The bi-county Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission expressed major concerns about a Draft Environmental Impact Statement during a briefing last week with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration. The DEIS is part of the state’s Managed Lanes Study to evaluate alternatives to improve traffic congestion along I-495 (Capital Beltway) in Maryland, and on I-270 from I-495 to I-370.
The county’s Planning Department will hold the first of three virtual “listening sessions” on what’s been rechristened the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan on Tuesday, July 21 from noon to 1:15 p.m. The discussion is part of the launch of the sector plan process for the Central Business District and surrounding area.
The county will open the former Silver Spring library location today (July 20) as a cooling center in response to a declared heat emergency alert. The building at 8901 Colesville Rd. will open at 11 a.m. Monday and close at 7 p.m. In addition, the Silver Spring Civic Building has been designated a cooling center today as well, also from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Planning Board this morning declined to reconsider its July 2 resolution approving a site plan amendment that proposed a $10 million renovation of the Downtown Silver Spring development. Chairman Casey Anderson noted that the board had received “multiple requests” for reconsideration of the earlier action.
The county’s Department of Health and Human Services closed two more Georgia Avenue businesses in Silver Spring for failing to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. Society Lounge at 8229 Georgia Ave. and Republic Garden at 8402 Georgia were both shut down on Sunday July 12, both for not maintaining social distancing. In addition, both businesses had their licenses suspended.
The Planning Board is scheduled to reconsider its earlier approval of a $10 million renovation plan for Downtown Silver Spring at its meeting Thursday, July 16. The plan includes a proposal to permanently close Ellsworth Drive to vehicular traffic from Fenton Street to just beyond Fountain Plaza, and lay down nontoxic artificial turf to create a “linear urban park.”
The County Council this week approved two special appropriations and introduced a third designed to help businesses and organizations recover from the COVID-19 emergency. The council unanimously okayed $14 million to create the Reopen Montgomery Business Assistance Program. The funds will reimburse county businesses and nonprofit organizations reopening expenses incurred to comply with new state and county health regulations due to the crisis.
Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Andrew Friedson introduced legislation Tuesday that would extend Metro’s existing property tax abatement for 15 years for new high-rise development. Bill 29-20, the “More Housing at Metrorail Stations Act,” would require the Director of Finance to offer a payment in lieu of taxes for a high-rise building constructed by a private developer on property leased from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority at a Metro station.
Two Georgia Avenue businesses in downtown Silver Spring have been shut down for violating COVID-19 restrictions, county officials announced. The Palisades Lounge and the Cabana Hookah Lounge were both closed.