The Montgomery County Planning Board slowed down plans to lure a Costco to Westfield Wheaton Shopping Center today by voting down a measure that would fast-track zoning approvals for the warehouse store and its proposed 16-pump gas station. The board unanimously disapproved of the plan, which County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) had proposed in March to circumvent what he said were lengthy and arduous zoning requirements that might cause the county to lose the Costco deal. Costco has said it will refuse to build the store if it does not include a 16-pump gas station. Planning Board commissioners said today there seemed to be no rational reason to speed up the process. The gas station provides no benefit — and actually presents potential harm — to the community members fewer than 150 feet away from its proposed location, said Chairman Royce Hanson.
"This may not be the worst text amendment that I have ever seen, but it certainly gets honorable mention," he said.
Some environmentalists have warned that having a gas station near a neighborhood could contaminate the groundwater and put noxious fumes in the air. Residents have opposed the amendment because they say it will eliminate current environmental and zoning safeguards that would protect them from the harms of a gas station. The board's disapproval sets the stage for a County Council public hearing on the topic, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. on May 20 at the Montgomery County Council Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The Planning Board will transmit its comments to the County Council, which is slated to vote on the amendment sometime this month. The council is the only body that can vote to make the amendment law, and a majority of council members have already publicly said they do not support the amendment .
Hanson and other commissioners said it's troubling to think the county could skip over its traditional process for allowing gas stations in heavily populated areas. Under current zoning law, the gas station proposal would undergo rigorous reviews with the Planning Board, the Board of Appeals and the County Council before being voted on, which could take more than a year. The zoning-text amendment would allow the gas station to be approved in about a month with fewer hurdles, and it would skip the Board of Appeals altogether.
"I'm troubled that we're trying to breach everything that we've done as a county," said Commissioner Amy Presley.
Jim Agliata, the vice president of development for Westfield Wheaton, said the mall won't wait for the original zoning process. Westfield Wheaton, which has had a vacant anchor store property for years that is rapidly losing money, needs Costco and its gas station now, he said.
At a Wheaton redevelopment meeting earlier this month, Agliata said the mall isn't trying to steamroll anybody by taking the quickest route to approval; it's just the only route.
"We're not trying to get out of those obligations," Agliata said of the environmental and noise-level requirements the state and county will impose on the gas station. He said the mall would be happy to comply with any requirements the county puts in the amendment.
There has been vehement opposition to the amendment, and Kensington and Wheaton residents said they felt somewhat vindicated by the board's decision. Kensington Heights Civic Association resident Danila Sheveiko, who heads a civic association work group that opposes the amendment, said he's cautiously optimistic about the Planning Board's vote.
"It's nice to have somebody in charge support us for a change," he said.
But Sheveiko warned residents there's still a long road ahead of them. Even if the County Council votes down the fast-tracked amendment this month, there's a possibility Costco will try to push the gas station and its store through the traditional zoning process. Sheveiko said his community has "plenty of concerns about that, as well."
"We won one little battle, but we'll see how the war goes," he said. SOURCE: Gazette
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