The Berliner Brief March 2008

Dear Friends,

This has been a very difficult time for all of us who care deeply about our County. In short order, we lost three wonderful public servants my colleague and dear friend Marilyn Praisner; our outstanding State Delegate and County Cable Office leader, Jane Lawton; and an invaluable member of our Park & Planning Commission, Gene Lynch. Losing any one of them would have been a blow; losing the three of them has been devastating.

On the Council, we will soldier on, but it will certainly not be the same, personally or professionally. No one knew as much about county government as Marilyn. With every passing day, her expertise is missed more and more. She was the go-to person on so many different issues. We will all have to step up in her absence.

So, in my not too brief manner, let me share with you what will, and has been, the focus of my work on your behalf.

The Budget

Folks, let me be blunt: this could be a nightmare. The order of magnitude of the deficit staring us in the face, estimated to be $300 million, isn't going to be solved easily or without pain. It is the largest deficit since the early '90s, and that wasn't a pretty time either. And, given the current arc of the economy, this year's problem isn't going to be an isolated one year kind of deal. The best guess by the experts is that this is a two-tothree year issue. My overarching approach to challenges of this magnitude is that the sacrifices must be shared. But I do want to hear from you. Send me your thoughts on how you think we should make ends meet at councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Preservation of Open Space in Bethesda

A proposal by a team of developers to construct a hotel, condos, and retail space at the corners of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues in downtown Bethesda an area I consider the heart of Bethesda provoked a storm of controversy among District 1 residents. The Capital Crescent Trail bisects the site and trail users protested the developer's initial suggestion to close the trail during construction. Other residents were upset at the loss of one of the remaining undeveloped green spaces in this rapidly developing area.

I also had many concerns about the project and organized a September 2007 public roundtable to allow residents to hear first hand about the project from the development team. In response to the presentation and the many comments and questions from the audience, I took the unusual step of sending a public letter last November to Royce Hanson, Chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board outlining my reservations about the proposal. Attached to the letter were drawings done at my request by a highly talented Bethesda landscape architect that showed images of the kind of a "green commons" that the space could one day become. I am pleased to report that in the face of critical questions from the Planning Board, the development team withdrew the proposal from consideration and promised to rework their plans. The Planning Board's message to the developers was that Woodmont East needed to be designed with the public use given first priority this site was too critical to the community to let the public interest be ignored.

On January 8th I hosted another public roundtable to allow community members to review the revised proposal. At that time, the developers acknowledged that the public's adverse reaction resulted in a much better project. They were grateful that the community forced them back to the drawing board. Woodmont East now includes plans for an urban park at this critical intersection and the buildings have been scaled down to better fit within a small urban space with multiple users. While some residents and trail users still express concerns about the proposal, most people applaud the significant changes and believe the new plans better serve the interests of the community. The new plans will be resubmitted to the Planning Board this month and, if approved, they will present to Bethesda residents and trail users a much improved vision of what this site could be.

Scotland Community Center

Early in my tenure on the Council, I, along with the County Executive and many of my colleagues on the Council made a promise to the residents of the Scotland Community to support and fund the renovation of the Scotland Community Center. It was a promise to renovate the Center so that the children and residents of this historic, underserved, African-American community may enjoy access to safe, healthy, and productive activities and programs. I gave my word to support this project, and I plan on honoring that word.

On the evening of February 25th, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting at the Scotland Community Recreation Center where I reiterated my commitment to the Scotland community. After personally touring the community center, I can attest to the need for a larger gym, a meeting room, a larger computer lab, and an expanded, modernized exercise room. I am also keenly aware that the residents of this neighborhood have been waiting patiently for over a decade for their community center to be renovated and improved.

Fortunately, the residents of Scotland are not alone in their fight to obtain the funding needed to renovate the community center. Present at the February 25th meeting were principals, teachers, counselors, and PTA members from the neighborhood public schools, numerous residents of Scotland, and dozens of members of Action in Montgomery, a grassroots organization comprised of faith-based groups in Montgomery County. In that crowded meeting room, people gathered as one community to bring energy and focus to a need that has been overlooked for far too long. It was with great pleasure that I was able to reaffirm my commitment to fund the renovation of this community center in the fiscal year 2009 - 2014 capital budget.

Infill Development: Striking a Better Balance

Last June, I convened the Infill Development Task Force with the goal of identifying ways to allow County neighborhoods to age more gracefully. The task force was composed of representatives and dedicated members from all sectors of our community neighborhood activists, builders, realtors, engineers, architects, and county government experts who worked over many months on a range of issues related to infill development. The premise of our work, not universally shared, was that the rules, particularly as they relate to how much you can build on small lots, are out of date given the trend toward larger homes and smaller yards.

In my view, the Task Force made substantial progress by the time it held its final meeting in December. Consensus was reached on a wide range of issues that will result in greater community input and protection, greater flexibility for builders, and a reduction in building heights in the R-200 zone. Further, the group made a significant conceptual break-through on the issue of how much of a lot may be covered by a house. To date, that issue is determined by the particular "zone" your home is on. There are different sizes permitted on R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones. Yet, the fact is that there are some R-60 lots that are larger than lots zoned R-90, and some R-200 lots smaller than R-90 lots. The group decided that it makes much more since to determine the size of home by how large the lot is irrespective of the zone.

I am currently in the final stages of preparing legislation that will incorporate these recommendations and will propose a new lot coverage regulation that I believe best strikes the balance between neighborhood preservation and the rights of property owners to build new homes. I believe that all of our hard work over the last eight months has made a difference and that the work of the Infill Development Task Force will make a lasting contribution to the evolution of Montgomery County neighborhoods.

Bethesda Naval Medical Center

Under the mandate of the Defense Base and Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC will close, and many of the hospital s functions be relocated to the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda. The new medical center will see an increase of approximately 2,500 employees while outpatient visits by patients and family members are expected to double, to nearly 900,000 per year. This will obviously have a major impact on the hospital's neighbors and MD Route 355 commuters.

On December 14, the Navy released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which details the effect of this relocation and proposes limited mitigation measures to reduce these impacts. The Navy rejected requests from me and the County Executive to extend the 45-day comment period to the EIS, leaving County officials and members of the public with a brief time frame to read and respond to a lengthy document which contained proposed recommendations that could affect the quality of life of thousands of Bethesda residents.

My staff and I worked closely with residents of the neighborhoods surrounding NNMC, who devoted a month to reviewing the EIS. Their comments and my own review of the EIS led me to conclude that the Navy needs to fundamentally rethink, revise, and rework its plan. The bottom line is that the plan does not mitigate the impact of this project on the community. The overarching goal of the plan must be to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips to NNMC world class medical institutions function only when patients and staff can arrive in a timely and safe manner to the campus. The families in surrounding neighborhoods must be allowed to enter and exit their homes without fear of round-the-clock gridlock.

I was pleased that the County's formal response to the Navy s DEIS focused on the following issues:

• Most significantly, the federal government must assume its financial responsibility to pay for the road improvements needed to mitigate the effects of greatly increased traffic in one of the most congested areas of the County. Failure to do so creates an unfunded mandate for local and state communities already facing drastic budget shortfalls.
• Mass transit use would increase with a second Metro entrance on the east side of MD 355. Construction of a pedestrian bridge or tunnel across MD 355 would also provide safe passage across a road most pedestrians find harrowing to traverse.
• Creation of mandatory Traffic Demand Management practices which discourages the use of single occupancy vehicles. The strategies discussed in the EIS are illustrative only and include no specific actions to implement the goal of reducing vehicle trips.
• The proposed MD 355 Corridor Study should be extended north to Montrose Road and south to MD 410. A study should also be conducted to evaluate the impacts of a "slip ramp" exit off the Beltway that would enter and exit NNMC.
• Construction impacts on neighborhoods surrounding NNMC should be evaluated and best management practices implemented to reduce the effects of excessive noise, air pollution, and truck traffic.
• NNMC should appoint a Community Liaison Group to create dialogue and resolve issues with residents of surrounding communities during construction and through the relocation of Walter Reed.

Bethesda is a welcoming community and will provide our wounded soldiers, sailors, and Marines with the hero's welcome they deserve. It is my hope that the Navy takes the opportunity to listen to residents as they share their voices for how to make this welcome possible.

Global Warming and the Role of Local Government

On November 20, 2007, I introduced seven bills to address the very real and urgent problem of global warming. Collectively, this comprehensive package of 26 initiatives is designed to attack the issue of global warming at its source in our transportation, building and utility sectors through energy efficiency, renewable energy, alternative fuels, trees, land use, and utility advocacy. The following are some examples of the initiatives included in my global warming bills:

