Bethesda seeks to chart a new path to growth

A lot can change in 20 years.

Arguably, Bethesda is the Maryland community that best exemplifies how much growth can impact an area in just two decades. The Washington, D.C., suburb, once a bastion of single-family homes, has experienced a tremendous amount of growth in its central business district and has become a model  for development for some communities, such as Towson.

“If you get the new urbanism right, and if you create these vibrant urban nodes, and you do it in a dynamic matter, it’s not at the expense of surrounding communities, it actually helps the surrounding communities because you’re adding amenities that they can then walk to and benefit from,” said Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner, whose district includes Bethesda. “But change is hard. It’s hard for those who knew Bethesda the way it was and sort of mourn the loss of that time.”

The community of just under 61,000 residents is working to update a master plan for downtown that will guide development in the community with an emphasis on sustainability in three core area: economic, social and environmental. The plan, which was last updated in 1994, will play a major role in how the downtown is built out over the next two decades, and refines what is allowed in a certain portions of downtown.

“It will have a lot to say about guiding the direction that development takes in the future. Anyone that comes in with a property that they want to redevelop in the downtown area… not only do they have to conform to the land use and zoning regulations, but they also have to look to the specific master plan, or sector plan for additional recommendations, guidelines and requirements,” Howerton said.

The Montgomery County Planning Department has been working on the plan for more than a year, and it’s likely the proposal won’t be sent to the Montgomery County Council for review until next year.

So far, Howerton said, residents have been primarily concerned about better defining the transition and creating a buffer between downtown and surrounding single-family communities. There’s also been an increased demand for more parks and open space even in the urban downtown area. But she felt the prior development plans, adopted in 1976 and 1994, have done a good job of guiding the community’s growth.

“We have a concentration of higher intensity in the CBD, the central business district, and we still today plan for and know there needs to be compatibility, and that areas that transition down from the downtown to single-family neighborhoods is a very sensitive issue,” Howerton said.

She said the plan is also taking account the interests of businesses and property owners in shaping the plan as it moves forward. She said the property owners are “crucial” to developing downtown.

“We’re fortunate with the Bethesda community because everybody from the businesses, to the property owners to the surrounding community are very involved in this process,” Howerton said.