Options vary for Burtonsville commercial district

Residents prefer alternative that would give the area a facelift and reduce impact on businesses

Their renderings were presented to the community at a charette Thursday at Burtonsville Elementary School. The school’s entrance on Route 198 would be one end of the core commercial area.

Prost said the purpose of the charette was to let residents speculate. And while the more than 80 residents who showed up Thursday had opinions on what the area should look like, there seemed to be a consensus toward the least drastic of the four options.

That option, the first consultants presented, was the paintup⁄fixup option, which would consist of cleaning up the signage and making the buildings more cohesive and attractive. It was well-received among the residents because it would not burden local businesses to rebuild.

Peggy Reeves spoke for many residents when she said she was worried business and property owners would not be able to afford rebuilding or paying the new rent.

‘‘It doesn’t throw anyone out,” Reeves said of the first option.

The second, less modest suggestion was to demolish the buildings from Seibel’s Restaurant to Goodyear Tires and redesign the entire landscape. Prost said it was not clear who would pay for all of it and that it would require a significant amount of additional parking to meet county requirements.

To fit in all the parking, the consultants suggested moving the spaces to the rear and bring the stores to the edge of Route 198. This would generate a more urban, pedestrian-friendly feel, Prost said.

But there were some concerns that that design would also create a natural barrier from the street that could attract illicit nighttime activity.

‘‘That’s pretty much a brewing area for crime,” resident Ross Gardner said.

A third idea, almost unanimously rejected by residents, was to make the entire area residential.

‘‘We have enough housing,” said Stuart Rochester, resident and chairman of the Fairland Master Plan Citizens Committee. ‘‘We need more jobs.”

The final alternative was to create a mixed-use area of housing, retail and live-and-work units — a place for business owners to run their business on the first floor and live upstairs.

The consultants, who were hired by Montgomery County, also took suggestions from last month’s community meeting about creating a town center, which was shown as a park between the commercial area and Burtonsville Elementary School.

Prost and Rhodeside had some ideas about how to slow traffic on Route 198. Prost suggested widening Route 198 to add a center turn lane, possibly adding a median with shrubbery or putting in traffic circles near Seibel’s and Goodyear.

Residents seemed interested in the idea of traffic circles but were divided on whether the circles would have the desired effect.

‘‘Traffic circles don’t calm traffic, they aggravate traffic,” said Reeves, who lives near a circle at Perrywood Drive and Old Columbia Pike.

But resident Jim Hughes disagreed.

‘‘It works fine as long as we yield,” he said.

Rochester said traffic circles would prevent Route 198 ‘‘from becoming an alternative ICC,” referring to the Intercounty Connector toll road slated to connect Prince George’s and Montgomery County by 2010.

Rhodeside said the next step is to start testing options and their economic viability. Findings will be presented at a meeting in August, she said, and then handed over to the state to apply for funds that will supplement the county’s $500,000 Capital Improvement Program grant.

Prost said he was impressed with the enthusiasm Burtonsville residents have for the community.

‘‘They had some pretty clear ideas,” he said.