ThayerAvenue.com

As reported by so many before me, The Birchmere is dead. I was among the many that wanted it to come, mainly because it seemed like a great thing to have a large, live music venue in the area. But I’m not as disappointed at its demise as I thought I’d be.

I lived in Crystal City for three years, just a small hop from the original Birchmere in Alexandria, and in that entire span of time, I never went. Not once. Every once in a while I’d find a show that sounded attractive, but never enough to motivate me to buy tickets. Silver Spring, Singular hit the nail on the head with some of his comments. If we can get something better that would have more universal appeal, why not try?

As far as the county is concerned, I understand the motivation in terms of revenue. Sure, I think they make some boneheaded decisions sometimes, but I’m going to adopt a wait-and-see approach on this one.

The next news, as reported in the Washington Post, is that LiveNation is looking to come in and turn the old JCPenny building into one of its Fillmore-branded clubs. From a music perspective, it sounds like it has real potential, but there has already been chatter lambasting the idea in terms of attracting undesirables and adding to the chainification that could suck the local flair out of the area. We’d certainly get all NIMBYed out if something like House of Blues (another LiveNation venue) came in.

I have previously mentioned the thought of Blues Alley moving to the area, but I think a venue that large wouldn’t work properly for the intimate atmosphere that makes that establishment what it is. And the talk of a stand-up nightclub doesn’t appeal to me in the least.

Perhaps we should start a list of what we think should go there? I’ve heard a cell phone store might do well…

According to Bruce Johnson of WUSA9, Mayor Fenty learned last week that Blues Alley, the esteemed jazz club in Georgetown, hasn’t had a lease agreement since 1998 and could lose its Wisconsin Avenue address. The question now is: If that’s the case, where would they go?

Mr. Johnson states that there has been some talk about it moving to National Harbor Place on the Potomac in Prince George’s County (among other possibilities), but I’d like to think that Blues Alley could find a home in Silver Spring.

With Marcus Johnson in our midst and a blossoming Silver Spring JazzFest - not to mention the lower cost of real estate in the area - DTSS could be primed as a real possibility for a new location, but some real lobbying would be involved.

This is, once again, where you come in. The Blues Alley Web site has a contact form where you can tell Harry Schnipper that Silver Spring would be a great place for the jazz club. Let’s see what we can accomplish, eh?

Building on Silver Spring, Singular’s rant about misspellings, I did a double take this afternoon when walking by the front doors of the Bank of America building at Wayne and Colesville. As many times as I’ve walked by there, I don’t know (a) how I missed this before, and (2) why I managed to see it now.

But there it is, plain as day: “No smoking within 50 feet of entrance per Montogmery County Code 24-9.” Have they noticed this? It can’t be that difficult to change. Please tell me I’m not the only one to have seen this. How many people pass through those doors every day? I’m going to keep an eye on this and see if it gets changed anytime soon.

Bottom line: I’m glad they’re not taking care of my money.

I’m a sucker for Harry Potter. I admit it. Ever since reading the first one, we’ve preordered the others and stood in line with a bunch of kids a third of our age to get it. And while some of the movies have been better than others, we usually stand in line at the Uptown for the opening night festivities at each release. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that AFI is running a Harry Potter Marathon all next week. All this, leading up to the big release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at midnight on Friday, July 20. I might even take Friday off just to sit in the big theater at AFI and watch all 4 movies back-to-back.

If you don’t know it already, that evening will also see Ellsworth Drive turned into Diagon Alley, complete with the school supply and book store Flourish & Blotts (Borders), Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor (Ben & Jerry’s), and my personal favorite, The Leaky Cauldron (McGinty’s).

My question is this: what would be wizarding-speak for an Irish Car Bomb?

Okay, so it’s just for a story, but a little public radio press never hurts.

MoCo Council Reacts to Angry Calls From Businesses
Danielle Karson

July 10, 2007 - The Montgomery County Council is respodning[sic] to a flood of angry calls from area businesses about expanding the hours the public must pay for publilc parking. Danielle Karson reports…

Click here for links to the audio.

Referencing yesterday’s post (below), some clarification came out on the ESSCA listserv:

…[W]anted to clarify some posts that confused the project going in [on Silver Spring Avenue] (Moda Vista Residences) to the one at the former National Association for the Deaf on Thayer Avenue. The alley issues are different.

In the case of the Moda Vista:

The alley does not continue through to Grove. It only runs a little ways along the end of the existing office building on Fenton (the building next to the corner parking lot at Silver Spring Avenue).

The plan calls for the underground garage entrance to be on Silver Spring Avenue. The proposed plan indicates that the alley be used to access the loading docks. Some of us were proposing that the garage entrance be off this alley as well.

The Montgomery County Planning Board public hearing on the Moda Vista is still scheduled for this THURSDAY, JULY 12 at about 11 AM. For more info, see their agenda item #11.

http://www.mc-mncppc.org/board/agenda/2007/agenda20070712e.html

Item *11 Project Plan Review No. 920070130, (Formerly 9-07013), The Moda Vista Residences CBD-1/ CBD-0.5 zones; 1.27 acres; 94 multi-family dwelling units, including 12 MPDUs (12.5% of the total units) and 3,500 square feet of retail; located at the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Fenton Street and Silver Spring Avenue; Silver Spring CBD Staff.
Recommendation: Approval with Conditions

From here on out, I’ll try to stay away from analysis on the NIMBY (and CAVE and BANANA) issues and leave that to the professionals. Unless, of course, it’s in my best interest. And if you don’t like that, get your own blog.

I haven’t spoken that much about development recently, mainly because the direct impact to Thayer Avenue has been minimal - in conjunction with the fact that I’m not as well versed as people like Silver Spring Scene, who does a much better job at this sort of coverage. But all that’s about to change.

According to recent listserv information, the ESSCA met with the development team that is turning the site currently housing the National Association for the Deaf at 814 Thayer Ave (see map above) into condominiums to review the plans that will be presented to the county on July 26 (still waiting on specifics for this meeting). At a meeting last winter, it was requested that the developer put the entrance on Thayer Ave and not on the alley that runs between Thayer and Silver Spring Ave.

Last week, we learned that the developer has no intention of changing the alley entrance as the sole artery in and out of the planned 9-story building with 100+ units (and parking to accommodate). This will exacerbate the cut through traffic onto Grove Street, as most people will probably find it easier to use the alley to get in and out of the building. Luckily, it’s not too late to stop this.

The community response to the parking meter fiasco helped put that on hold for further review, and we can try to do the same with this, but we need your help. Please contact Valerie Ervie (councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov or 240-777-7960) and tell her the alley entrance is not the way to go.

There seems to be an ongoing turf war over the alleys. The code, supported by DWPT, evidently says that the alleys cannot be appropriated by a developer for [a property's] sole entrance, and the DWPT and the Planning Board must both agree if there is to be an exception for a developer. Your job is to tell Councilmember Erivn that an exception should not be made here.

On a different note, there also seems to be an uproar over the proposed development between Thayer and Silver Spring in what is now Parking Lot #3. Developer Robert Hillerson wants to put 3-4 nine story condos on the site with 700-800 parking spaces. Why they would need that many is beyond me, but that’s what I’ve read. ESSCA is trying to have the zoning overlay changed (which was put in place by a previous council) back to the original, limiting residential developments to six stories. 25 businesses along Fenton and neaby side streets sent a letter to ESSCA asking for the change, but the Chamber of Commerce is fighting it and Valerie Ervin, I’m told, has not responded to requests for help since January. If you want this change to take effect, please contact Valerie Ervin (with CCs to Marilyn Praisner and the at-large council members) requesting a change in the overlay zone.

I bring this to you as a mouthpiece for the community while not knowing all the details myself. Any clarification and additional details are welcome, and thanks to the many people on the ESSCA listserv for this information.

A friend of mine ran across this old photo while scrounging through his computer.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Peterson Companies still blow
As seen in most of the local blogs, as well as the Washington Post, the Peterson Companies have graciously decided to let us take pictures in the downtown area. Wonder what this means for the photography protest planned for July 4. And the fact that they make the specific point that they can rescind this privilege at any time sounds an awful lot like some of our beloved president’s signing statements.

Wacko Jacko to move to Maryland?
From DelmarvaNow.com: “Officially, no one would say Thursday that Michael Jackson, the erstwhile “King of Pop,” was in the area. Neither, however, would anyone deny the talk. Privately, inside sources reported that Jackson was not only staying at the Inn at Perry Cabin, he might be looking to buy land in Talbot or Queen Anne’s counties.”

I wonder if he found out that Maryland is “The Free State” and got a little confused. And there’s a joke about crabs in there somewhere, but I really think it might border on inappropriate.

Is George my neighbor?
I knew that George Pelecanos lived in Silver Spring, but recently someone told me he actually lives on Thayer Avenue. Is this true? If anyone has any intel, I’d love more info. I could think of no better place for a guest blogger of this magnitude than this very site.

Thai of Silver what?
After a series of recent visits to Thai Derm, I have decided not to return to Thai of Silver Spring. Tasty food, rubber duckies frolicking in the fountain, and I get to support a local family? ‘Nuff said.

Car Break-Ins
It seems as if the rash of car breaks continues in the neighborhood. Added to the list of items taken: parking permits. Don’t forget to lock your cars, people. And hide the loose change in a closed console compartment. You’re going to need it for the parking meters. Which leads us to…

Sign the Petition to stop the parking meter initiative
According to Silver Spring Scene, petitions are being circulated at Jackie’s Restaurant, Crisfield’s, and Alchemy, among other places. The initiative would appear to make the meters valid from 7:00am until 10pm Monday through Saturday. I know it’s a source of revenue and all, but aren’t our local leaders being disingenuous when they say they want to support local businesses and then try to pull a stunt like this? And since the change wouldn’t apply to the garages around downtown proper, I’m going to guess that the initiative would also exacerbate the traffic difficulties in and out of the garages during the heavy traffic times.

ADDENDUM: I received an email from George Pelecanos himself today confirming that he does, in fact, live on Silver Spring Avenue. He says: “Matter of fact, I grew up in Silver Spring (Northwood Indians, 1975). I have been reading your blog, like it, and noticed you were looking for me.”

Can’t tell you how much that made my day. And he was most gracious with my misspelling of his name (Pelecanos, not Pelicanos). Have edited the post to reflect that as well. Sorry about that. Hope to have him around the blog some time in the future. Thank you, Mr. Pelecanos!