Westbard

SCA works continually to ensure that the redevelopment at Westbard reflects our communities priorities.

New Proposal - Senior Living to replace Westwood II - December 2019

Regency Centers, the developer of the Westwood Shopping Center, is floating a plan for a proposed partnership with the Kensington Development Company to build a senior living facility to replace the Westwood II building at the corner of Ridgefield Road and Westbard Avenue.

While this plan is in the early stages, it contemplates demolishing the existing Westwood II building and building the realigned Westbard Avenue road concurrently with the new Giant. The realignment of the road had been planned in a second stage of the development, but Regency now plans to build the realigned road and the senior living facility at the same time that the shopping center is being built. Building construction is estimated to take about 22 months after approvals from the Planning Department.

Regency plans to hold a community meeting in January to show the plans before submitting the Site Plan to the County Planning Department.

The Kensington Development Company, based in Reston, VA, would build and manage the senior living facility, which would have assisted living and memory care areas. The plan is to build a 75-foot, six-story building with 110 units plus 70-80 parking spaces for staff, and visitors as Kensington stated that its residents do not own cars. The building will be secured to protect the residents and will have two entryways—one for truck deliveries at the lower level and the parking area for staff and visitors on the second level. Trucks would turn around inside the building to use the indoor loading dock reducing snarled traffic.

The Kensington Development Company, founded in 2010, owns and operates senior living facilities in Kensington, MD and Falls Church, VA as well as four facilities in California and New York. Their Reston, VA facility will open in the fall of 2020. More information about the company is available at https://kensingtonseniorliving.com/our-story/

Regency’s plans for the Westbard Shopping Center site remain unchanged. Regency plans to build the new Giant store including retail stores and garage parking. The other components of the shopping center—72 townhouses and 190 rental apartment units plus retail stores—remain in the plans as approved by the Planning Board on May 6, 2019.

Note that, at this time, Regency has not come to an agreement with Kenwood Place Condominiums, which holds three easements: (1) an ingress/egress easement under the area slated for the Springfield Park; (2) access to 45 designated parking spaces; and (3) general access to the shopping center driveways.

Send your questions and feedback to us via email to board@springfield20816.com

12 September 2019 State Appeals Court Rejects the Save Westbard Lawsuit

The State Court of Special Appeals has denied the Save Westbard’s lawsuit to void the Westbard Sector Plan, which was approved on May 3, 2016. The Appeals Court’s September 12 decision addressed three major issues:

The Save Westbard lawsuit alleged that the County planners had not complied with County regulations to assess the potential impact of greenhouse gas emissions in preparing the Westbard Sector Plan. The Appeals Court ruled that the Sector Plan does make recommendations regarding greenhouse gas emissions and suggests options such as a bicycle network and thus is in compliance.
The lawsuit alleged that the County Council had not stated that they were meeting as the District Council to comply with public hearing requirements. The Appeals Court ruled that the two-day public hearing in February 2016 did allow the plaintiffs “substantive due process” and thus fulfilled the requirements.
The lawsuit alleged that the developer and a public housing agency had engaged in contract zoning with the County by promising to build more affordable housing units in exchange for zoning concessions. The Appeals Court dismissed this third count, stating that the Residents had failed to establish standing to bring their claims. The Appeals Court noted that the Sector Plan “does not zone or alter zoning” and therefore the “Plan and its approval process cannot constitute contract zoning.”

According to Bethesda blogger Robert Dyer, the lawsuit did lead to reduced density at the Westwood Shopping Center:

“Fortunately the lawsuit did succeed in a reduction in size of Regency Centers’ proposal, and a staging plan relatively more beneficial to the residents and business in the area . . .The neighborhood will be better for the lawsuit having been filed, as a result.”

Read coverage of the Court's decision in Bethesda Magazine.

This outcome is a disappointment for our community and comes despite a great deal of hard work invested by many residents of Springfield and the surrounding communities.

Thursday 14 March Planning Board Hearing

Hello Springfield Residents,

After years of work on your behalf, the SCA Board wants to you know that day has come where its likely that the Planning Board will approve the developer's plan for the Westbard shopping center.

The hearing is Thursday 14 March and this item is #2 on the list so expected to begin in mid-morning perhaps 10 or 10:30 but it may be later.

The plan is far from perfect but, by working diligently and collaborating with others, the SCA Board has improved the plan in ways that will benefit the Springfield neighborhood. We continue to offer comments in our letter described below regarding items that we hope will be improved.

We must remain vigilant and stand up for reason and our rights throughout the redevelopment as decisions will be made continuously throughout the process that may have long last effects on our neighborhood. We count on you to volunteer to help us read the volumes of material and review what’s happening on the ground to hold the developer accountable for the reasonable implementation of these plans.

Our last chance to testify before approval is Thursday 14, March, and we encourage you to attend and support the interests of our community.

Read the SCA comments and those of other neighborhood associations and groups here:

- SCA Letter

- SCA Attorney David Brown

- CCCFH Letter

- Town of Somerset Letter

- LFWA letter

- LFWA Paid Study by Design Green

Sincerely,

Your SCA Board

2016 Westbard Sector Plan