My Opinion: Falling In Love With Rockville

My family was at Disney World the last couple of weeks for a much-needed fantasy break to a place that was new to all four of us. I never understood why people find it so magical, but now I do. Being away, I was out of touch with much of what was happening in Rockville, so these thoughts are a bit delayed.

Fourteen years ago, my last full-time position was with Montgomery Housing Partnership. I took the job, one of two full-time and two-part time positions, when the organization was only three years old. Although I managed the Scattered Site program of Moderately Priced Dwelling Units, when the opportunity to build what was to become Beall’s Grant Apartments presented itself on an extremely short time-line, we all had to pitch in to make it happen. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the history of this property, at that time the building at 254 North Washington was an outdated hotel. Everyone in Rockville was supportive of the improvement that Beall’s Grant would bring. The Mayor and Council had to move very quickly to officially demonstrate their support and we were amazed at how they acted to make this much-needed community a reality. The president of the West End Citizens Association said that the property wasn’t located in the West End so it really wasn’t a concern for them.

Beall’s Grant is very special to me. I remember all of the details from the first day we walked in the buildings as owners until the band was playing at the grand opening celebration. What an amazing transformation with a beautifully-designed community room and Kinship Park. I personally worked with the Parks and Recreation Department to create the park and we even had nearby students name it. I researched the history of the property and presented a list of suggestions to our Board of Directors which resulted in the name, Beall’s Grant. Our designer came up with a nice idea of using Upton Beall’s (the original owner of the Beall-Dawson House) for the logo. MHP’s goal was to be completely connected to the history and neighborhoods in Rockville.

The outpouring of support for such a high-quality, affordable community was heartwarming. So much so, that when it came time for me to organize our annual fundraiser dinner, I did so at Glenview Mansion with the Mayor and Council as guests. When my husband and I married, we bought our first house in Rockville because of how wonderful everyone had been. We loved the sense of community and support. We had found a home with caring neighbors.

Things are not the same this time around.

I was appalled that Beall’s Grant would be associated with crime in any way at a public hearing. As MHP pointed out at the Planning Commission meeting, turnover in their properties (at about 20%) is far below the County average (40-50%). The police department reported that they had a good relationship with the community and there weren’t any problems. Affordable housing as defined by MHP is 60% of the medium income for Montgomery County which is quite high by national standards at about $85,000. These are stable, reliable neighbors.

When you take into consideration all of the other housing already approved for Town Center, the problems cited such as traffic on local streets and over-crowding at schools, will need to be addressed and solved even if there were no Beall’s Grant II.

The consultants for the Rockville Pike envisioning process reported that, with the units already planned for Town Center Phase II and at Twinbrook, the market in Rockville could absorb 200-300 housing units per year for the next 5 to 7 years. We need to do everything we can to insure that as many of these units as possible are affordable no matter where they are located.

The mixed-income concept used at Beall’s Grant brings people of all income levels together with rents ranging from low-to-market rates. It’s a wonderful community concept started in Canada and also used by the County’s Housing Opportunities Commission. We need more and the expansion will create more. I’ve never heard of these communities influencing property values. In other countries, it is commonplace to have apartments and houses intermixed. I live across the street from apartments myself. In my opinion, the 109 units are not an overburden on the neighborhood, and yes, I officially reside in the West End although not nearby. The Association did a good job of describing the plans for Beall’s Grant II on their website and sending notifications as to when they were having presentations and discussions on this topic which resulted in their support. However, I did not participate in this process.

I wanted to live in Rockville because it welcomed Beall’s Grant. I’ll do everything I can to insure that it continues to do so. There are still many people in Rockville who care. Together we can work on solutions to any problems that may arise in order to provide these affordable homes.

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