• Require new home construction to meet EPA energy star standards
• Require the sale of low carbon gasoline at retail stations County-wide (when available)
• Increase fuel economy standards and use of biofuels for County vehicle fleet
• Elimination (or justification for use) of SUVs in the County fleet
• Development of a Renewable Energy Action Plan, including exploration of creating a Sustainable Energy Fund
• Provide property tax credits for solar and geothermal energy uses Include climate change as factor in drafting of County Planning Board's master and sector plans
• Create a new Office of Ratepayer Advocate to advocate for the lowest energy rates consistent with environmental stewardship
• Request recommendations from the Executive regarding conversion of the current energy tax into a carbon tax and joining an emissions "cap and trade" program

As you can see from these examples, the legislation is focused on what we can do with our own County facilities, both as a model for our community and as the source of approximately 4% of the County s overall greenhouse gas emissions. But more importantly, it includes many measures that will put us on a path to making real progress in reducing the 96% of emissions that are attributed to the private sector. I believe that this is a serious package that sets in motion both the process and the substance of fulfilling the pledge we made as a County this spring to reduce our emissions 20% in 2020 and by 80% in the year 2050.

The urgency of this task is no longer a matter of serious debate. Recently, the Washington Post and the New York Times have had major articles on the latest warnings from the top scientists in the world, the UN s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In their opinion, what is at stake is nothing less than the widespread extinction of species, the loss of the Artic ice cap, flooding, killer heat waves, and the transformation of the Amazon rainforest into a savannah. What is at stake is nothing less than the fate of our planet.

To meet this challenge, every jurisdiction, at every level of government, must do its part. That our own federal government has failed to meet its responsibility given our nation's contribution to the crisis is almost too depressing for words. Yet now, local governments around the country are responding to the threat of global warming in new ways that offer a glimmer of hope, both in terms of real reductions and creating a more favorable climate for national legislation. Global warming has galvanized the public like nothing else before, and we must seize the moment. This package of bills reflects those efforts, drawing wherever possible from best practices that have been employed elsewhere and making them our own.

We are not starting from scratch. Our County has been at the forefront of this effort thanks to the extraordinary work of the past Council, led by my colleague George Leventhal. What I, along with my numerous co-sponsors, introduced on November 20th is what I would call the second generation of energy and environmental policy initiatives, building upon what we have done, and going to the next level.

And while many, many months of work, including our global warming public forum, have gone into this effort, it is by no means a perfect package or the limit of what we can or should be doing. Four of the seven measures have been reported out favorably by the committees of jurisdiction, and three more remain to be worked through and perfected. My goal, which I believe my colleagues share, is to have all seven measures on the County Council's agenda for approval on April 22nd Earth Day. What a nice Earth Day celebration that would be!

Goldilocks Growth Policy

Last November, the Montgomery County Council overwhelmingly approved a new growth policy for the County. Developers have complained that it is too tough; some community activists have argued that we could have done more. I personally think the end result would have made Goldilocks happy -- it was just about right. Before explaining three major improvements over the status quo, let me first say what we didn't do. We would all be better served if we started calling our biannual review something other than a growth policy. Growth in Montgomery County has recently been under 1 percent. The Council's focus was not on our growth per se, but instead on the adequacy of our public facilities.

As many citizens appreciate, in Montgomery County we have an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. This ordinance calls upon the County to ensure that are roads and schools are adequate in areas under development pressures. Our work every two years is designed to update our implementation of that ordinance. And needless to say, we have much work to do: our public infrastructure falls far short of adequate. To help address this inadequacy, this County Council voted to require that developers pay 90% of the marginal costs of the transportation and school infrastructure that their development would require. Recovering costs on the basis of marginal costs is widely accepted by economists in many regulatory arenas and is designed to prevent cross-subsidization.

In this context, recovering infrastructure costs on the basis of marginal costs ensures that developers, and not taxpayers, pay their fair share. It is, as the Washington Post editorialized, a sound principle upon which to base our impact fees. It is also true that as a result of our action, developers will pay substantially more than they have in the past. However, that doesn t make the increase unfair; it simply underscores how much less than their fair share developers were asked to pay in the past.

Another major improvement over the status quo was the Council's adoption of a new transportation test that development must pass that focuses broadly on an entire area as opposed to a few intersections. Our County has been without an area test for the past four years, when the previous County Council eliminated it. As a result, it has been much easier to get approval for new projects, and I pledged during the campaign that I would make putting a new area transportation test in place a high priority.

I am pleased to report that the new transportation test adopted by the Council was a version that I proposed to my colleagues. Our new test, for the first time, establishes a floor below which traffic will not be allowed to deteriorate, a floor calculated to equal 40% of the speed that you would move were you in a free flow condition. The test will also ensure that even in areas surrounding our metro stations, where traffic has been intensifying, developers will be required to mitigate their traffic impacts. As Planning Board Chairman Hanson observed, this test is more rigorous than the test the Planning Board proposed. Given the traffic nightmare that our community faces every day, I thought it was entirely appropriate to adopt a more rigorous test and my colleagues agreed.

