Protesters gathered April 9 on Westbard Ave. to support a petition against the the new Westbard Sector Plan, which calls for the destruction of the old shopping center to make way for the construction of modern retail, restaurants and housing opportunities.
“Nobody here is opposed to modernization through growth or development,” protest leader Barry Miller said. “We understand that’s normal and natural. What we are opposed to is excessive growth and development which the community can’t accommodate.”
The protesters summarized this opinion by chanting “modernize, not urbanize” as well as “density has got to go” in response to the current plan including rezoning the Westbard area to allow for taller apartment complexes with more units. These buildings will allow a maximum of 1,213 new residential units to be built, according to a recent article in Bethesda Magazine.
The increase in population leads many residents to worry that school class sizes will expand as well.
“Class sizes will swell beyond anything reasonable. Since the quality of the schools are something we are very proud of, I think that the biggest issue is the schools,” Whitman teacher and protest attendee Peyton Ford said.
Some protesters felt the Montgomery County Council hasn’t listened to the Bethesda residents who oppose the redevelopment.
“I think the Save Westbard campaign believes that the council has not listened to the wishes of the actual residents who are going to feel the impact of this ridiculous overdevelopment,” Therese Leung, resident of a nearby neighborhood said.
Developer Equity One said in an interview with Bethesda Magazine that they have been actively working with the community to ensure the plans for their properties fit with the needs of the area. They said they are looking forward to working with the council and community as they develop the properties.
“The developer is planning for 1,200 or more apartment units which is too many people,” protestor Jessica Bavinger said. “I protest because I’d hate to leave that kind of legacy for the future, without having tried to stop it.”
Jonathan Cahn • Apr 27, 2016 at 6:35 am
Modernization and urbanization are not the same. It is quite feasible to improve and modernize a suburban neighborhoods without converting it into a city. The protestors are asking for changes to the existing density approved for our area in order to avoid overwhelm our schools. The current density proposed by the plan would impose serious burdens on our schools, including Whitman, without either a plan or budget to manage those burdens. One reason for the anger reflected in these protests is that this also represents a giveaway by County officials — providing windfall, excessive profits to the developer, Equity One, that purchased the property — at the expense of taxpayers.
T-Bag Higgins • Apr 12, 2016 at 1:43 pm
lets be honest westbard is digusting and the city wants to modernize–which in essence is urbanizing