Neighborhood Meeting On Beall’s Grant II Set For June 30 [UPDATED]
Jun 26, 2009 9:18 - 5 Comments
As most readers of Rockville Central know, there are ongoing negotiations between a committee of the West End Citizen’s Association and the affordable housing developer Montgomery Housing Partnership over what is known as Beall’s Grant II.
Beall’s Grant II is a proposed development on Beall Avenue that would include affordable housing. The developers need a letter of support from the Mayor and Council in order to secure state funding guarantees and move forward with construction. Neighborhood resistance caused the Mayor and Council to ask that MHP and residents negotiate to reach a plan that is agreeable to all. [UPDATE: The M&C didn't ask for the negotiations to take place. I was misremembering. The committee that is negotiating with MHP was formed by WECA of its own accord.]
A committee of WECA and MHP representatives have been meeting regularly for six months, and are evidently close to an agreement. There’s now a memorandum of understanding that has been proposed, though I am told there are still some possible unresolved issues.
All that is context to make this important announcement:
A general membership meeting of the West End Citizens Association has been set for Tuesday, June 30 at 7:00 pm, to be held at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.
It’s expected that this meeting will be the culmination of these ongoing negotiations and the memorandum will be formally presented to the community.
This has been a very politically charged issue and tempers have at times been short all around. I want to be very clear where I stand — I support Beall’s Grant II and have done so from the beginning. Here is a letter I wrote to the Mayor and Council making my case. Editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths is also on record as being supportive.
Rockville Central itself has tried to be balanced in its coverage, as we try to be on all issues. There was a time when we were getting criticized for not being as transparent as we could have been on this issue, so I am trying to be very up front!
We welcome reader submissions on this issue, whether you are for , against, or other.
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I too am a supporter and on record as such. I am a 10-year-resident of the City and have no affiliation with MHP.
I also served for several months on the WECA committee but resigned because I believe the make-up of the committee (which has many members who sued the City over this) and its conduct were not conducive to producing a fair compromise.
In this same vein, I would like to point out that MHP signed the MOU referenced in your post but added an addendum, which was sent to the committee on Friday, June 19.
It is my understanding this did not receive an acknowledgment or response from the committee for a week until it was resent by MHP.
This is not what is posted on the WECA blog, which the meeting notice directs interested parties to visit for more information.
I have asked for the WECA blog to be corrected and updated but was told it was accurate. That blog does not allow for comments.
All of the recent correspondence regarding the MOU, including the addendum, have been copied to the Mayor and Council and as such are public record available to anyone who would like to view them.
The flyer for the WECA meeting also states that the proposed Victory affordable senior housing development will be discussed. This may also be of interest to the citizens of Rockville.
So all voices continue to be heard, I thought it would be helpful for people to have the following email from the WECA Communications Committee. It’s about the upcoming meeting and the status of negotiations:
WECA has a general membership meeting scheduled for this Tuesday, June 30th at 7:00 pm at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.
The agenda for the meeting includes a report by the Beall’s Grant II Committee as well as an update on the Victory Housing project.
The Beall’s Grant II Committee was formed last fall in response to concerns that were raised at the October general membership meeting regarding the size and scale of the building and its impact on the surrounding community.
The Committee, ably led by Dennis Cain and Bridget Newton, has worked diligently over the past 6 months to reach a compromise with MHP. This compromise includes a revised design for a smaller building with a reduced number of units. In addition, access to the building was changed to minimize traffic on Beall Ave. There were many other details that were discussed, negotiated and agreed to by both the Committee and MHP. The details of our agreement were drafted into a Memorandum of Understanding, a copy of which can be found on the WECA website (www.weca.us).
At the meeting on Tuesday night, we will review this document and you will be able to see the changes that have been negotiated and what the revised building will look like.
While it was the goal to present a fully executed agreement to the general membership, it appears this is not going to be possible.
Subsequent to the Committee signing the MOU, MHP modified the terms of the agreement.
