Dear Penguin: I travel frequently and haven’t seen much news lately on The Fillmore. Deal or no deal? — Carlos Garcia
Carlos:
I get that question a lot from frequent flyers: What’s up with The Fillmore? Who’s this guy sitting in my window seat? Why won’t the flight attendant give me a full can of soda? All of them deserve answers, so let’s get to it.
First, the guy sitting in your window seat is the schmuck who’s supposed to be in the last row, next to the lavatory. Go ahead and tell him to scram. Next, you can’t have a full can of soda in flight because it will ruin your appetite and contribute to tooth decay. Instead, thank the flight attendant for keeping your best interests in mind.
Lastly, The Fillmore music hall is still on for the former JC Penney site on Colesville Road. Earlier this year, the state and county legislatures gave a collective thumbs up to fund the project, bringing the public contribution to $8 million. The venue also got the green light to get liquored up.
Now the county’s zoning laws need tweaking to get construction cooking. First, a little background. As part of the tangled deal between the county, concert promoter Live Nation and the Lee Development Group, the music venue would serve as the required public-use space for a much larger development project on an adjacent lot.
Traditionally, public-use space is thought of as a grassy knoll or an urban plaza, and it’s not even considered until a full development project comes to the table. Now the county council must redefine public-use space to include performance venues, artists’ studios, radio studios and museums.
The council also must allow a public-use space to be built before its larger accompanying project, essentially putting the cart before the horse. According to the proposed zoning change, a developer would have up to ten years to reveal the player to be named later.
And that makes the county’s planning board nervous. According to one planning document, the proposed zoning change allows that larger project to defy sector plans and pedestrian-circulation recommendations, using its public-use space as a “Get out of jail free” card. The full planning board discusses the matter on Thursday.
That’s where things stand. Don’t forget to thank your pilot as you disembark the plane.
Jennifer Deseo
Editor, The Silver Spring Penguin
Embedded images courtesy of Flickr user Eric Hurst, Flickr user JClayton, LiveMusicSS.com, Flickr user Elemental_Fool, Flickr user Caromalinia, and Flickr user MacDonald.Mark.
August 21, 2008
10 Comments at "Stump the Penguin"
Yeah bureaucracy!
check out the staff recommendation and see if you think it’s “bureaucracy” or opposing a land grab that takes away the public’s interest. this is a change in legislation that has implications beyond the lees and the county’s shoving it’s project in regardless of impact. wake up.
As long as we’re playing stump the Penguin, have you heard any more about the status of the Fractured Prune (looks like no work has been done at all) or the Across the Street Cafe (looks about ready to go)? Also, when are they going to pull up the turf? At this rate, they could still have the Jazz Festival there instead of in a parking lot.
Macy,
This is not a land grab that takes away the public interest. This zoning change will encourage developers to give the County land or building for an arts use that will be used by the public for possibly several years before a developer builds the private project. In the case of the Fillmore project it will use the historic facade of the J C Penney building that has been vacant for 18 years and turn it into a world class music performance venue.
To take advantage of this zoning change, the project has to be in a downtown area that is designated by the State as an Arts and Entertainment District. The land or building must be given to the County and the County must be willing to accept it. In exchange, the developer will get a guarantee that this land or building will meet the public use and amenity requirements for their future project (which must be part of a project plan that has to be approved by the Planning Board). The developer gets a little longer approval period than is now allowed by the new County Growth Policy.
If there were no benefits to the developer, why would they turn over their land or building up front. That is like paying for something several years in advance. There has to be a benefit or no one would agree to do it. The public gets the benefit of the amenity before the development occurs.
Editor’s note: Gary Stith is the director of Silver Spring’s regional center. Thanks, Gary! — JD (Jul 16, 2008)
copy of my letter to Roy Hanson-
July 15, 2008
Royce Hanson, Chairman
Montgomery County
Planning Board
Dear Mr. Hanson;
I have had my business in Downtown Silver Spring since 1977. My office is on Spring Street right behind your offices. Maybe I’m just stupid and don’t get what you are opposed to when it comes to the Fillmore music hall in Silver Spring.
As I understand it, the Lee family donates the land for the music hall, the state and county build it and the county leases it to the Fillmore. This music hall will add night life to Silver Spring, help the restaurants and shops, compliment the AFI and help clean up the seedy side of Colesville Road.
Yet, you are fighting it tooth and nail because you want to control the process. If you get your way the Lees won’t donate the land and the county will forfeit the state’s $4 million grant. Brilliant! Another victory for paralysis by analysis.
Joe Camacho
Better idea. Scrap the useless public space requirement that results in a million pocket parks no one likes or uses anyway and just messes up any hope for true urban density. Require a financial contribution to a fund for REAL public space instead - after a dozen developers contribute build a REAL park…. if you’ve lived in DTSS too long you may not know what one of those is.. but they’re nice. Let those fiscal contributions span some period of time. Let the Lee’s generous donation to the poor needy multi-billion dollar corporation (Live Nation) count as that donation. Public space requirements are breaking up our urban downtown one pocket park at a time, and creating a justification for not building REAL parks like the one that clearly SHOULD go where we’re building an ice rink no one wants instead.
Go Gary and Paul_Silver_Spring!!
Washington DC has been dealing with this open-space requirement for years now with all the new residential developement that has recently taken place. Montgomery County shoud study what they’ve done and not re-invent the wheel. The problem is with these obsolete zoning laws that where instituted during the hey-day of the Modernist Movement in the 50’s and 60’s when government was anti-city/urbanism. Green space was thought to be good (see endless suburbia) and city was thought to be bad (see white-flight). Hurray for eliminating the ice-rink and using the money to enhance the park in front of the “town hall”.
Let’s not mess this up and help Silver Spring become the thriving place it’s destined to be.
Woodside_boomer: Across The Street Cafe is slated to open next Tuesday July 22nd.
Editor’s note: Woohoo! Mark your calendars, people. — JD (Jul 17, 2008)
Zoning changes for The Fillmore don’t float with the planning board, says The Washington Post.
“Planners oppose two key measures for live-music hall” (The Washington Post)
“Park & Planning opposes Fillmore” sounds like a power struggle now… Roy Hanson wants total control of his little kingdom. He has publicly stated that Park and Planning loses control in this deal. How long is this Bozo appointed for?
Holler back.