SILVER SPRING, MD – On Thursday, September 4, the Montgomery County Planning Board will consider whether to recommend that a 1930s-era complex of one- and two-story garden apartments in downtown Silver Spring be designated historic.
Whether to designate the Falkland-Chase Apartments – literally, whether to place the site on the county Master Plan for Historic Preservation – has generated much public attention. Owners of the complex, which straddles East-West Highway at 16th Street near the Silver Spring Metro Station, propose to redevelop about a third of the site.
Preservation advocates assert that the full complex is worthy of designation from the County Council, the final decision-maker on historic master plan designation. In past hearings, preservationists have called the Falklands a worthy example of early garden apartments and say the historic value would be compromised if part of the complex were redeveloped.
Others, including county planners, have recommended that a portion of the complex – roughly a third known as the “north parcel” – be allowed to redevelop due to its proximity to the Metro Station. The County Council and the Planning Board have identified areas near mass transit as ideal places for higher density developments, a strategy to reduce traffic congestion and lower environmental impacts. Planners also point to the Silver Spring Sector Plan, which calls for redeveloping the north parcel of the Falklands Apartments. The property owners have not objected to the other parcels being placed on the master plan.
The Board serves as an advisor to the Council on historic designation cases and is expected to deliver its recommendation after Thursday’s work session. During the session, board members will consider information submitted before and during two hearings and is not seeking additional new testimony.
In the last few decades, county officials have considered the historic status of the Falklands-Chase Apartments. In the mid-1980s, both the Board and the Council decided not to designate the entire complex and specified only a building on the south parcel be placed on the master plan. Then, last December, triggered by an application by the owner of the Falkland Apartments to redevelop the north parcel, the board voted to find the complex eligible for listing on the master plan.
In this week’s work session, as the Board considers reams of testimony and written comments, board members likely will weigh the historic value against other public objectives such as placing higher densities near transit; creating affordable and workforce housing; enhancing public open space; and creating jobs in downtown Silver Spring.
Should the County Council decide to add the complex to the Master Plan, any significant changes to the buildings would have to be vetted by the Historic Preservation Commission, a county advisory board.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Falklands Apartments historic designation
WHEN:
Thursday, September 4, approximately 2 p.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
# # #