This was unacceptable for two reasons, first they modified the terms of a signed and executed document, and second they inserted language that the committee had previously rejected. This language allows them to invalidate the agreement for events beyond the Committee’s control and that do not relate in any way to the design of the project. Their version of the MOU essentially nullifies the last 6 months of negotiation.
That being said, we are confident that the hard work the Committee has put into negotiating the details of the project will not be lost and that by ratifying the MOU, WECA can forward this new and improved plan to the City for their consideration.
All West End residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Regards,
WECA Communications Committee
I’m glad you posted this, but it’s the same information that is already on the WECA committee Website. It was apparently updated after I made my post.
It does not reflect both sides or the full situation, as I stated earlier, and the WECA blog does not allow for comments. Posts are also unsigned. All I will say is that there is nothing unusual or outlandish in MHP’s behavior regarding the amended MOU.
I leave the rest of this up to MHP, and would love to have them present at the WECA meeting so the community can hear all sides.
Thanks for your interest, Brad.
[...] Tue., Jun. 30, 7:00 pm at the Rockville Presbyterian Church - West End Citizens Association [...]
—- Original Message —-
From: Cheryl C. Kagan
To: CCK
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 11:08 PM
Subject: Message from MHP’s Robert Goldman
June 26, 2009
Dear Friend of Beall’s Grant II and Affordable Housing:
Since you had expressed your interest, I’ve asked Cheryl Kagan to send you this update on the status of our Beall’s Grant II project.
As you know, Montgomery Housing Partnership is a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to build and manage affordable housing for working people around the County. Now in its 20th year, we have created approximately 1,100 homes for individuals and families and have won many awards for our Community Life programs and Neighborhood Revitalization Services.
In Rockville, MHP took a run-down and dangerous building and replaced it in 1994 with Beall’s Grant, a successful community of 60 units. It is now considered a “Smart Growth” location, since most of its residents either walk to Metro or to their jobs in Rockville. It is a quiet community, and police note virtually no crime there.
Montgomery Housing Partnership has been working with residents of the West End for the past couple of years to win support for a new building, Beall’s Grant II, on the adjacent property. Despite obtaining approval for a 109-unit design from the Rockville Planning Commission, MHP has been working diligently with community representatives on modifications to address concerns expressed by neighborhood residents.
After meeting for more than six months with a committee of the West End Citizens’ Association (WECA), we are proud that an agreement has been reached. MHP wanted to win neighborhood support while still adhering to its mission. This new design features many significant changes to the original plan. Among these are:
• A reduction in the number of units from 109 to 74;
• A Beall Avenue façade with a townhouse-like appearance to blend with the neighborhood;
• Reduction in the building’s actual height, as well as the use of Mansard roofing to create the perception of an even lesser height;
• Increased green space to provide additional open areas;
• A reconfiguration of the parking structure so that there is no vehicular access on Beall (all will be via Dawson Avenue);
• A dramatic reduction in the number of parking spaces proposed, since parking lots both add to the costs and have been demonstrated by Beall’s Grant I to be largely unneeded; and
• Changing the building design along North Adams Street to present a more attractive view for those residents.
A few weeks ago, MHP got some more good news. The City of Rockville was successful in Circuit Court, defeating the challenge to its planning process. This decision upheld the approval of our initial plan. We are hopeful that this means we might finally move forward!
Can you help us win consensus? The project will still face many hurdles through the planning process with the amended plan that the community leaders favor. MHP wanted to be sure you knew of the West End’s General Membership Meeting this Tuesday, June 30th at 7pm. It will be held in the basement of the Rockville Presbyterian Church at 215 West Montgomery Avenue. At that time, the signed Memorandum of Understanding will be discussed, and the agreed-upon design will be presented. We’d love to have you attend!
Many thanks for your support thus far. We hope that we will make significant progress in the coming weeks with your help.
Sincerely,
Rob
Robert Goldman
CEO
PS: If you’d like to learn more about Beall’s Grant II or support our work in Rockville and elsewhere in the County, please visit http://www.MHPartners.org.
Cheryl C. Kagan
[email protected]
301/424-2161