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Our end-of-summer trips finally concluded last weekend, so with the Zombie Walk pending and the coming of a new ESSCA season, we’ll kick this blog back into high gear. First, the important stuff:

The Zombie Walk is ON

And bigger than ever. We’re still waiting on confirmation on street closures, potential vendors, and the imminent commemorative poster design (via El Jefe Design), but it’s shaping up to be another spectacular event. The walk route is basically the same as last year:

We’ll begin near Sligo and Georgia again, but we’re hoping to have additional space for much cooler stuff this year. We’ll wait to post that once it’s nailed down. Festivities begin about 8:00 PM with the actual walk starting at 8:45. Be sure and get there even earlier if you want any room at one of the local establishments. And while you’ve heard about this year’s movie selection (Dead Snow), AFI has also added another fantastic movie for a double feature. Dead Snow will start up at 9:45, and Shaun of the Dead will play immediately after at midnight. Tickets are already on sale at the AFI web site, so get them early. Both shows WILL sell out before the end of the walk.

For all the up-to-date details, check out the official Silver Spring Zombie Walk web site. Many more exciting things to be revealed in the coming days and weeks.

The Return of my Beloved ESSCA

Yes, boys and girls, it’s that time again. ESSCA just had its first meeting of the season on Monday night. For better or worse, I wasn’t there, having just returned from some extended time in warmer, sunnier climates. Tony Thompson of the U.S. Postal Service was scheduled to speak about the future of the Silver Spring post office (and the non-future of its current location). If anyone was there and stayed awake, please regale us with stories.

From here on out, meetings will be the third Monday of each month (except for January & February when it’s the fourth Monday due to holidays).

Also from the ESSCA listserv, the Department of Recreation is having a meeting tonight (Wednesday) from 7-9 PM at the Civic Building about the Thanksgiving Day parade. Lots of Fenton Street businesses got hosed when they changed the parade route last year to focus on the downtown area, and they’re keeping the same route this year. There will, no doubt, be lots of bitching and moaning and gnashing of teeth.

That’s what the author of the Montgomery Sideways blog would rather have than attend an ESSCA meeting. Dental surgery.

I’ve been out of town for a bit and finally catching up on things, and this lovely post was brought to my attention. William Smith focuses on pedestrian issues in the area and attended the final ESSCA meeting of the season last month that dealt with pedestrian improvements on Sligo Ave. The meat of the discussion wasn’t what interested me, though. It’s statements like this:

I left the meeting happy that the presentation had been well-received, but a little depressed at the sad state of the East Silver Spring Citizens’ Association. Six people voted to return the Executive Board back to their positions for another year – even though many of them weren’t there. The last time I had been to such a meeting was in 2005, when I ran against Bob for President. 78 People voted that night, and I lost by 2-1.

Back then the voting was done poorly, and the animosity I felt from the grey-haired and entrenched members of the audience put me off ESSCA for good. I paid dues and went to a couple of meetings since then, but I have usually found them to be more of an obstruction than a help.

Granted, he does talk about all the good things ESSCA has done over the years in terms of stopping bad development decisions, and I agree with him there, to some extent. But for as much pull as the organization may have with the county, I know for a fact that county leaders understand (and perhaps welcome) its dwindling relevance. So here’s the $64,000 question: What’s next?

It appears as if its relevance is inversely proportional to the median age of the group, as the latter drifts farther and farther from what Silver Spring has become. I’m still enamored of the nomenklatura moniker I gave to them over two years ago, and sadly, it’s becoming more and more applicable. But the quandary remains: Silver Spring is filling up more with young professionals and families with less and less time for community involvement. I’ve all but abandoned the thought of running for ESSCA office because the organization itself seems so marginalized by discussions on various blogs. I felt like I could affect change more by snarking from the fringe, and I’d rather spend time with my family (or having dental surgery) than attend the meetings.

The three-month break is upon us, and ESSCA will pick their sad meetings back up the third Monday of September. Give it some thought. Is civic engagement on this level worth it? Are there other means to reach the ends we seek? Food for thought on the long and potentially hot summer days ahead.

In other news…

I try not to shill for any particular interest other than my own, so don’t take this the wrong way. Ms. Thayer Avenue was driving on the beltway and a rock came up and shattered the driver’s side window at full speed. She said it sounded like a gun shot or something, and glass ended up everywhere. I was out of town, and we were a couple of days away from a camping trip over the long Memorial Day break. Enter Banner Glass (7900 Fenton Street). Not only did they squeeze it in the next day, but they completed the work in a matter of a couple of hours. We may have gotten lucky on the timing so set your expectations accordingly, but when a local business pulls something like that, I gotta give ‘em props.

Thank you, Banner Glass.

I’m almost afraid to say it out loud for jinxing it, but last night’s ESSCA meeting had some thoughtful discussion about the development on the site of First Baptist Church. I mean, there was the futile attempt at reuse plans via the Historical Society, but otherwise it looks like, barring any snafus, this thing will actually go forward. It’s a solid development plan and perfect for urban density. There were some people who might have thrown up in their mouths a little during the vote, but I think it was because they knew that so many accommodations had been made that this was the best they were going to get out of this parcel of land.

As for that presentation by the historical society, I have three things to say: (1) Informative; (2) Never gonna happen; (3) Most. Boring. Powerpoint. Ever. If you’re trying to sell a point, you have to do it with some flair, folks. Do not read deadpan from a script. This was right before I fell asleep:

But then I had to wake up to continue the live tweeting. Now for the main recap.

When you compare the new drawings to the old (previous images in this post), you’ll notice height variations in the new rendering while the previous one had a flat top. The thumbnails below will take you to larger images so you can see the detail.

The first image is from the southwest corner of Fenton & Bonifant by the loft condos (which look pretty nice from the outside – anyone live there?). The second image is straight from the south side of Bonifant east of Fenton. As I understand it, the “community” wanted a less-imposing façade on that residential street (nevermind that the church across the street looks like modern brutalist architecture). So the zoning text amendment (ZTA) is to get permission to increase the height on the Wayne/Fenton side of the structure while decreasing it on the Bonifant side.

The other point of contention was traffic in and out of the garage doors you see on Bonifant at the bottom of the second image. The arched door in the center of the image is for resident parking, limited church (staff) parking, and pick up/drop off for the daycare at the church (the building to the right). Some detail:

It’s actually a great development for urban density. I’m psyched about the retail prospects for the first floor, and I think it will generate more foot traffic along Fenton. Once the library is done, we should have a good gateway to Fenton Village.

The third image above shows the top view of the development with the courtyard that runs north/south between Wayne and Bonifant. You’ll also see three (private) deck areas – two on the Fenton side and one on the courtyard side – that sit on top of the first floor retail. Not sure if these are apartment specific or if they’re accessible to all residents. Just not the public.

At any rate, I think you can say hello to your next mixed-use development in downtown Silver Spring. There are still plenty of hearings and hoops to jump through. ESSCA’s approval of the ZTA is just one. The property sits right on the border between ESSCA and SOECA (Seven Oaks-Evanswood Citizen’s Association), and SOECA needs to support the ZTA now. If they don’t, we’re going to have a cage match. Two civic groups enter, one civic group leave.

And credit to D. for the best tweet of the night.

Tonight’s ESSCA meeting (7:30pm at Sligo Recreation Center) should be one of those rare gems where everybody bitches and moans about things and then votes. Part of me expects to see a large scale when I walk in with a duck on one side and a replica scale model of the First Baptist Church development (or the developer himself) on the other.

Renderings courtesy of Torti Gallas and Partners

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, the above renderings depict the proposed development for the First Baptist Church lot at Fenton and Wayne. One shows a view from the corner opposite the lot (at Washington Sports Club). The other shows the view from a point south of Bonifant near Easley & Fenton. You can see this is the 6-story section (due to the gradation of Fenton) that allows for parking garage access and loading dock door.

