Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 2

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP UPDATE

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Andy Shulman (McShea & Co.), Vice President


Heather Dlhopolsky (Linowes and Blocher), Co-Chair, Economic Development
Eric Gates (Apex Home Loan), Co-Chair, Real Estate Committee
David Krucoff (Broad Street Realty), Co-Chair, Real Estate Committee

NEW THIS MONTH:


Barbara Wilkins, Senior Counsel at Holland & Knight, has been providing reports to the Chamber
tracking bills that may affect businesses and is advising and assisting us regarding issues that we need
to address. She has submitted letters, statements and testimonies for a number of bills including the
wine corkage bill, credit card checking, transportation trust fund, etc. A full synopsis of legislation that
the Chamber has taken positions on during this session is attached to this summary.

Suburban Hospital – Great news! County Executive Leggett sent a draft resolution to the County
Council recommending the abandonment of one block of Lincoln Street. The Chamber wrote a letter to
the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy & Environment Committee Chair Roger Berliner and his
committee, supporting this effort and urging them to move forward and vote in favor of the draft
resolution presented by Mr. Leggett.

B-CC Moratorium – As of July 1, 2011, no new preliminary plans with a residential housing component
may be approved in Bethesda because the projected capacity for Westland Middle School will exceed
120% of current capacity. Heather Dlhopolsky and David Krucoff joined a team of other members who
met with Roger Berliner earlier this month to discuss strategy. Berliner will work with us on this, but has
also advised us to reach out to the PTA reps in the BCC Cluster to work with them for long-range
planning.

Noise legislation – Working with Silver Spring Chamber and BUP to change proposed legislation
(from Marc Elrich) to limit noise levels, which would have urban centers currently be in violation of the
law. Andy Shulman, Ginanne, Jane Redicker (GSS Chamber), Bill Kominers and others met with
Valerie Ervin and Roger Berliner last week to discuss proposed changes to allow urban districts to be
exempt from legislation. Valerie Ervin is pursuing the legislation and is meeting with the County
Executive staff to work out concerns regarding the current legislation.

Fire Marshall Inspections – Fire Safety Working Group – Work Group meeting for January was
cancelled due to the fact that the Fire Marshall’s office has not completed their work on developing
code enforcement descriptions and changes. We are basically at a standstill and have expressed our
concerns via email. Next step is to set up another meeting with Fire Chief Bowers to raise concerns and
encourage the Fire Department to move forward, as this group has been meeting for almost two years
without any written product showing the agreed changes. Valerie Ervin has also reached out to Chief
Bowers’ office to discuss our concerns.

Vermin/Windows – BCC chamber working with Restaurant Association, Greater Silver Spring and
Rockville Chambers on this. Ginanne and Melvin Thompson (Restaurant Assn), and reps from County
Health Dept. met in December with the State health officials. Realizing that this regulation is based on a
federal law, it was agreed that each organization would reach out to their counterparts nationwide to
see if they are dealing with this same issue and any recommendations on how to move forward without
closing all restaurant windows during nice weather. A meeting has been scheduled by Ken Hartman for
next week with the B-CC, Greater SS and Rockville chambers and State and County health officials to
come to an understanding of state mandate regarding the enforcement (and to what level) of the
Vermin law.

Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan – The Planning Board held a community meeting in January focusing
on laying the groundwork for the development of a Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan. At this session,
Chevy Chase Land Company, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the County’s Housing Opportunity
Commission gave reports on their plans moving forward for their areas within the Chevy Chase Lake
area. Background information, the scope of work and the presentations that were made that evening
can be found on the Planning Board’s website here. The Planning Board has scheduled an open
session where the community can provide input. The date and location has now been scheduled to
take place on Saturday, March 12th. The chamber has raised concerns with Rollin Stanley and his staff
regarding the fact that having this session take place on a Saturday would preclude the business
community from participating, and makes the process more skewed toward inviting citizen input rather
than businesses and their employees.

ONGOING ISSUES – NO CHANGE THIS MONTH


Veteran’s Park – Ken Hartman met with the Chamber’s Executive Committee in December to discuss
a proposal to expand and improve Veteran’s Park. The expansion, as currently proposed, would
eliminate the existing right hand turn from Woodmont (heading toward Old Georgetown Rd.) onto
Norfolk Ave. The Executive Committee requested that the County investigate the cost of reconstructing
the Woodmont/Norfolk intersection in such a manner that would allow for the expansion of Veteran’s
Park as well as continue to allow a right-hand turn.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi