More News

Montgomery County Third District Police will have some new neighbors when they move their headquarters to White Oak. Exactly how many neighbors– and what kind of homes they will live in—remains unclear.

Baltimore-based Dewberry and Davis LLC, the designer of the police station, said the two-story, 31,629-square-foot building will be situated on 4.19 acres along Milestone Drive near Route 29 and New Hampshire Avenue. The county is also considering two options for housing: townhouses or apartments.

While most people who attended a public forum in Silver Spring last week supported plans for the police station, some expressed pedestrian safety concerns with having the housing component close to a shopping center.

Jim Zepp, a resident of the Four Corners neighborhood of Silver Spring, suggested a fence along Route 29 to prevent people from jaywalking to a nearby shopping center.

"You have to anticipate that shopping center. People are going to take the shortest distance," said Zepp, who cites the fence along Route 29 next to Paint Branch High School as an example of deterring people from crossing.

Eric Aulestia of Silver Spring-based Torti Gallas and Partners, the designers of the housing component, responded that designers didn't plan to add to a fence since adding a fence everywhere on 29 would create a closed-in environment.

Plans for the two-story headquarters include a public access area, operations, patrol and patrol support functions, and holding cells on the first floor. Investigative units, staff support and administration will be on the second floor. The building will also have an 85 percent vegetated roof, a Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification and a community meeting room.

Third District Police headquarters are currently located at Sligo Avenue in downtown Silver Spring. It costs $5.1 million to buy land for the new police station and develop the property, according to the fiscal 2009 Capital Improvements Program.

Gilbert M. Chlewicki, senior transportation engineer for Dewberry and Davis, said the development will add 18 vehicles on New Hampshire during morning and afternoon peak rush hours, which would equate to three to four more vehicles per lane. Chlewicki said three to four cars "is really not that much."

The county initially bought the land to relocate the Third District station to a more centralized location within the district. When County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) took office in 2006, plans were proposed to also develop multifamily housing on the property.

Torti Gallas and Partners displayed two options at the meeting: 77 townhouses, which would be for sale; and 93 apartments, some of which would be for sale.

Rick Nelson, director of the county Department of Housing and Community Affairs, said housing would be located east of the police station, but plans are still being developed. After the meeting, officials could not confirm if the housing portion of the property would be maintained by the county or sold to a developer.

"We are probably a year behind the police station in terms of planning," Nelson said at the forum. "It's just a concept at this point."

Nelson didn't express a preference for what kind of housing he would prefer on the site but noted it would probably be harder to sell condos in the current economy.

The townhouses, he said, would be 20 feet wide with garages in the back. Seven-seven townhouses on that site are "about as tight as you can get it," he said.

After the meeting, East County Citizens Advisory Board member G. Stanley Doore reiterated his support for pedestrian safety measures along Route 29, calling for a pedestrian bridge near the housing site.

"They're not looking at the demand," Doore said.

Washington Adventist Hospital will be close to Route 29 when it moves from Takoma Park to Calverton/White Oak in 2013. Also, the Food and Drug Administration plans to have 8,900 employees at its White Oak campus by the time the next building is scheduled for completion in 2011-2012.

Gary Stith, former director of the Silver Spring Regional Services Center and current deputy director of the Department of General Services, said the police station move was needed to provide a more centralized location for the district's population. The district spans from the Washington, D.C., border to the Howard County line.

Stith described the Sligo Avenue station as the oldest police station in the county and an "inadequate facility" that "doesn't have the technology it needs."

Dave Evans, a resident of Tanglewood, a Fairland community near Route 29 and north of the proposed station, said it will take less time for officers to get to Tanglewood once the move is completed. A member of the Community Watch program at Tanglewood, Evans said the move won't impact the program, which monitors crime at the 820-home community.

"The move to White Oak is more centrally located, which I think is a good thing overall," Evans said.