My Opinion: The Truth About Beall’s Grant II

As I’ve written previously, I am in support of Beall’s Grant II and live in the West End. This piece reflects my personal opinion after researching the issues. At Rockville Central, we welcome different viewpoints and have recently invited people with opinions about Beall’s Grant to submit them.

Many people who both support and oppose the expansion of Beall’s Grant II are making statements that are not accurate. My intention is to shed light on the facts regarding this community. As explained below, the City staff are very confident that they followed Rockville’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. Beall’s Grant was properly and rightly approved to provide 109-rental apartments near public transportation and services in our City.

Who Will Live in Beall’s Grant

Beall’s Grant is a mixed-income community developed by a nonprofit organization, Montgomery Housing Partnership (MHP). This means that there are moderate-income apartments scattered among the market-rate apartments. This type of community originally started in Canada and is also used by Montgomery County’s Housing Opportunities Commission. The profit from the market-rate apartments stays within the community. The property is maintained as if it was completely market-rate because it must continue to attract people willing to pay a market rent with incomes above $60,000. Of the 60 apartments at Beall’s, 41% are market-rate at this time.

The affordable apartments at Beall’s Grant II will serve households with incomes between $35,000 and $60,000, and some, but not more than 10%, could have incomes below this level. The recommended rent for households at $35,000 is $875 per month (which is the standard HUD 30% of income). The rents at Fenestra start at just under $1,700. There is a real and necessary need for affordable housing in Rockville. MCPS teacher starting salaries are $44,200 and Rockville City Police officers begin at $48,825. Due to the high cost of housing 31% of our teachers live outside the County and only 6 of our police officers live in Rockville. Beall’s Grant II will serve people who serve us.

Size and Design of the Building

The reason Beall’s Grant II will be built bigger than the existing 14-apartment building is that MHP has the opportunity to purchase the fenced-in, vacant lot between the existing building and the annex, which needs to be demolished due to mold problems. The new building will have many green features with peaked roofs, varying facades, smart window designs, and raised-roof courtyards much like our new Town Center.

Kinship Park

We are not losing Kinship Park! The Park will be relocated and improved on the property. The new location will allow better supervision of the Park space and a more congenial atmosphere. Green space will be added to the property around an oval park between the two buildings and two green areas within the design of the new building, so that there will be no loss of green space at Beall’s Grant. The outdoor community areas will provide attractive landscaped courtyards and play areas.

Crime

At this point, I think it goes without saying that the current Beall’s Grant has not resulted in any additional crime in our City, but it still needs to be said again. Chief Terry Treschuk has confirmed that there is not any unusual crime at Beall’s Grant when compared to other market-rate apartment complexes. If you follow our Police Blotters on Rockville Central, you can see that there is not any crime in the entire vicinity worth noting.

Town Center Plan

Phase II of Town Center currently includes 290-residential units which have been approved for the “KSI development” where the Bank of America building will be demolished at 255 North Washington Street directly across from Beall’s Grant at 254 North Washington Street. This development will reach 9-10 stories on the Maryland Avenue side. They are in the process of applying for their first one-year extension of their planning approval. Beall’s Grant will be much smaller in comparison. Town Center will tower over the Beall’s Grant buildings. Planners describe Beall’s Grant as a stepping stone and buffer to the townhouses and offices on North Adams Street and then the single family homes of the West End. Another approved development in Town Center is the “Duball developments” which include residences and a 175-room hotel. Yet to be approved and at a standstill due to the RORZOR moratorium is the 117-residential units at 41 Maryland Avenue.

Claim that the West End Has More Than Its Fair Share of Affordable Housing

Truth be told, the only affordable housing in the West End are 16 Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs). That’s it. That’s the grand total of all types of affordable housing. Considering that by law, 12.5% of King Farm and 12.5% of Fallsgrove are MPDUs, the West End trails far behind in affordable housing. King Farm will even have an additional 49 workforce housing units beyond the MPDUs.

Affordable Housing in Town Center

The West End borders Town Center but the same could be said for other neighborhoods. Let’s take a close look at this neighboring housing. There are 69 HUD Co-op residences at Heritage Park where residents pay a monthly fee after joining. There are two apartment buildings in Town Center that provide homes for seniors on fixed incomes, including 125 in Town Center Senior Apartments and 100 in Heritage House Senior Apartments. There are also Moderately Priced Dwelling Units in Town Center because all new developments are required by Rockville City law to build MPDUs for both rental and ownership. MPDUs serve households with maximum incomes from $41,300 for one person to $63,700 for five people. Montgomery County started the concept of MPDUs and the program is widely respected and imitated throughout the country.

When you remove the senior housing from their calculation and acknowledge that all new communities must have MPDUs, there really isn’t an overburden of affordable housing in Town Center compared to other neighborhoods. With the extremely expensive housing market in our area, the people living in MPDUs and Beall’s Grant are just regular working folks and certainly not low-income.

Traffic

A traffic study was prepared in accordance with the City of Rockville’s Comphrehensive Transportation Review (CTR) in September 2006 by Kimley-Horn. Beall’s Grant II will have a negligible effect on traffic in the area and intersections will continue to operate at acceptable levels. Currently only 50% of residents at Beall’s Grant have vehicles due to the proximity to Metro and bus lines. The sidewalk will be extended in front of Snowden’s Funeral Home to increase pedestrian safety.

The parking garage for Beall’s Grant II will actually be two completely separate parking areas which will not be visible from the front of the building. Half of the garage will have access to Beall Avenue and the other side Dawson Avenue. The West End Citizens Association has been working to insure that all of the traffic from the new development in Town Center will not adversely affect the neighborhood and this includes Beall’s Grant. Turn restrictions and other physical traffic calming measures could be implemented to completely prevent vehicles from using Beall Avenue west of the community. As for the concern that it could be dangerous for pedestrians to walk past the garage exit, Town Center has garage exits on every street and people are used to crossing such driveways.

APFO and Beall Elementary School

Scott Ullery, our City Manager, explains exactly how Rockville’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance was calculated for Beall’s Grant in this document. This information shows that the APFO was followed. In response to Larry Giammo’s claims, Mr. Ullery shows his calculations and confirms that unbuilt developments were properly included. Beall’s Grant II would add 9 elementary students.

MHP was never denied a permit to build, but rather voluntarily withdrew their original proposal when the school numbers were too high and then pursued the site approval when it was permissible under Rockville law. If the current enrollment at Beall Elementary is higher than projections, Montgomery County Public Schools will accommodate the students from all of the approved developments in Town Center, and at a certain point, will consider boundary changes.

Since a true need for affordable housing exists, I hope that after all the information is considered, we will not stop Beall’s Grant II.

September 8 Rockville Police Report

Here again is another installment of Rockville Central’s mapped police blotters. This is for the September 8 report, which covers the last half of Labor Day weekend, from the Rockville Police:

Remember, the map may not come through in the email or in newsfeeds, so you will have to come back to the blog to see it!

As always, I will try to keep making these maps as time allows. (It can take some doing sometimes.)

Please note that by posting this information, I am not rendering any opinion about guilt or innocence; this is just police data. Also, as I am an unofficial source, I may make mistakes.

September 1 Rockville Police Report

Here again is another installment of Rockville Central’s mapped police blotters. This is for the September 1 report, which covers part of Labor Day weekend, from the Rockville Police:

Remember, the map may not come through in the email or in newsfeeds, so you will have to come back to the blog to see it!

As always, I will try to keep making these maps as time allows.

Please note that by posting this information, I am not rendering any opinion about guilt or innocence; this is just police data. Also, as I am an unofficial source, I may make mistakes.

Last Half of August Rockville Police Reports

Here again is another installment of Rockville Central’s mapped police blotters. This is for the last half of August, reports for the 18th and 25th from the Rockville Police:

Remember, the map may not come through in the email or in newsfeeds, so you will have to come back to the blog to see it!

As always, I will try to keep making these maps as time allows.

Please note that by posting this information, I am not rendering any opinion about guilt or innocence; this is just police data. Also, as I am an unofficial source, I may make mistakes.

August 4 and August 11, 2008 Rockville Police Blotter

I am told that Rockville Central readers like our police blotters. So, while it is still a bit time consuming, we are happy to present a new mapped incident report.

Here is the last two reports’ worth worth of crime information (August 4 and August 11, 2008) from the Rockville Police:

Remember, the map may not come through in the email or in newsfeeds, so you will have to come back to the blog to see it!

As always, I will try to keep making these maps as time allows.

Please note that by posting this information, I am not rendering any opinion about guilt or innocence; this is just police data. Also, as I am an unofficial source, I may make mistakes.

Rockville Police Blotter, July 2008

I know, I know. You thought I had abandoned my police blotters. Those who like them seem quite loyal, and I am sorry to have let you down. I had been trying to figure out a way to semi-automate the process. Using available Google tools, my system kept failing. Finally I just gave up for a while.

But then a good friend pointed out that I used to do them and people liked them . . . which gave me the impetus to have another go.

Here is the last month’s worth of crime information (July 2008) from the Rockville Police:

Remember, the map does not come through in the email or in newsfeeds, so you will have to come back to the blog to see it!

(Just for grins, note that there is not one incident near Beall’s Grant. I’m just sayin‘.)

Since it’s a full month of info, there are over 100 incidents citywide — I did not have the wherewithal to give them little red flags and whatnot. You will just have to live with that.

I will try to keep making these maps as time allows.

Please note that by posting this information, I am not rendering any opinion about guilt or innocence; this is just police data. Also, as I am an unofficial source, I may make mistakes.

Rockville Police Leap Onto The Web

Well, maybe that is an overblown headline, but it reflects how pleased I was to get a recent press release from the Rockville City Police Department describing a number of new, anonymous online tip forms that they have set up.

I am the kind of person who finds it easier to type something than to make a call — I have more control over just what I say and I can usually get it done far quicker than having a conversation. Maybe I just talk to much. In any event, this was a very welcome development.

Here are all the forms available:

• Abandoned Vehicle Report — it has to have been there for 48 hours or more, in the city limits.

• Animal Control Request
• Graffiti Report
• Anonymous Narcotics Report — this is to report activity like dealing.
• Witness Report In Traffic Enforcement — this is my favorite: I can report the bonehead drivers who speed around the traffic circle at Peg Sante Park. You are warned!!

Thank you, Chief Terry Treschuk and the rest of the crew!

Now, if you will just automate your police blotters . . . .

(Image from Rockville City Police Department.)

What Is Up With Mannakee Street?!

When I first moved to Rockville, I was really excited to be living right near a street with the cool name “Mannakee.” It conjures all sorts of images in my mind, and that “k” makes the word itself sound powerful. Then, when I started mapping the Rockville police blotter, I noticed something very odd about my erstwhile favorite street.

Rockville Central friend Brenda Dunham noticed it, too. She writes:

A hot button of mine involves what I think is an error that has been widely propagated. Let’s take this recent entry in the police blotter: 02/06/08: (6:00 p.m. — 10:30 p.m.) Unit block of Mannakee Street, unknown suspect(s) removed a wallet containing U.S. currency, credit cards and a driver’s license from a purse in a college classroom.

I live on Anderson near the intersection of Anderson and Mannakee. I think that the unit block of Mannakee Street is near the intersection of Mannakee and West Montgomery. Mapquest thinks so too. The houses near me on Mannakee have single digit addresses.

However, for years, I have read in the police reports in the Gazette, and now these lovely police blotters, that the unit block of Mannakee is at Montgomery College, at the intersection of Mannakee and Hungerford Drive.

I read about a lot more crime events near the community college than I read about crime events on my end of Mannakee. However, all the community college’s events are placed near me.

I flipped when my insurance agent wanted to raise my rates because I lived in an area with elevated crime, and he cited the police reports. He showed me the reports (they all mentioned the college) and I showed him a map. He didn’t raise my rates, but he had to jump through hoops to stop it.

I wonder how many other people have had adverse effects, and not even noticed, due to this widely propagated error?

An excellent question.

Curious, I hopped in the Rockville Central sled and drove the length of Mannakee. I can only describe what I found as “mind boggling.”

I started by the community college, which has an address of “51 Mannakee Street.” You can follow along with my travels using this handy map:

So, starting out at Montgomery College, you’d think that this part of Mannakee surely would be the “unit block,” that is, the the block where the numbers terminate. But, keep traveling south and suddenly you get to the blue section I have indicated, where the numbers go (from north to south) 590 up to about 610 or so. Normally, traveling south, numbers are going down.

Oh, and here’s a funny thing: the numbers on the same side of the street as Montgomery College are all even — while the address for the school is odd. Odd indeed.

But stay with me. Now we hit the brownish line on my map. Here, the numbers still go up as you drive south, but the block of numbers drops down a hundred, and starts at 500. So you go from 610 to 500, then the next house you see is 502, etc. (note that I can’t quite read my notes so the numbers are approximate — but you get the gist).

It is not until you get to the green line in my map that things get seemingly normal: addresses dropping as you drive south, in an orderly fashion.

That is, until you cross the traffic circle, then the numbers go from the 100’s to the single digits, skipping over double-digits — no doubt, because there is a double-digit address ‘way over at the other end of the street.

So I believe we have identified the culprit here: Montgomery College has a funky address (I hasten to add that it is excellent in all other respects). When police report a crime incident on the “unit block” of Mannakee, when they mean 51 Mannakee, it appears to actually be occurring many blocks away when you map it out, because of the strange quirks of the numbering.

It stands to reason, because it is an area with more coming and going throughout the day than the surrounding neighborhood, and has a high concentration of parked cars, we would see relatively more incidents there than elsewhere (this is not a statement on the security at Montgomery College in any way).

So, I humbly offer this suggestion to Our Fair City’s police department: when recording incidents that occur around Montgomery College, dispense with the typical practice of just naming the block but instead say “51 Mannakee.” That way the silly mapping programs will know where it is and, more important, folks down at the other end of the street won’t worry they are in the middle of a crime wave!

Just a thought.