New Ashton Meeting Place Design Unveiled continued, page 3
Q:
Will there be a way to move
between the buildings during
inclement weather without getting wet?
A: Yes, most of the
buildings will have elevators to
the underground parking area.
Q: Will there be
parking under the buildings?
A: There will be some
parking under some of the
buildings for the employees.
Q: Are there any stop
lights?
A: There will be only
one stop light – at the
intersection of Route 108 and
New Hampshire Avenue.
Q: Have decisions
been made about signage?
A: The signage will
be the same as discussed for
previous designs. This includes
signs attached to the building
with gooseneck lighting. There
will be a major sign identifying
the area at the entrances.
Q: What about
lighting?
A: There will be
street lights along the
sidewalks. The lighting needs
to be good enough for safety,
but should not cause light
pollution.
Q: One person
expressed the idea of, instead
of having single family homes,
working with the Montgomery
County Parks Division to create
a park-like area with a place
for outdoor meetings, dedicating
the area as a community-useful
zone. He felt that the isolated
homes would not feel integrated
into a community.
A: This would require
a special exception and it isn’t
clear that the county would
consider taking on the
responsibility. Some others
attending the meeting felt that
there will be a number of people
who would love living in the
houses.
Q: Would the bank
consider moving to be next to
one of the entrances (probably
the entrance on Route 108)?
This would make the traffic flow
much better for the bank and
also would reduce the amount of
asphalt. The way the bank is
situated in the new plan,
everyone will have to drive
through the whole parking area
just to get to the bank.
A: The bank has
expressed a strong preference to
be near the corner.
Q: What will be the
height of the tower on the
bank? It doesn’t appear to fit
into the rural design.
A: The tower will be
about 40 feet.
Q: It is hard to
envision how the shopping center
will look. Is it possible to
have a 3D model?
A: The developers
will try to make some type of 3D
model available, either a paper
model or an electronic version,
once the design has been
developed more.
Q: Is there a
landscape architect part of the
development team? What about
water running off the impervious
surfaces?
A: Yes, there is a
landscape architect as part of
the design team. Currently, the
water from the street just goes
into the grassy areas. Water
will be collected in a
stormwater management area and
the developer will make sure
that clean water is fed into the
wetlands.
Q: What about the
existing trees – is there any
way to save them?
A: The trees in the
green space, the wetlands and
the stormwater management area
will be saved.
Q: What is the status
of the Northeast Corner? Is
there still going to be a Sheetz
gas station?
A: There will not be
a Sheetz, but there are plans
for a gas station. The plans
have been updated and filed with
Park and Planning. The
developers plan to go forward to
the Planning Board with both the
Northeast Corner and AMP at the
same time. Both developments
depend on the road improvements
from the State Highway Administration.
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