The primary rub: traffic. When I wrote about this over a year ago, there seemed to be three options as to how this would go down:

• Option 1: Continue with this development.
• Option 2: First Baptist Church finds someone with millions to spare – and give – to the church to do all the remodeling necessary.
• Option 3: First Baptist Church abandons the entire space, sells the land to whoever will buy it, and the churches still inevitably get torn down for some other type of development.

During the ESSCA meeting last year, our venerable civic association made some recommendations for improvements to the site plan, and it appears some of those have been entertained, but mitigating the inevitable traffic issues is still proving problematic. Tonight, though, brings an entirely new (and mostly futile) option into the mix, via the Silver Spring Historical Society:

The Silver Spring Historical Society will present  tomorrow evening another perspective on the project plan for the S.S. Baptist Church complex in which our organization proposes partial preservation of the corner 1956 church.

Partial preservation was successfully accomplished with the 1945 Canada Dry Bottling Plant on East-West Highway, now the Silverton Condominiums.  There, the Art Deco vestibule with cantilevered staircase, soda-pop bubble terrazzo floor, Canada Dry illuminated sign, and two elevations of the structure  were incorporated into new construction.

I admit that saving the façade of the Canada Dry building was a great move and it’s really helped the character of the building. The problem here is this: I don’t see how they can support a mixed-use residential/commercial building with the (even partial) exterior of the church. Perhaps reincorporating some of the pieces into the final project could work, but the site plan is way too different.

The developers are presenting their plans at the ESSCA meeting tonight, and then ESSCA will vote on whether to support a Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) to transfer part of the bulk of the project from the Bonifant side to the Wayne side. Also according to the listserv, “a small committee of residents living close to the affected area will also make a recommendation.” You know – because ESSCA can’t create enough of a circus by itself.

We all know how this is going to end up: ESSCA will vote against it. Some want to try to maintain the status quo (which isn’t gonna happen) and others (like me) believe density in urban, transit-oriented communities is a good thing. Traffic, on the other hand, may tip the scales in favor of the duck.

If I can motivate myself to sit through this excruciating meeting, you’ll be able to follow live tweets via @essca.

Tonight’s ESSCA meeting, as happens from time to time, is poorly planned in light of other events. I had to miss October’s meeting because I was out of town, but I think I can get in, provide some cynical, real-time tweeting, and get out in time to see opening kickoff. As a Dallas fan (SUCK it, G-Men), I’m wondering if there is a way both teams can lose tonight, thereby further softening the powerhouse that is the NFC East.

As for the actual meeting, the primary discussion will be with Ursula Sabia Sukinik and David Vismara of Montgomery Parks about plans for a community garden at Fenton Street and Burlington Avenue. If the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association has time, they should come lobby against it, seeing as how ESSCA people hijacked a previous SSSNA meeting about their own community garden. Takers?

If I do suck it up and attend, you can once again follow the live-tweeting madness via @essca.

And in other area news…

And just when you think Montgomery County can be a pain in the ass, here comes Prince George’s County to make us look good. Again.

Back to Zombies for a brief moment

Here is the winner of the 2010 Zombie Safe House Competition. Genius.

Resuming its September-May schedule, the first meeting of the East Silver Spring Civic Association will come to order tonight at 7:30 at the Sligo Recreational Center at 500 Sligo Avenue (corner of Sligo & Piney Branch). I consider it the return of my one-trick-pony comedy bit. If you’ve never been to a meeting, imagine the video below, but not Japanese and without chicken. And not quite as much Star Wars kitsch.

Live tweeting, as always, will be provided by @essca.

And on the docket for tomorrow night…

Kojo in Your Community will be at the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza. Doors open at 5:45 and taping starts at 6:30.

I pray, for the sake of everyone involved and the reputation of Silver Spring in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area, that certain fringe elements within the community don’t get their grimy paws on the microphone. It’ll either be a disaster or something akin to the above video.

Stay tuned.

Oh – maybe you can’t read the signs. Because somebody stole them.

