Development

Working people might live in Rockville! Everybody panic!

by David Alpert   •   December 15, 2008 12:23 pm

Tonight, the Rockville City Council will debate Beall's Grant II, a proposed mixed-income housing development around the corner from Rockville Town Square and 0.4 miles from the Rockville Metro. Opponents have a long laundry list of complaints that mostly fall into two categories: "This project is too big and will destroy our neighborhood," and "Poor people will bring crime."

We've debated the "mammoth four story buildings will totally overshadow our houses!" argument before. Yes, across the street are some standard suburban single-family houses. But land in walking distance of shops, jobs and the Metro is the right place for new housing, and four stories is not huge. Opponents argue the project will bring traffic, but it'll bring a lot more traffic if built somewhere else, as they're seeking.

Of course, there would be even less traffic if Rockville zoning laws didn't force the developer to build too much parking. At the Planning Board hearing on this project, according to Rockville Living, "[Montgomery Housing Partnership President Rob Goldman noted ... that although there are a large number of parking spaces slated for Beall's Grant II (because of City requirements), it is expected that many fewer will actually be used, because of the development's proximity to the Metro and Town Center. At Beall's Grant I, with 60 units, only 30-35 parking spaces are actually used."

What about crime? Rockville Living points out that the adjacent Beall's Grant I, with about the same ratio of income levels, has no more crime than any other apartment complex its size. Rockville Central's Brad Rourke, who lives down the street from the site and supports affordable housing in the area, points out that 60-70% of the units will go to people making $35-60,000 a year, while only 10% of units are reserved for people earning less. (The remainder will be market-rate units.) "These are the kinds of people we worry are being priced out of the City they work in," writes Rourke. "We should welcome them."

Yes, we should. The City Council meeting is tonight, 7 pm at Rockville City Hall. According to the agenda, Beall's Grant II should theoretically come up at 8:45, but that might depend on how many people want to testify about the White Flint Sector Plan.