The Silver Spring Penguin

A development project in Fenton Village is shedding a proposed office building and 90 residential units.

Studio Plaza, a mixed-use development planned for Thayer and Silver Spring avenues, is also shaking two small parks and up to 20,000 square feet of retail space, the project’s developer told Silver Spring’s commercial and economic development committee Wednesday night.

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Developer Robert Paul Hillerson said the county’s planning department reviewed his single proposal to build two residential buildings on Silver Spring Avenue and one office building on Thayer Avenue.

However, Hillerson said the department deemed the Silver Spring Avenue buildings and the Thayer Avenue office space to be two distinct projects. This would require the Thayer Avenue building to abide by zoning laws reserving two-thirds of its space for residential use.

Instead of contesting the planning department’s decision, Hillerson chose to eliminate the seven-story, 146,000 square-foot office building and its 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

The planning department also divorced two small parks on Silver Spring Avenue from the larger project, according to Hillerson. Again, he opted to eliminate the planned parks.

To make up for the lost parks, Hillerson moved the required public-use space to the front of both residential buildings on Silver Spring Avenue. Updated plans showed one building standing 12 feet from the public sidewalk, and the other standing up to 30 feet from the sidewalk.

The alteration shrunk the buildings’ footprints, reducing the number of residential units from 255 to a maximum 165 between the two buildings, Hillerson said.

A debate with the county’s department of public works and transportation also could affect the residential buildings. According to Hillerson, DPWT objected to the buildings’ proposed use of Mayor Lane as the sole access point to residential parking. This point might be contested.

The project goes before the planning board on June 7, Hillerson said.