For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014
The Montgomery County Council today approved the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan that will transform the area on the east side of the County around the Route 29 corridor and the Food and Drug Administration into a community of vibrant mixed-use centers.
The Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee held several worksessions on the plan, making some recommended changes to the original plan recommended by the County Planning Board. The full Council held an extensive worksession on the plan on July 22 and discussed other aspects of it prior to today’s vote.
The plan was approved by a vote of 8-0, with one abstention. Council President Craig Rice, Vice President George Leventhal and Councilmembers Phil Andrews, Roger Berliner, Cherri Branson, Nancy Floreen, Nancy Navarro and Hans Riemer voted to adopt the plan. Councilmember Marc Elrich abstained.
The plan, which covers approximately 3,000 acres, amends portions of the approved and adopted 1997 Fairland Master Plan and portions of the approved and adopted 1997 White Oak: Master Plan. The White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan area is bounded by the Capital Beltway (I-495) on the south, Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park on the west, U.S. Route 29 and Cherry Hill Road on the north and Prince George’s County on the east
The plan recommends rezoning commercial areas to the Commercial/Residential (CR) zones, which allow a broad range of commercial uses, including general offices, technology and biotechnology, research and development, hospitals, educational institutions, some manufacturing and production. It also allows multi-family residential and supportive retail services to create a complete community.
The plan's land use recommendations are based on the assumption of increased transit options via the development of a new bus rapid transit system and enhanced local bus service.
“The Council's actions today set the stage for leveraging White Oak’s assets and establishing the kind of foundation which will finally allow the area to become a community that offers greatly enhanced opportunities to live, work, play and raise a family,” said Councilmember Branson, who represents District 5, which includes the master plan area. “This Council is ready to move East County forward and the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan will provide the long-overdue blueprint to provide what the residents want and need.”
At its July 22 worksession, the Council offered various suggestions for language in the plan that would ensure that any redevelopment of the older White Oak and Hillandale shopping centers would include significant commercial development (including retail businesses that serve the existing communities).
“This master plan adopted today is a crucial step forward in spurring economic development and east county revitalization,” said Council President Rice. “It is an area that has been stagnant for too long and it is our responsibility to create an environment that will bring jobs and employment opportunities to the White Oak area and move it forward.”
The Food and Drug Administration campus bring thousands of employees and visitors to the White Oak area each day. The area also could include a new Washington Adventist Hospital.
The FDA will be a catalyst for additional development. The County is pursuing development of a major life sciences center on its 115-acre property known as Site 2 and has partnered with Percontee, owners of the adjacent 185-acre site, to create the potential for a 300-acre mixed-use development. Adjacent to both these parcels is a nearly 50-acre property for the planned relocation of Washington Adventist Hospital.
The plan recommends a prominent civic promenade be part of the project. Mixed use zoning will encourage a combination of commercial, residential and retail uses within the compact, walkable center.
The Planning Board’s original presentation to the Council is available on the Council’s web site via video on demand at:
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council
Statements of Councilmembers on approval of the plan:
Council Vice President George Leventhal: “We have adopted a plan that we hope will provide incentives for jobs and investment in a part of the county that has historically been left behind. I sponsored language that ensures that there will be a new transit system and a financing plan to pay for it.”
Councilmember Roger Berliner: “Today’s vote marks a new chapter in the future of White Oak and the future of our County. We seek in this plan to help bring about significant economic revitalization by building upon a strong asset of our County—the fact that we are home to the Food and Drug Administration. As a partner in developing one of the key parcels in this plan, our County is in a unique position to bring about a state-of-the-art sustainable, innovative health science center that provides a wide range of jobs and amenities for our east county residents. In doing so, our Council also recognizes that bus rapid transit (BRT) is absolutely fundamental to both our future prosperity and our quality of life. BRT cannot be just another “plan”—we need to execute the plan, and I am pleased that this master plan moves us forward in that direction.”
Councilmember Marc Elrich: “I am in complete agreement with the goal of bringing jobs and amenities to the East County, but the amount of residential housing approved in this plan—along with insufficient safeguards to address the longstanding traffic problems that continue to plague the Route 29 corridor—lead me to conclude that the plan is long on promises and short on solutions. I remain concerned about whether this plan has what it takes to create an important employment center that attracts the kind of professional jobs, restaurants and retail that will make it a ‘place.’ Because we failed to spend the time required to get the plan right for a part of the County poorly served by two previous master plans, I could not support the plan as adopted by my colleagues. However, my abstention on the final vote signals my support for its stated goals for the East County. I will hope for the best possible outcome and will support all efforts to get there.”
Councilmember Nancy Floreen, who chairs the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee: “With the passage of the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan, we are realizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring robust employment and mixed-use growth to the eastern part of the County after a generation of moratoria. There is tremendous economic development potential in White Oak, and the community stands to gain extraordinary benefits.”
Councilmember Nancy Navarro: "During the two years I represented East County, before redistricting, adding the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan to the Planning Department's work program was one of my top priorities. The plan passed by the Council moves us one step closer to ending the jobs/housing imbalance in the East County. It leverages the FDA's headquarters and the opportunity to build a new rapid transit line on U.S. 29 to bring East County the jobs and amenities that it deserves, and which are long overdue."
Councilmember Hans Riemer: “The new White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan sets a better future into motion for East County. The plan creates the right incentives for new investments in the area, which should result in a better quality of life for our residents. I thank my colleagues for supporting the language I proposed calling for an ultra-high speed data network to be constructed in the area as it is built out. Now we will need to move forward with the County’s development agreement in order to make this a reality. When the network is constructed, it will help attract new entrepreneurs and employers to create data-intensive jobs in White Oak, and it will be a model for other innovation districts around the County.”
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