First, let’s put aside the fact that our venerable WaPo decided to write about this six weeks after I did (more gripes about the Post in a moment). But to be fair, there’s some juicy stuff in this story. Let’s look at two items in particular:

I think someone pointed the finger at me
All of you who read this blog know the love/hate relationship I have with the East Silver Spring Civic Association. Mostly hate. Or disdain, perhaps. Reading along in the Washington Post story, I came across this:

One victim suspected a man who has posted critical comments about the neighborhood civic association on a local Internet mailing list. (He did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.)

Whoa. Are they talking about me? Can’t be. And anyway, I never got repeated requests for comment, so WaPo is either lying or talking about someone else.

Best Accusation Yet
By far, the best little bit of anonymous guessing in the story was this:

Another neighbor said his “deep, dark suspicion” is that the sign bandit is Bob Colvin, president of the East Silver Spring Civic Association, who is known to take walks late at night.

YES! Bob Colvin, the president of our very own Banana Republic, just got fingered as the sign vigilante. Classic. Of course, we all know he wouldn’t do something like that, and he says as much in the story. But the fact that someone said that it could be him – well, they deserve something. Perhaps my ESSCA membership card. Or a place on the board.

Speaking of ESSCA…

It’s that time of year again. Time to clear off your third Monday of the month for the next 9 months or so. ESSCA gets back into gear (supposedly) on Monday, September 20, with the first meeting of the 2010-2011 season. I’m going to start bringing a snare and cymbal so I can follow up my own snide remarks with rim shots. Be sure to follow @essca for all the live, twittery goodness.

Now back to the Washington Post

Let this “final” news item be another, gentle reminder that the 3rd Annual Silver Spring Zombie Walk is set for October 23. See the web site or Facebook group page for details.

Many of you may have seen a story about the University of Baltimore offering a zombie-centric English class this year. The story made the rounds of national papers (via AP), but what was interesting was the timeline of geographic publication. The story started, appropriately enough, in the Baltimore Sun. Then it went all the way out west and got picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Only then, three days after that, did it actually get picked up by the Washington Post. (Thanks to all who sent the links, by the way.) Scheduling conflict? Lack of interest? Slow to pick up on popular culture right here in the backyard? It was just disappointing to see WaPo be the last in line for what is almost a local story accompanied by a great local angle with the Silver Spring Zombie Walk. That’s all’s I’m sayin’.

One last serious comment:

Go vote in the primaries today. Now. Really.

Bonus:

Nando’s Peri Peri opens tomorrow (September 15).

You may recall back in the spring of 2008, we had a guest post from our resident Census Geek about demographics on Thayer Avenue and the surrounding area. Very interesting information, and considering all the changes that have taken place in the ‘hood since the last head count, I’m already looking forward to the information garnered from 2010.

Here’s the thing: You have to fill out the form and send it in. I know it takes a few minutes. I know you’re busy. Consider this a public service announcement. Filling out the form and sending it in has a direct impact on your local, state, and national representation, money allocated to your area, and services provided. There is NO downside. You will not get slapped by the IRS. You will not get deported. You will not have the U.S. Marshalls show up at your door (unless you’ve done something else to deserve any of that).

Also, there will be people from the Census Bureau canvassing the neighborhood over the next few months. Please treat them with respect. We’re lucky that the census comes at a time when people need jobs, and this is putting a small dent in a big crash, putting food on lots of tables for people who would experience otherwise. If a census taker tries to test you, I recommend you *not* cut out his or her liver and eat it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. It would be bad form. And it’s been done before.

About that Letter…
A lot of other people have gotten that anti-big-box-store-Germantown-Citizens-for-Smart-Growth letter I highlighted this past weekend. It even reared its ugly head at this week’s ESSCA meeting. The origin is still a mystery, but I heard an interesting theory. Just imagine that one of the most revered grocery stores in the Northeastern United States (and in Northern Virginia and NOT Montgomery County) was to get all the necessary approvals to break ground on a flagship grocery store. And let’s just say the grocery store happened to be, oh, I don’t know Wegmans.

