Montgomery County residents and elected officials find themselves increasingly divided over their need for jobs and investment and their fear of traffic congestion and empty public treasuries as plans for a major health and sciences research complex near conclusion.
The so-called “Science City” proposal would transform parts of Gaithersburg, Rockville and North Potomac from cul-de-sac suburbia into a beehive of steel-and-glass research towers. “It’s a historic development,” said Councilman Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg, who is opposed to the plan. The council’s economic development committee held its fifth public hearing about the project Wednesday and a vote is expected this spring.
» Who’s for:
Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
Johns Hopkins University
Montgomery County Planning Board
» Who’s against:
The Coalition for Smarter Growth
Action Committee for Transit
Sierra Club
Councilmen Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg, and Marc Elrich, D-at large
Both sides are digging in.
Hundreds of residents crammed into the cafeteria at Quince Orchard High School Tuesday night for a raucous and lengthy town hall meeting on the project. Most of the crowd was opposed to the plan.
The city councils of Gaithersburg and Rockville passed resolutions this week condemning the proposal.
The plan has powerful backers, including the county Chamber of Commerce and Johns Hopkins University.
The fight is bedeviling County Council members, who are up for re-election this fall. Montgomery lost more than 14,000 jobs last year and has been losing its foothold atop quality-of-life surveys and indexes. The project, part of a proposed county development plan for west Gaithersburg, would help draw an estimated 60,000 jobs to the area.
But the plan requires billions in public dollars — not just for the Shady Grove area, but for the Corridor Cities Transitway, a highway and light rail line that is vital to the proposal — from a county and state already deep in the red.
Advocates say the plan is needed to create jobs and to make Montgomery County a world capital for biotech innovation.
“Change is inevitable,” said Todd Grinspoon, who lives in the area and supports the plan. “The commercial tax base is disappearing and we’re losing ground to Fairfax County every day.”
Opponents say the plan is corporate welfare for developers and will throttle an already congested area with unbearable traffic. It has drawn opposition from environmental, transit and “smart growth” advocacy groups.
“My concern is that it really is not designed to promote growth,” said Gary Robinson, an area resident who owns his own biotech company. “It’s just sort of a backward approach.”
The local Sierra Club has threatened to weigh council members’ Science City votes in the club’s endorsements in the fall.
“Clearly, in this case, we’ve got a lot of differences to work out,” said Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-at large.
