Councilmember Trachtenberg Attends Town Hall Meeting on Gaithersburg West Master Plan

Councilmember Trachtenberg attended last night’s Town Hall Meeting on the Gaithersburg West Master Plan held at the Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The meeting was organized by the North Potomac Citizens Association. Councilmember Trachtenberg was joined by her colleagues, Council President Nancy Floreen, and Councilmembers Marc Elrich and George Leventhal. Before remarks by the Councilmembers, there were presentations by Dan Drazan, President, North Potomac Citizens Association; Donna Baron, Gaithersburg-North Potomac Rockville Coalition; Bragi Valgeirsson, North Potomac; Tim Newell, a representative of the Banks Family; and Pamela Lindstrom, Montgomery County Chapter of the Sierra Club/Residents for Reasonable Development. Councilmember Trachtenberg was accompanied by staffers Alan Bowser, Naomi Bloch and Emily Hoopes.

In her remarks to the Town Hall meeting, Councilmember Trachtenberg outlined her review objectives for master plans proposed by the County’s Planning Board. She spoke of the need to balance the growth the County needs with the quality of life that resident’s want, and the importance of respecting established neighborhoods. She acknowledged the many questions and concerns that had been raised with regard to the Planning Board’s proposal, especially those related to transportation infrastructure, the economic projections, the housing-jobs balance, and the environmental and health impact of new development in the Plan area. She also noted that there were significant differences between the plans proposed for Gaithersburg West and the White Flint Area, notably the differences in the existing transit infrastructure and the nature of the community dialogue process.

Councilmember Trachtenberg emphasized that the County Council was not near a final decision on the Gaithersburg West Plan, and that the PHED Committee was only in the very early stages of reviewing the proposal presented by the Planning Board. She encouraged community members to continue contacting her office with their questions, issues, and concerns about the process. Interested individuals can contact the Trachtenberg Office at councilmember.trachtenberg@montgomerycountymd.gov; the telephone number is 24-777-7964.

For more information on the North Potomac Citizens Association, please visit http://www.northpotomacnews.org/.