Community invited to meet with planners, learn about the area and provide feedback about initial ideas for the Master Plan
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is launching the Rock Spring Master Plan on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at 7 p.m. at an open house to be held at Walter Johnson High School (6400 Rock Spring Drive, Bethesda, MD).
Community residents and business owners are invited to discuss the goals of the Master Plan and learn about existing conditions and challenges. County planners will explain the planning process and opportunities for public participation. Community feedback on the initial ideas for the Plan will be recorded on a “feedback wall” at the event. RSVPs are encouraged but not required.
RSVP for the September 1 Rock Spring Master Plan Open House.
Learn more about the Rock Spring Master Plan.
Background on the Rock Spring Master Plan
The Rock Spring area of North Bethesda is included in the 1992 North Bethesda/Garrett Park Sector Plan and mostly comprises single-use office buildings. The headquarters for Lockheed Martin and Marriott International are located within Rock Spring and Montgomery Mall is located just to the west.
The 1992 Sector Plan recommended the North Bethesda Transitway to link the White Flint area with Montgomery Mall via Old Georgetown Road and Rock Spring Drive. The Transitway was originally conceived as a link between the Grosvenor Metrorail Station to the east, through Rock Spring, to a planned transit center at Montgomery Mall. It is included in the approved 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan (CTCFMP) and would increase transit accessibility for this area, providing a framework for re-evaluating redevelopment of the area.
Rock Spring is part of the North Bethesda/Potomac office submarket. It accounts for 48 percent of office inventory in North Bethesda and 7 percent of office space Countywide. The current office vacancy rate in Rock Spring is 21.6 percent, higher than the overall County vacancy rate of 15 percent.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has vacated approximately 160,000 square feet of leased office space in Rock Spring for a new site in Twinbrook and Marriott is also looking for a new location.
Challenges confronting the Rock Spring planners include:
- Reinventing a suburban office park, with its auto-oriented street network and surface parking lots.
- Identifying opportunities for a new street grid.
- Examining places for public use spaces and amenities.
- Introducing residential and retail uses into predominately non-residential development to create a mixed use environment.
- Planning sustainable environmental measures.
- Evaluating infrastructure needs for the area.
For more information about the Rock Spring Master Plan and September 1 open house, contact:
Kristin O’Connor, tel.301.495.2172, email Kristin.Oconnor@montgomeryplanning.org or
Don Zeigler, tel.301.495.4638, email Don.Zeigler@montgomeryplanning.org.
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www.montgomeryplanning.org/rockspring
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