Ashton Meeting Place continued, page 2
AMP Design Submitted to County
Development Review Committee Meeting
Took Place on Monday, October 22
The Ashton Meeting Place (AMP)
plan
has been submitted by
the developer to the Montgomery
County Park and Planning Staff.
The Development Review Committee
Meeting took place on
Monday, October 22. The public
was able to attend and observe; however,
there was no opportunity for
observers to voice opinions at
that time. A development Review
Committee Meeting allows the
Park and Planning Staff and
staff of other reviewing
agencies such as State Highway
Administration and County
Department of Permitting
Services to give their comments
on the plan to the developers.
At such a meeting the developers
may be required to make
additional modifications in some
cases, or may be given the
“green light” to proceed to a
public hearing with the Planning
Board. The comments of the
Planning Staff were generally
positive, with a few exceptions.
The developer has been working
to address those exceptions.
For several months, representatives of the
SSARPC Steering Committee have
been working collaboratively
with the AMP designers on the
development of the plans.
Overall, the Committee is
pleased with the latest plans
that were submitted as they, for
the most part, implement the
Sandy Spring/Ashton Master
Plan’s vision of a rural village
center. There were two items
that we still had concerns
about, and which were relayed to
the developers:
-
In the submitted plan, the
“village green”, a grassy
area at the corner of Route
108 and New Hampshire
Avenue, has walkways around
the perimeter. However, we
believe there should be some
type of walkway that cuts
diagonally through the green
area in a direct route from
the crosswalks at the
intersection to the interior
of the shopping center; if
not, there will likely be a
dirt path across the grass
created by pedestrians who
tend to seek the most
convenient route.
-
The plan for Building #1, which
will be next to the
automobile entrance on Route
108 had no doors on the
street. There will be
entrances from the east side
and back of the building,
but without an entrance from
the street, the building
will not have an active
store front (as it is called
for in the Sandy
Spring/Ashton Master Plan)
and pedestrians will have to
walk around the building to
enter. This arrangement
would make it inconvenient
for those who park in the
parallel parking spaces on
Route 108.
It is encouraging that the developer
is continuing to work with us in
addressing these issues.
It's not too late to
voice your opinions
to the Planning Board, Planning
Staff, and the community.
New AMP Design Unveiled
On Tuesday, August 7, 2007, Fred Nichols and
Phil Perrine, representatives of
Ashton Meeting Place (AMP) held
a public meeting presenting
their new design for AMP.
Some historical perspective: On June
28, the Montgomery County
Planning Board denied approval
for the developer’s then current
design. Afterwards,
representatives of the developer
met with selected members of the
community, including SSARPC
Steering Committee
representatives, and developed a
new, substantially different
conceptual design. More detail
was later added to the
conceptual design and it was
presented to the public on
August 7. Public meetings are
required by the Montgomery
County Park and Planning
Commission before a developer
can submit plans for
consideration. The AMP
developers plan to submit their
design to the Montgomery County
Planning Staff very
soon.
Mr. Nichols said that the design is based on
the conceptual design presented
during the SSARPC testimony
before the Planning Board by
Miche Booz, a local architect
who is on the SSARPC design
committee. Mr. Nichols
indicated that changes to the
details of the design are being
made rapidly and that he would
especially like to have input
from the community during this
phase. The short time frame is
needed in order to keep the
State Highway Administration’s
funding for improvements to the
Route 108 and New Hampshire
Avenue intersection. The AMP
designers will continue working
with the SSARPC design team as
further details are developed.
This meeting was the first time
that the SSARPC saw the more
detailed concepts for the
building design.
More about the new Ashton Meeting Place Design...
Ashton Meeting Place Documents...
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