Wheaton town square should belong to the public

Public Spaces

Wheaton town square should belong to the public

by Dan Reed • March 7, 2011 10:19 am

It looks like Wheaton's getting a town square after all. Last week, the Gazette wrote about developer B.F. Saul and their plans to turn Parking Lot 13, located at the corner of Reedie Drive and Grandview Avenue, into a town square:

Parking Lot 13 in Wheaton. Photo by the author.

A town square will feature community events, much like Ellsworth Drive in downtown Silver Spring. B.F. Saul prefers to own and program the space, but the task will likely end up in the hands of the county, [representative Robert] Wulff said.

Great urban places need great public spaces, but they can be expensive to build and maintain. Montgomery County can't afford to give every community a space like Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring.

As a result, the task will have to fall on developers for whom a plaza or square can be an amenity, drawing tenants, shoppers and residents to their projects. One example of a successful privately-owned public space is the Piazza at Schmidt's in Philadelphia, which draws people from all over the region for shows, markets, and just hanging out.

Yet it's important to ensure that the public has a right to these spaces other than as customers. Saying that Montgomery County will "likely" own and program the town square in Wheaton is not an option.

Didn't we learn a lesson from Ellsworth Drive, which Montgomery County leased to a private developer who banned photography on the street until the ensuing outcry required the county to defend the people's right to free speech? I find fears that redevelopment will turn Wheaton into Silver Spring complaints irritating, but this is one mistake from Silver Spring we shouldn't repeat.

Montgomery County has essentially handed the keys to downtown Wheaton to B.F. Saul by giving them the right to build on several properties in the area. Nonetheless, the community should be assured that the most significant public space in this revitalized neighborhood will belong to them, even if they don't hold the title.

B.F. Saul's and the county's roles in the town square should be made clear as soon as possible.

10 comments

Tags: Maryland, Montgomery, public spaces, Wheaton

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A planner and architect by training, Dan Reed is interested in suburban retrofits. Dan works for the Friends of White Flint, writes his own blog, Just Up the Pike, and serves as the Land Use Chair for the Action Committee for Transit. Dan lives in Silver Spring.

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I think it's important to keep public ownership and control over allegedly public spaces. This is the only way we can guarantee true public access, as the Ellsworth affair illustrates.

Though jurisdictions are struggling to find the money to manage such spaces successfully, I think the local quasi-governmental business improve districts, which draw their revenue from a slice of commercial real estate taxes and/or public parking revenue might be best positioned to manage this.

They have a revenue stream that is partly connected to the success of the areas they manage and their mission is already focused on improving the streetscape amenities of these urban areas.

Programming and managing a public square is different from planting petunias in tree boxes, but it's just a modest step up from their current work. It's something work exploring.

by Eric Fidler on Mar 7, 2011 11:52 am • link • report

If I were a business owner that faces lot 13, I would raise a serious stink about this. Where are my customers going to park if they make this all one big public square?

by Zape on Mar 7, 2011 12:18 pm • link • report

Zape, I might raise the argument that the business owner in question is making the fallacious argument that all of his/her customers would need to drive, and park directly adjacent to, the business.

by engrish_major on Mar 7, 2011 1:03 pm • link • report

I'm in favor of a public space on some portion of lot 13 - hopefully a little larger than what B.F. Saul has proposed. And I think it's really important that it be a public space, owned and operated by the county.

To Zape's point - I think if we're going to be honest about this a lot of the existing businesses that face lot 13 do not fit into this vision of a more urban, less suburban Wheaton core. Cake decorating supplies, tropical fish sales and TV repair are businesses where convient parking and low rents are more important than walkability. On the other hand, Moby Dick's Sushi and even the Wheaton Studio of Dance would likely benefit from facing an attractive and active public space. There will be winners and losers. It is not entirely honest to say we're dedicated to local businesses and we're going to radically change the CBD to make it denser.

That said, the public does not owe it to the existing businesses to keep a big surface parking lot in the heart of town. Half of this lot has long-term meters! Rediculous this close to Metro with 2 large, mostly empty garages sitting a couple hundred yards away. And B.F. Saul is proposing building a lot more parking as part of redevelopment. There will be plenty of parking spaces in Wheaton, they just might be a block or 2 away from a given storefront. This will be a good thing.

by Dave in Wheaton on Mar 7, 2011 3:18 pm • link • report

As a consumer, I largely agree with Dave. I was looking at it from the businesses perspective, particularly those that are already having trouble attracting business.

There aren't many businesses that exist there that thrill me. With my luck (or Wheaton's luck), the tropical fish and TV repair place are the businesses that would survive after the parking is removed and Moby Dick or Wheaton Studio of Dance would be the ones that end boarded up. Just saying, that could easily be the end result too.

by Zape on Mar 7, 2011 3:52 pm • link • report

the piazza at schmidt's in philadelphia is awful...all the stores are vacant..nobody shops or hangs out there...it started out great but the developer put the kabash on everything essentially turning it into a uncomfortable cement oddity that was once destined for greatness...

by peter on Mar 7, 2011 8:02 pm • link • report

@peter

What are you talking about? There are a number of stores and restaurants operating in and around the Piazza, and judging by the people in these Flickr photos it seems pretty vibrant. In the several times I've visited the space, it's been busy.

by dan reed! on Mar 7, 2011 8:08 pm • link • report

Wheaton needs this development badly to compete or else we'll keep seeing chicken places as the only new businesses open up....IHOP is our only "name" restaurant and our only entertainment is watching 55 yr old drunks at The Royal Mile or going to the quiet theater at the mall. There will be collateral damage and everyone will not get their way...but the end result should be awesome....BF Saul knows what they are doing with direction from the County and the market will tell us who will come in....it will be an upgrade. Can't wait!

by Local on Mar 8, 2011 8:49 am • link • report

these are photos from the opening of the piazza 2 years ago....I lived there...I loved the neighborhood and the piazza was great when it opened...then it died...due to a lack of vision, there was an organic growth that was happening..some call it a buzz..whatever it was, it was the stuff companies pay millions to hopefully achieve. At the Piazza, it was occurring naturally and was destined to be one of the great public spaces in the US...the young group of culturally aware people that were "in charge" of what went on there were constantly in disagreement with the developer that just didn't "get it."

There is nothing wrong with it now but it has lost that buzz and it will always be a nice space but will not garner the praise that it was destined to become...

I have never been to Wheaton...but I assume this project is more centrally located the the Piazza, which is not in center city where there is established retail and foot traffic....it is off the radar

If you look at all the good things written about the Piazza, they are all based on the first few months after the grand opening...from photos to articles...try going there from november to march...you will see nobody

by peter on Mar 8, 2011 11:42 am • link • report

The Piazza in Northern Liberties is WAY overscaled - flat out stupidly sized. The TV screen on the far wall looks like an afterthought. It would have been much better as a smaller, more intimate space like Greeley Plaza in New York City.

The square at Rockville Town Square is a good size, but foolishly hidden from view and not visible (or even "glimpseable") from Rockville pike, and the Silver Spring Square was better with astroturf and without the hideous rink that wastes half the space. Ideally, the Wheaton square should be slightly SMALLER than SS or Rockville, appropriate to the Wheaton community.

Please be careful of a "Texas mentality" in Wheaton.

by Mike on Mar 15, 2011 11:00 am • link • report