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Club opts out of plan at Bowie Mill

Group wanted gym and housing but said county restrictions were too narrow

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006

After reviewing the county’s request for proposal to develop a 32-acre site on Bowie Mill Road, the Olney Boys and Girls Club has halted its plan to build a gymnasium and affordable housing on the property.

The organization had hoped to work with a developer to build what an OBGC official calls two critical shortages within the community.

‘‘The severe lack of gym space is not only a problem in the Olney area, but in most of the county,” OBGC Chairman Daniel Dionisio said. ‘‘The lack of gym space is reaching epidemic levels when 8-year-olds are forced to play games until 9 at night during the week and young teams cannot even find gym times to practice before games.”

Dionisio added that the issues of gangs, violence and bullying are often in the news, and those problems frequently stem from youths not having any place to go.

‘‘This was an opportunity to address the problem in a smart way at the right place,” he said. ‘‘We don’t care if the county or OBGC builds and manages the new gyms, we just want them to be built.”

When the request for proposal, or RFP, was released in December, Dionisio said the wording placed a great deal of emphasis on the concept of swapping the land on Bowie Mill for a site elsewhere in the community, as recommended in the new Olney Master Plan.

During the master plan study process, residents learned that the parcel of land along Bowie Mill, which had been set aside for a school and which they had hoped to use in that capacity, had been turned back to Montgomery County for use as a development of affordable housing.

The site is one of several in the county slotted for a mix of housing needs, specifically moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs) and workforce housing, defined as housing that is affordable for a family of four earning between $62,510 and $107,160 and to those who work in the county as police, firefighters, teachers and others unable to purchase or rent here due to high housing costs.

Development on the Bowie Mill site, back in the county’s hands since 1996, is limited by environmental constraints, traffic issues and compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods.

The swap concept would require a developer to build more affordable units than required for the project under traditional development by placing the housing on another site in the Olney planning area. That requirement would not affect the density, but instead affect the mix of affordable and market-rate housing.

Dionisio said the only developer that has property that would accommodate such a swap is Winchester Homes, which owns the so-called Golden Bear property on the northeast corner of Georgia Avenue and Norbeck Road.

‘‘This basically takes this opportunity and hands it to Winchester, and this bothers people,” he said. ‘‘Our board has decided that because of the wording, we can’t spend any more money on this because we don’t have a chance.”

He added that although OBGC’s original concept had to be dropped due to the wording of the RFP and the focus on mixed-use housing, the club’s idea for building a gym for area kids is not lost, as it is part of a different concept by another developer.

J. Kirby Development, along with Ryan Homes, has submitted a proposal that would include 117 units, including 21 MPDUs, 48 workforce housing units and 48 market-rate homes. In addition, a 25,000-square-foot gymnasium built for OBGC would occupy the front four acres of the parcel.

Jeff Kirby, known for building several affordable housing projects throughout Montgomery County, including the new senior apartment building on Georgia Avenue in Olney, said there is no need for a swap.

‘‘We’re able to make everything fit, so I don’t see why there needs to be a swap,” he said.

Kirby said that he, too, was surprised at the language in the RFP that appeared to favor Winchester, and agreed that developers would have to take a real hard look before deciding to proceed.

‘‘Submitting a proposal is a timely and costly endeavor; it can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000,” he said.

He said his proposal meets two major demands for county land — affordable housing and gymnasium space.

Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown disagreed with OBGC’s claims that the RFP wording precluded OBGC and other developers from going forward with their ideas.

‘‘The notion of a land swap was recommended by the council in the master plan, but it doesn’t preclude anyone from submitting any other ideas,” he said. ‘‘It was never directed to any particular organization, and as I read this RFP, I would encourage lots of folks to apply. I am a little concerned that OBGC did not submit their proposal, and a little disappointed.”

Lisa Rother, planning manager for the County Executive’s Office, said the office received five proposals by the Jan. 27 deadline, of which only one included a swap concept.

‘‘The fact that we received five proposals says that others understood that there are other options,” she said. ‘‘They will each be evaluated on the development team, the project soundness and the public benefit.”

Donna Bigler, county public information officer, said the first review of the five proposals would take place this week. The review committee will determine which applicants will be invited to provide more details on their proposals, and then submit their recommendation to the county executive, who will make the final decision. The selection process should be completed by 90-120 days from the date the RFP was released, which was Dec. 9.

In the meantime, Dionisio said that members of OBGC have embarked on an e-mail campaign, resulting in nearly 1,100 e-mails being sent to Duncan’s office and to members of the County Council.

Dionisio said that 93 percent of OBGC members who responded voted in favor of the organization taking the opportunity to build on Bowie Mill Road and are asking the county executive to approve the Kirby concept that includes OBGC’s gym.

OBGC is twice as large as it was when the club build OBGC Community Park at Freeman Fields on Olney-Laytonsville Road, he said, and the demand for more facilities is twice as large now than it was then.