, attractive,
smaller-scale conceptual plan that will respect a "village" concept and will
include street-facing buildings with active fronts, fewer parking spaces, and
more green areas than the plan that has been submitted by Ashton Meeting
Place. The anchor store would be moved to the rear of the site, and Stu's
concept will show that it is possible to accommodate reasonable, attractive
development on the site. Stu's concept will also demonstrate a workable
plan that would provide a much better sense of identity and sense of place to
the Ashton crossroads. Our lawyer, Dave Brown, who successfully represented
Clarksburg residents before the Planning Board, will be there to answer
questions, as well.
Please join your neighbors. It is
vital that you know about options to the AMP proposal.
It is time for us to prepare for the
Planning Board. We need your help,
your letters, your appearance at the hearing (when it is scheduled), and your
financial support to compensate our attorney and land planner, who are working
for us at very reasonable rates.
Please make your donation today by visiting our website, www.PreserveAshton.net (Where contributions may be made through the
Paypal service), or by sending a check payable to Preserve Ashton,
to:
SSARPC
PO Box 518
Ashton, Maryland 20861
Thank you in advance for your continued support.
Sincerely,
