Open Space bid denied for spot downtown

Planning Board recommends against including small grassy space in Bethesda in preservation program

Three community groups submitted an application earlier this month to include the site in the county’s Legacy Open Space program, saying that it would be better suited for a public park.

In a joint effort, the Greater Bethesda Chevy Chase Coalition, the Edgemoor Citizens’ Association, and the East Bethesda Civic Association, submitted the application on Oct. 17.

‘‘Whether or not they rejected one specific request is one thing,” said Len Simon, president of the Edgemoor Citizens’ Association. ‘‘But we’re going to continue to work with the developers and our elected officials to try and find a way to get some green space in there.”

Calls to the Planning Board staff were not returned.

The countywide Legacy Open Space program began in 2001, as an attempt to identify and preserve remaining open space, according to Brenda Sandberg of the county’s Park, Planning and Research Analysis division.

The program expands on the county’s existing park system by designating thousands of acres of land, both private and public, as historical or in need of protection.

To receive designation as a Legacy Open Space site, a parcel must meet one of eight criteria laid out by the county, including stipulations about historical significance, ecological importance and the protection of other resources, like the county’s Agricultural Reserve.

Areas across the county included in the program range from farmland in Damascus and Poolesville to small tracts of land along Connecticut and Georgia avenues.

In the application for the Woodmont East site, the applicants said that the site meets three of the eight required qualities.

According to Pam Browning, who submitted the application on behalf of the Greater Bethesda Chevy Chase Coalition, one requirement, which stipulates that the space ‘‘increase access to public open space in communities with high population densities,” is especially noteworthy.

‘‘Bethesda is becoming denser and denser, and we’ve reached a saturation with open space,” Browning said. ‘‘With thousands of more residences coming to Bethesda, where are these people going to go?”

The site did meet some of the criteria for the program, but other nearby parks are sufficient enough for the area, according to the Planning Board documents.

‘‘There are several large areas of green park space within a few blocks of this location that users of the [Capital Crescent Trail] and downtown can easily access,” according to the report.

The report listed Elm Street Park, Caroline Freeland Park, and a large sitting area along the trail as public amenities similar to the proposed space.

For Simon, the park would be a respite in a growing neighborhood.

‘‘We know that corner is going to be growing, with the addition of the Lot 31 development and this project,” Simon said. ‘‘But if a hotel is built on this site, where would the people staying there go to walk around? This is needed at least to off-set the density.”

Lot 31 is a proposed development across Bethesda Avenue from the Woodmont East project that would include two apartment buildings.

Controversy over the project has been ongoing for months, after the developers, JBG Associates, LLC, planned to close a stretch of the Capital Crescent Trail, which runs through the proposed site.

In mid-October, Planning Board officials and JBG reached an agreement to keep the tunneled portion of the trail open.

Despite the rejection from the Legacy Open Space program, Browning said the groups involved will continue to fight for the area.

‘‘I would hope it would still be an open conversation about this space,” she said. ‘‘We want an opportunity to speak with the Planning Board staff about this.”

The preliminary and project plans for the Woodmont East project are slated to go before the Planning Board on Nov. 8.