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Development request for Bowie Mill pulled

Wording may have limited proposals, county officials say

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The county has cancelled its request for development plans for the controversial 32-acre Bowie Mill Road site after members of the community challenged the wording of the request and the process the county uses to solicit proposals.

Scott Reilly, county assistant chief administrative officer, confirmed that the so-called Request for Proposals (RFP) was pulled because of allegations that the language was unfairly biased towards one or more of the developers who responded and that the wording may have limited the number of groups that submitted proposals.

‘‘We will reissue a revised RFP, although at this time I cannot say when that will be,” he said.

The property, bounded by Bowie Mill Road, Daly Manor Place, Darnell Drive and Ivy Lane, was originally designated to be the site for a future Olney school, but was given back to the county, which decided to use it for workforce housing.

In addition to affordable housing, the Olney Boys and Girls Club wanted to see a gymnasium built on the site to meet the growing demand for indoor recreational space.

After feeling ‘‘shut out” by the wording in the RFP that seemed to favor a ‘‘swap” concept and developer Winchester Homes, Olney Boys and Girls Club board members decided to halt plans for a proposal in which they would develop the property.

Instead, developer Jeff Kirby included a gym in the proposal he submitted, stating the facility could be operated by either the county or OBGC.

In a letter to OBGC Chairman Dan Dionisio dated July 13, County Chief Administrative Officer Bruce F. Romer wrote that he asked his staff and the staff of the county attorney’s office to review the RFP process.

‘‘While the investigation did not uncover any errors, irregularities or faults in the drafting and advertising of the RFP, or in the review of the submissions in response to the RFP, the issues you raise are of sufficient gravity to lead me to take additional action,” Romer says in the letter.

Romer said he was therefore canceling the RFP, and expects that the county will reissue an amended Request for Proposals for use of the site for affordable housing at some time in the future.

‘‘I expect the RFP to carry out the vision of the Olney Master Plan and its recommendation that the site help meet the county’s pressing affordable housing needs,” he added.

Romer also stated that Dionisio had made convincing arguments regarding the lack of gymnasium space in the Olney area.

‘‘I am therefore instructing the Department of Recreation to commence immediate planning for additional gymnasium space in the Olney area,” he wrote. ‘‘I expect the department to begin the search for an appropriate site and to prepare a funding request for submission in the county’s capital budget.”

His letter said he expects the Department of Recreation to work closely with the Recreation Council so that the community, the Olney Boys and Girls Club and other recreation providers have input in the process.”

Dionisio said he is pleased with the decision and sees it as a major success for OBGC.

‘‘We clearly think they made the right decision,” he said. ‘‘There was too much controversy swirling around several aspects of the RFP, and now this will allow OBGC a fair shot at winning this RFP.

‘‘I think, in the end, that the government worked,” he added. ‘‘When the process was not working, it was stopped.”

Dionisio lauded the community for its efforts.

‘‘A lot of people and communities don’t respond when they see things that aren’t right,” he said. ‘‘OBGC and the greater Olney community stood up and did something, and that voice resulted in a change.”

Dionisio said his motivation was fairness, something OBGC stresses to young people each day.

‘‘We will continue to pursue a gym because we believe it is the right thing for the community,” he said. ‘‘We don’t care where it is built or how it is built, and if there are additional opportunities for us to look at, then I am OK with that.”

A county-appointed committee spent several months reviewing the five proposals that were submitted for the Bowie Mill site. After completing an analysis, committee members learned the RFP was no longer on the table.

Barbara Falcigno, president of the Olney Coalition, served on the committee, but said she was unable to speak on its behalf.

‘‘If a better RFP can be written that offers the community the best use of the land, then the Olney Coalition supports it,” she said.

Throughout much of the process of updating the Olney Master Plan, the community believed the Bowie Mill property was still a school-owned site, not knowing the county school board had given the site back to the county as part of a plan to pay for the construction of Forest Oak Middle School in Gaithersburg.

Shortly before the Public Hearing Draft of the master plan was released in July 2003, the community learned the site had been returned to the county and was recommended to be used for affordable housing.

In May 2004, groups including the Olney Coalition and the Greater Olney Civic Association, along with numerous individuals, attended a public hearing and were successful in convincing County Executive Douglas M. Duncan to delay the disposal of the property until the master plan process was completed.

As the master plan was approved in March, the County Council voted to zone the 32-acre site R-200⁄PD-3. The base zone is R-200, which would allow a maximum of 78 units, including moderately priced dwelling units, or MPDUs.

Whoever develops the property has the option of applying to have it zoned PD-3, which allows for a maximum of 117 units.