Northwood News ♦ June 2010

County Planning Director Tours Four Corners with Civic Association Representatives

By Laura Hussey

On a recent Saturday in May, representatives of the NFCCA, Woodmoor, and South Four Corners neighborhood associations joined Montgomery County Planning Director Rollin Stanley on a walking tour of Four Corners.  Stanley, who has led the county’s Planning Department since December 2007, instituted the “Walkabout” program to help him become more familiar with Montgomery County’s unique neighborhoods.  Over a dozen neighborhoods have hosted the Planning Director since he initiated the program.

South Four Corners invited NFCCA and Woodmoor to participate because we all share common concerns about the impacts of commercial encroachment along University Boulevard.

Edgewood Avenue residents and NFCCA members Laura Hussey and David Rotenstein were among about 10 individuals from the three associations who met up with Stanley in front of the Woodmoor Bakery.  The Woodmoor Shopping Center provided a convenient launch point for the 90-minute walking tour, as well as an excellent place to discuss issues of common concern to the three neighborhoods.  Woodmoor Shopping Center anchors a viable, walkable commercial district for the three neighborhoods.  Rotenstein, a historian, explained that although the mix of businesses has changed over time, the footprint of the Four Corners commercial district has remained constant since the 1930s.  Representatives of all three neighborhoods made it clear that the walkable restaurants, banks, post office, and grocery stores are valuable amenities to our neighborhoods, but worries about future development decisions need to carefully balance commercial interests with concerns about traffic patterns and encroachment of commercial activity into residential areas.

Another area where the associations share a common interest is transportation issues.  Much of the discussion during the neighborhood tour centered on transportation concerns, including walkability and pedestrian safety, traffic congestion and neighborhood cut-through traffic, and developing alternatives to automobile travel that would be safe and convenient for all residents, from students to senior citizens.

From the Woodmoor Shopping Center, the group crossed University Blvd. and Colesville Road and continued west on University past the Post Office and through the Safeway parking lot into the South Four Corners neighborhood.  Walking down several South Four Corners streets, Stanley noted how quiet the neighborhood was despite its proximity to the business district, something all three neighborhoods have in common.

As the group walked, residents discussed the diversity of housing options in the desirable close-in Four Corners neighborhoods, including approximately 4,000 single family homes, town homes, and senior citizen apartments at The Oaks.  Stanley asked about property values, the mix of owner-occupied and rental properties, and he noted the quality of the housing stock.

The group dodged traffic to cross University at the marked crosswalk at Brunett Avenue, and entered North Four Corners Park.  The crossing underscored for Stanley the safety issues facing pedestrians and cyclists in the Four Corners neighborhoods.  Although Stanley does not have direct responsibility for County parks, at several points during the tour he asked about the neighborhoods’ access to green space.  A walk through the park provided an opportunity to show him a significant neighborhood amenity and to explain some of the concerns North Four Corners residents have expressed over plans to convert the “Rachel Carson Meadow” area of the park into a soccer field.

The group completed the tour walking down Edgewood and Sutherland Avenues.  Longtime South Four Corners residents pointed out the streetscape improvements to University Boulevard installed by the Maryland Highway Administration.  The tour wrapped up back at Woodmoor Bakery.

Under Stanley’s leadership, MoCo’s Planning Department is responsible for the preparation of master plans, such as the Four Corners Master Plan.  Stanley’s staff advises the Planning Board, which then forwards recommendations for approval by the County Council.  Planning staff also work with other County and state agencies gathering and analyzing various types of data to help plan for Montgomery County’s future.  The three associations will continue to work together to provide input into those important efforts.   ■