FoWF July 13 Board Meeting Speakers

The Friends of White Flint Board of Directors meetings are rarely sedate affairs. They are open to the public and everybody talks, whether Director or not.

Even so, next Tuesday’s FoWF Board meeting promises some juicy discussions, including three big ones:

Bicycles in the Suburbs: Everyone who runs a community organization or list-serve in Montgomery County knows that one of the hottest topics is usually bicycles and bicylists. (Friends of White Flint started as a residents’ and bicyclists’ discussion forum.) Casey Anderson from the Citizens League of Montgomery County, who is also active in MoBikes (Montgomery Bicycle Advocates), will be giving a presentation on the future of bicycling in MoCo.  (1) where do bikes fit into the suburban-but-urbanizing transportation network, (2) why don’t more people ride bikes for utilitarian purposes in the suburbs, and (3) what are the implications for public policy of the answers to the first two questions?. At the 2010 White Flint Town Hall in June, Casey, other bicycle enthusiasts and government planning officials held a three-hour planning session with Ian Lockwood of Glatting Jackson.

How Should FoWF Handle Development Proposals? As the White Flint Sector Plan begins (we hope), developers will want community comment on their proposals. Greg Trimmer and Rod Lawrence, from JBG Companies, one of the most active developers of properties around Metro Stations, will lead a discussion of how Friends of White Flint should review and evaluate those proposals. JBG has extensive experience with the two organizations which FoWF uses as models: Rosslyn Renaissance and Clarendon Alliance in Arlington County; both of those organizations have a regular process in which residents, businesses, and other developers review and critique development proposals. At this meeting, Federal Realty will disclose its preliminary plans for Mid-Pike Plaza (shown below), which anchors the northwestern section of the White Flint Sector, and ProMark will show its preliminary plans for the Fitzgerald and Nicholson Lane properties.

White Flint Financing Plans: The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved the White Flint Sector Plan in March, but we still don’t have a proposal from the County Executive for financing the needed infrastructure. The delay is supposedly caused by continuing reviews in the office of the County Executive, which proposed several alternative options last year. Last night, Council President Nancy Floreen revealed that she has directed County staff to finalize those options before the end of July, so that the Council can finally move forward again. David Freishtat, a Friends of White Flint Board member representing the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce, will moderate a discussion on the financing stalemate.

The FoWF meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 13, at 7PM, at the office of Federal Realty, 1626 E. Jefferson St., in Rockville. FoWF Board meetings generally last about two hours.

Please join us.

Barnaby Zall