Now… say you’re a big grocery store chain like Giant or Safeway who is about to get trounced by the great and powerful Wegmans in your market. What do you do? I think maybe you send out letters addressed to “[Insert Name] or Current Resident” – just like you do with the grocery store flyers. Make sense? Giant or Safeway? Want to come forward and claim responsibility for a bogus, failed campaign against Wegmans? It was already too late for that anyway, which makes me wonder if that theory is true. The store will be built, from what I understand, regardless. We’ll see what comes of it.

About the ESSCA Meeting
Better than anticipated. Though when Bob Colvin started talking about gangs in the area, he reminded me of former Senator Ted Sevens (R-AK) talking about the internet. Lots of talk about the Days Inn and Travelodge on Georgia Avenue and the attempt to subdue crime there, but it was rudely interrupted by some bonehead talking about sentencing disparities (valid) and pharmaceutical commercials (not valid and unrelated) and the Juarez Drug Cartel (idiotic and unrelated) and drug commercial disclaimers (a waste of *everyone’s* time and unrelated). I’m reminded of last month’s meeting where someone said, “Hearing you speak for the sake of talking is wasting my time.” Amen. Just a couple of meetings left until elections…

D’OH! A deer!
Beautiful day at Sligo Creek Golf Course yesterday. A big family of deer was foraging on the left side of #9. Your Silver Spring Photo of the Day:

Two important things to note about the meeting next week: (1) Jackie’s will be providing food. and (2) ESSCA’s “Historical Research Committee” will be presenting their findings and discussing the “possible designation of East Silver Spring as a Historic District.” I’ve already made my feelings known about the whole historic designation of East Silver Spring. There is no vote scheduled to continue down this path, but who knows what will happen at the monthly Vaudeville Show. Show up and enjoy the infighting.

Also, Dr. Ulysses R. Glee, the owner of the land at the southeast corner of Silver Spring & Fenton (where our venerable Fenton Street Market holds courts during the season), will also be speaking about plans for the property there.

As always, live tweets of the meeting will go down via @essca.

The Fillmore Rears its Head
A pre-submission meeting for the project plan will be held on Tuesday, February 23, at the 1st floor atrium of the Lee Building at 8601 Colesville Road. After someone actually invoked the Fillmore at the last ESSCA meeting when we were talking about the First Baptist Church Development, these should get more and more interesting.

On a different note, as much as I am pro-music venue, I feel like a deal with the devil might have been made in terms of approval on future Lee Development Group projects for the adjoining land. More on that to come.

Blog versus Listserv
There have been requests on the ESSCA listserv for a place to take some some of the email discussions off-line to a more proper forum. Specifically, they want a blog set up and managed. I can’t help but wonder: If I took them up on it would they actually agree? I could have a field day with this one.

I already have some plans for another community site, and I’m trying to maintain more regular posts here, so I’m not sure I could even add that to the workload. Ideally, I’d be old and cranky and (semi-)retired in order to have enough time for that. But at that point I could buy some white pants, pull them up to my chest, and run for a post on the ESSCA board.

Wikipedia defines “smart growth” thusly:

Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a range of housing choices.

I’ll emphasize the terms “center of a city” and “transit-oriented” for our purposes tonight as the East Silver Spring Civic Association discusses the impact of a proposed redevelopment of the First Baptist Church lot on the east side of Fenton between Wayne and Bonifant. Plans would include tearing down the church and adjacent buildings (but watch out! there may be HISTORY there!), building a multi-level (5 or 6 stories?) residential development with ground-floor retail. The church would then presumably build a smaller facility on the east side of the parcel.

As per my earlier emphasis, this would put density in the — wait for it — center of the city with good transit options available. No doubt, plenty of people will be opposed. I, for one, am not. Sure there are traffic issues to be worked out, but when talking about density in the Central Business District (CBD), this is *exactly* the kind of development smart growth reflects.

It’s very nice of them to get community input and reaction, but as the church owns the property, my guess is they can do whatever the hell they want to, as long as the County issues the proper permits.

The ESSCA meeting begins tonight at 7:30 at the Sligo Recreation Center at the corner of Sligo & Piney Branch. Be there, or follow the live tweets courtesy of @essca on Twitter.