SILVER SPRING, MD – Among the items scheduled to be
heard by the Montgomery County Planning Board on April 24 are a request for a
special exception from Washington Adventist Hospital, which hopes to relocate
from Takoma Park to northern Silver Spring, a proposed Green Space Plan for
downtown Silver Spring, and a housing expert who will speak as part of the
board’s Excellence in Planning Speaker Series.
Hospital
officials have requested a special exception – an activity permitted as a
conditional use within specific zones – to develop a 49-acre health care campus
in the West Farm Technology Park on Plum Orchard Drive near Cherry Hill Road.
The campus, which would be built in two phases, is proposed to house an
eight-story hospital with 294 beds, a two-story ambulatory care building, two
medical office buildings and two parking garages.
After
the board’s review, the special exception proposal goes to the county Hearing
Examiner and the Board of Appeals. If the special exception is granted,
hospital officials still will need to obtain approval from the Planning Board for
a site plan, a detailed review of building locations, landscaping and other
elements.
Before
hearing the special exception request, however, the board will consider whether
to extend the property’s Adequate Public Facilities validity period. The board
will only grant an APF extension if it finds that the public services – such as
transportation – will be adequate to serve the proposed site. Without the APF
extension, the hospital project cannot proceed.
Planners
analyzing Washington Adventist
Hospital’s special exception request are recommending
approval with a number of conditions, including a cap on total density to
803,500 square feet, intersection improvements, a hospital employee shuttle service
and a detailed transportation management program that would be binding with
approval of the hospital site plan.
The
board will consider the hospital applications at approximately 9:05 a.m.
Also on
Thursday, planners will present a draft plan for more green space in downtown
Silver Spring. Recognizing that too few significant parks exist – with two few
connections between them – in the Silver Spring central business district,
planners recommend considering six sites for potential green spaces, from a
parking lot off East-West Highway to land at the intersection of Fenton Street
and East-West Highway. The board will consider the draft green space plan at
approximately 1 p.m. and will decide whether to circulate it for public review.
On
Thursday evening at approximately 7:30 p.m., the board will welcome Marina
Khoury, director of town planning for a firm that has designed more than 200
new towns emphasizing community revitalization. The firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk, is credited with having a major
influence on the direction of town and urban planning in the United States.
Khoury, who will speak about approaches to ensuring design excellence in
housing, is a licensed architect and is joining the board as part of its
Excellence in Planning Speaker Series, which is focusing on housing issues this
spring.
WHO:
The
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Public
hearing agenda items
WHEN:
Thursday,
April 24
WHERE:
Park
and Planning Headquarters
8787
Georgia Ave., Silver Spring