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The size of Beall's Grant II, the controversial affordable housing building planned for downtown Rockville, could be reduced by about 30 percent.

Montgomery Housing Partnership, a non-profit organization that develops affordable housing in the county, met with a community group last week in the last of a series of meetings held to negotiate a size and design residents would approve and agreed to move forward with a design that is lower in height and about three dozen units fewer than the 109 rental apartments approved by the Planning Commission last year.

Residents agreed to accept Montgomery Housing Partnership (MHP) to build 70 to 75 rental units.

"We've gone from a four-story, flat-wall, football-sized building down to two to three stories and it's a much more attractive building than the original," said Dennis Cain, who led the 22-member community group representing the West End Citizens Association. "I think the process has worked."

The developer and community agreed in December to meet for 90 days to negotiate a new design for the affordable housing project that would expand the current 60-unit Beall's Grant apartments on North Washington Street.

The new, tentative design, based on recommendations from the community group, brings the building height down from four stories to two stories, with a third story on the north side of the building, closest to Dawson Avenue. The new design not only reduces the number of units, but also the number of parking spaces, creates more green space in the front and back of the building, and has a townhouse façade on Beall Avenue.

Cars going in and out of the underground parking garage will only have access on Dawson Avenue in the new design, eliminating access from the busier Beall Avenue, as had been originally planned.

Montgomery Housing Partnership leaders proposed adding seven more units to make the project more economically feasible for them, but took that off the table in an effort to compromise.

"In the spirit of moving this forward, we'll do our best to make 74 [units] work," Artie Harris, MHP's director of real estate development, told the community group last week, adding that the number of units may vary depending on construction costs and other unknown variables.

MHP would need approval from the Planning Commission for the new design and for less parking than required. City planning staff will need to decide whether the new design would qualify as a substantial amendment to the original plan or require a new application.

MHP will draft a written agreement with the West End committee, which they will then present to the full West End Citizens Association. MHP President Robert Goldman said he hopes to meet with the West End next month.

"I think we're just pleased that we set a 90-day timetable in the beginning … and you never know whether you'll come to an agreement in that timeframe," Goldman said. "We're pleased we were all able to come together and find a common ground."

Cain said he felt the 90-day process was successful.

"We did identify 14 problems initially, and we haven't resolved all of those problems as it is still considerably larger than some people would like it to be, but on the other hand, it's much more attractive," Cain said. "The design of the structure is both an asset to MHP and the West End and we think we're getting there."

Goldman said he hopes to get a nod of approval from the City Council before returning to the Planning Commission this summer. MHP needs to submit an application for tax credits from the state by September to help finance the project.

Many residents of the West End neighborhood opposed the 109-unit expansion when the Planning Commission approved the plans in July. Opponents circulated petitions and yard signs that read "Stop Beall's Grant II." Residents have said they oppose the project because the size and mass of the building is too large, the potential for overcrowding at Beall Elementary School, and an increase in crime and traffic that the new development may bring.

Some residents, including former Mayor Larry Giammo, filed an appeal of the Planning Commission's decision in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

The appellants argue that, among other reasons, the development does not abide by the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), which was intended to prevent new development from negatively impacting the city's infrastructure. They assert that the calculations for school capacity did not follow the APFO. That hearing is scheduled for May 29.

Many residents in the West End have also shown support for Beall's Grant II, testifying at City Council meetings in favor of the original development. Initially, the West End Citizens Association president wrote a letter in favor of the project.

The City Council last spring had written a letter of support for the project in time for MHP's application for state funding, which it did not receive. In December, the council voted not to write another letter of support when MHP tried again for state funding, citing the number of residents who expressed concern about the development as approved.