The third major improvement over the status quo that is part of our new approach is that for the very first time in Montgomery County -- we will establish quality of life indicators. So often during our discussion about growth, the lament is heard that our quality of life is deteriorating. Yet, to date, we have not attempted to define the characteristics that make Montgomery County so desirable, let alone measure these qualities over time to assess the effect of growth.

At my initiative, we will now be in a position to do precisely that. The Planning Board, with input from the community, will now identify elements -- such as traffic, trees, parks, the arts, and our schools -- fundamental aspects of our community that define Montgomery County. Having identified the right indicators, the Planning Board will then be in a position to advise us as to whether, over time, we are improving the quality of life that we all seek for Montgomery County.

If you add to these three major improvements, the Planning Board's new commitment to sustainability with a particular focus on the environment and a real commitment to design excellence, plus a tougher local area traffic test for communities such as Potomac, I think it is irrefutable that the policy that we have adopted this year puts us on the right track.

Our new policy is by no means perfect. It will require ongoing monitoring and improvement. But the perfect is often the enemy of the good. This is a good start by the Council to rebalance the development scales and move us in the direction of providing more infrastructure and more traffic mitigation when development is proposed. Not too draconian, yet not too timid. Just right.

Constituent and Community Services

We continue to make every effort to be available and responsive to the problems and concerns of District 1 residents. If you are one of the hundreds of constituents who have contacted our office since my last newsletter, I hope that you have found this to be the case. We will be happy to address your concerns in whatever way we can, as well at to facilitate your communication with the various executive agencies, M-NCPPPC, MCPS and the local utility companies. It is our pleasure to address your concerns about pedestrian safety, traffic and bus route problems, handicap access, unsafe and unsightly road conditions, dangerous trees and many other individual issues.

Ride-On Route 37

I heard from dozens of concerned District 1 residents about the County Executive s proposed cut of Ride-On bus route 37, an important part of the public transportation system between Potomac and the Grosvenor Metro station. I strongly believe that it is in the best interest of District 1 residents and the county to continue this route. We need more bus service, not less. Accordingly, I wrote to Mr. Leggett on February 4 setting forth the numerous reasons in favor of keeping route 37 and requesting that he do so, at least on a reduced frequency schedule. I am pleased to report that the County Executive changed his mind, and adopted my suggestion that, rather than eliminate the route, the County modify the schedule slightly but continue service.

Battery Park Citizens Association

I am very pleased to report our success in helping the Battery Park Citizens Association access a long-awaited County payment for a storm drain right-of-way that had been promised several years ago. My office was able to get the amount of the payment increased by 50% because of the delay. Please let me know if you have any concerns or problems with which that my staff can help you. You are our eyes and ears throughout the County, and we need your help to know what needs to be improved, changed or otherwise fixed.

Luxmanor

The residents of the Luxmanor Citizens Association have long-standing concerns over the problem of cut-through traffic in their neighborhood. My office arranged a meeting with the Director of the Department of Public Works and Transportation and his senior staff, the Chief of Transportation Planning at the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, representatives of Community Based Planning at MNCPPC, and an aide to County Executive Ike Leggett to discuss the County s response to the traffic woes of this community. I am pleased to report that DPWT has promised to put in place traffic calming measures and conduct additional studies to measure the amount of cut-through traffic in the neighborhood. It is my hope that the additional steps taken by the County will help alleviate the traffic concerns of this neighborhood which sits at the junction of several of our most clogged traffic arteries.

As always, my staff and I look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you at community events. Reggie Oldak is my Chief of Staff; Rebecca Lord, our Policy Analyst focusing on Land Use; Karen Williams, our Policy Analyst focusing on Transportation and the Environment; Cindy Gibson, our Policy Analyst focusing on Education and Public Safety; and Colleen Lauer handles much of our constituent work and also will be happy to schedule your meeting with me or my staff. All of them will try to facilitate your interaction with County government in any way that they can.

Thank you for your trust, and please let me know what I can do for you. It is truly a privilege to do this work, and I thank you for the opportunity.

                                                     Sincerely,

                                                       Roger Berliner

                                                       Councilmember, District 1
                                                       Lead Member for Libraries and Cultural Affairs

• The Berliner Brief, Summer/Fall 2007
• The Berliner Brief, Spring 2007