The Planning Board will determine whether or not they will reconsider its earlier approval of a $10 million renovation plan for Downtown Silver Spring at its meeting Thursday, July 16.
The board passed a resolution in favor of a site plan amendment outlining the renovation at its July 2 meeting. If the Planning Board votes in support of the reconsideration request, the item will be scheduled for a future Planning Board hearing.
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 approval is contingent on the county consenting to abandon that stretch of Ellsworth.
The Stormwater Partners Network, a group that includes representatives of Friends of Sligo Creek, the Audubon Naturalist Society, Conservation Montgomery, Safe Healthy Playing Fields, and local residents, petitioned the board to reconsider that decision, citing concerns including stormwater runoff into Sligo Creek, among others.
In the meantime, Downtown Silver Spring began an email and Facebook ad campaign yesterday, seeking supporters to write to the Planning Board in favor of the project.
In addition, DTSS, a partnership between Peterson Companies, Foulger-Pratt and ARGO Investment Company, announced they were working with Donna Adi, a Los Angeles-based mixed-media artist.
Adi’s work is part of rebranding campaign and will include a commission for eight images that the companies will roll out in the future.
Rendering courtesy Peterson Companies