DEVELOPMENT ON OLD FARM BY GAITHERSBURG OPPOSED
by: Nancy Trejos, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post
April 13, 2006 Thursday
Final Edition
Just outside Gaithersburg, off Interstate 270, is a 182-acre parcel
filled with grass, broken-limbed trees and a few paint-chipped houses
and barns. Crown Farm, as it is known, is one of the last large pieces
of undeveloped land in central Montgomery County.
That could all change under a plan by Gaithersburg businessman Aris
Mardirossian to turn it into a bustling residential and commercial
center with up to 2,250 homes and 320,000 square feet for shops and
office buildings.
But with the County Council scheduled to begin considering the
proposal Tuesday, some residents and civic groups are gearing up
for a fight. They said the development — east of Sam Eig Highway,
south of Fields Road and west of Omega Drive — would cause school
overcrowding and too much traffic.
“These folks have been used to a 180-acre farm in that area,” said
Jim Humphrey, a Montgomery County Civic Federation official. “Let’s
make sure this project can be accommodated by the infrastructure
before we go approving it.”
If approved, the development would include condos, townhouses,
single-family homes and high-rises, some as tall as 20 stories. About
400 or 500 of those units would be above stores or offices, maximizing
space for parks and pedestrian walkways. Mardirossian, who leads a
development team that bought the property from the Crown family over
the summer, said he and the builders, who include Los Angeles-based
KB Home, plan to run buses from the homes to the nearest Metro
station. “It’ll be like Connecticut Avenue. A real urbanist design,”
Mardirossian said.
Mardirossian has asked the city of Gaithersburg, which has its own
council and mayor, to annex the property. Because his plan would
require rezoning, it must go to the County Council first. County
planners and city officials have been scrambling to hammer out the
details of what would be one of the city’s most significant projects
in years.
Last week, the County Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic
Development Committee — made up of Nancy Floreen (D-At Large),
Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) and Steven A. Silverman (D-At
Large), who chairs the panel — voted to require that 12.5 percent
of the homes be set aside as affordable housing.
Because Crown Farm is in a location designated as a “receiving area”
— or a place where the county encourages development — Mardirossian
ordinarily would be required to pay transferable development rights
to a farmer in the agricultural reserve. But the council committee
recommended instead that he be exempted in lieu of a $1 million payment
to the county’s agricultural easement program, a fund for preserving
open space.
Because the donation would be much less than what he would probably
pay in development rights, Mardirossian has offered to donate 34
acres for a new high school.
“To let a developer off the hook is just what they don’t need to do,”
said Pamela Lindstrom, a Gaithersburg resident who has been vocal in
opposing the project.
Silverman estimated that the transferable development rights would
cost Mardirossian about $11 million, far below what it would cost
to buy land for a school. “If you have a developer who’s prepared to
give us a high school site for free and save the taxpayers 60 or 70
million dollars, we ought to take the deal,” he said.
Praisner said she did not agree with the exemption. “I’m not
necessarily opposed to the annexation,” she said. “My point is that I
think it’s moving too fast and there are certainly complexities that
need to be worked out.”
Opponents say Mardirossian’s deep pockets and political connections
are driving the project.
Since January 2003, Mardirossian has donated $750 to council member
Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring) and $500 to Floreen, Board of Elections
records show. One of his companies, Aris Mardirossian Inc., donated
$2,500 to council Chairman George L. Leventhal (D-At Large).
Farm Development Coop, a company Mardirossian manages, donated $4,000
to Silverman. The company gave $2,000 to Floreen and $2,000 to council
member Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty), records show.
Mardirossian acknowledged that he and his family have given money to
candidates. “They cannot see that I came from Armenia and I created
something wonderful from this country and I can express my ideas,”
he said of his critics.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress