Comments on: Planning board axes Falkland north parcel

By: Woodsider

Woodsider — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:57:16 +0000

If Home Properties builds what it intends (or similar) there will be far more affordable units in DTSS than there are now. Read their proposal and you’ll see the creative way they are doing this in the propsed new and original remaining sections.

By: scenic wheaton

scenic wheaton — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:50:12 +0000

It’s great we are concentrating on encouraging people to ride metro by building huge apartment buildings on top of Wheaton, Takoma, and Silver Spring stops. But Metro seems to be caving in on itself. It’s a single track system besieged with delays and repair schedules. (It took me 2 hours to get from Metro Center to Silver Spring one night because of track work forcing lucky metro riders to get shuffled on and off various shuttle buses). Instead of yet another huge suburban monolith, it would be nice to see the same amount of urban planning dedicated to making metro reliable again – before we go squeezing more and more people into those broken down standing-room-only boxcars.

By: D.F. Shaw

D.F. Shaw — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:30:22 +0000

As a former three-year resident of Falkland Chase, I regret the selfish cave-in of the Planning Board. Once again, the developers decide what's best for the public! Meanwhile, affordable housing continues to disappear. The current owners of Falkland are from Texas and are contributing their expertise to make Silver Spring look like Houston, i.e. reckless sprawl where the only building criteria is an empty -- or -- old space. For those of us who are jealous of county cops who start off at $50K+, ride around in cars they take home, and then collect disability with their retirement (or 34% do), and envious of teachers who take home $80K (avg) and once retired, contribute ZERO to their health benefits, the disappearance of affordable housing is very sad. Not all of us wish to live in Yuppieland with worshipers of Mammon. Maybe we should just build a fence around Silver Spring, with gates manned by our brave police force. Then those disgusting people who work with their hands to change the diapers of the trophy children and mow the lawns of the Chablis Set can enter at dawn, but leave at dusk. Let them find residence somewhere else! In disgust, D.F. Shaw Editor's note: Thanks for your comment, DFS. According to Home Properties' website, the company is based in Rochester, NY, not Texas. -- JD (Sep 6, 2008)

By: Thayer Avenue

Thayer Avenue — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:00:57 +0000

And *that* is when the union at Giant will raise holy hell.

By: Jennifer Deseo

Jennifer Deseo — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:50:51 +0000

To clarify, the planning board’s decision doesn’t approve construction of the new project. It only recommends a pass on historic preservation, which could lead to the demolition of those existing buildings.

Any project that might go up on that site still must go through planning board review.

By: Harris

Harris — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:13:06 +0000

CORRECTION: The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, or the one.

By: Willard

Willard — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:11:50 +0000

Good. And a new supermarket can’t come soon enough!

By: Thayer-D

Thayer-D — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:27:40 +0000

Awsome, finally some common sense!!! Garden apartments are any apartments sitting in a bunch of green, and the north parcel was sitting in a bunch of parking lined with green. If any apartment should have been saved it was the one that got lost for the Library. Viva Silver Springopolis.

By: Woodsider

Woodsider — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:23:25 +0000

The right decision and the right compromise. Hopefully, Home Properties won’t build the massive monolithic looking structure from their original renderings but instead follow the recommendations of the planning board to break the property up into smaller “blocks” with multiple buildings that better relate to the street and pedestrians. Either way, I plan to be the first customer in the new Harris Teeter (in three or more years!).