Every critic’s nightmare: Chef leaves before review runs. In other words, Frank Morales is gone from Jackie’s (& I have no column for 2/28).

After, what, a couple of months? This can’t be good. Stay tuned for the backstory.

In other news…
This photo from the Paul Sarbanes Transit Center Project was sent in by that hackjob reader Bonifant More Sinister Than Thayer:

While I knew this was happening, seeing a sign like this is 10,000 kinds of awesome. We must get good video of the blasting action to post.

First Baptist Church Development
Here are a couple of the high-resolution renderings direct from the source:

Renderings courtesy of Torti Gallas and Partners

One shows a view from the opposite corner of Wayne & Fenton (already seen plenty of places). 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.

Pretty classy, you say? I agree. But, of course, the historical people say it would be too much of a loss:

“The retention of the two historic Silver Spring Baptist Church structures ‘bookended’ with the planned Silver Spring Library directly across Fenton Street would serve as recognizable and symbolic American icons that uniquely provide a gateway into Fenton Village.  To lose the prominence and visibility of these important buildings to probably another Starbucks would be a sad commentary on the continued apathy shown by this community to preserving and celebrating its heritage.”

First of all, losing these classy structures *is* a loss. But there will be almost no way around it, and I prefer to have the density in the CBD anyway. Bottom line is First Baptist Church no longer wants the church it’s in. It needs a lot of work, and if the work starts, a lot of additional investment has to be spent to bring it up to code and ADA compliance. So there are some options:

• 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.

Take your pick. Option 2 just ain’t gonna happen. Option 3 is a worst-case scenario. Even without those caveats, Option 1 looks pretty damn good.

In other news…
Silver Spring is working with the MDoT’s State Highway Administration to make particular intersections more pedestrian friendly, citing the unfortunate fatalities in November at 16th & Colesville and last month on Georgia between Forest Glen and Dennis. I hope that one of the solutions is jail time for blatant jaywalkers. You know who I’m talking about. The idiots who cross Georgia at Colesville or Ellsworth at Fenton with a blatant disregard for traffic and common civility. I will weep for none of them as they lie bleeding in the street.

Finally: Dog Shit
Yup. I haven’t seen this much single-subject traffic on the listserv since, well, someone throwing Gatorade bottles full of urine over someone else’s fence. Bottom line is some people are afraid of dogs. Others are afraid of stepping in dog shit. Still others think the leash laws should be rewritten one way or another. I’ll compile the best comments in another post soon, as things have gotten kinda heated at times. Also because I know how much the list moderators love it when I publish their “private” conversations only meant for our neighborhood. Priceless, some of them.

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.

I managed to catch a glimpse between the window coverings, and this place is big. Bigger than I had anticipated, at least. The back room (yes, it’s currently pink) looks like it could hold a small band and its associated crowd.

Is their inventory going to fill up this space? Could it be multipurpose? And if so, for what? It’s a small space in front, but the back room is enormous. Curious…

Bagelgate?
According to Washington City Paper, it appears there is some testiness within the extended Goldberg New York Bagels empire. (via @SSSingular)

Finally…
This man was preaching the word and calling for donations for Haiti Disaster Relief. PA system and all. Right here in Silver Spring. Yes, I’ve donated, and I hope the infrastructure down there gets the support it needs to deliver the necessities. And with that, we have the long-awaited link between a mention of Haiti relief and a Silver Spring blog, meaning that *someone* can step away from the keyboard.

Half of the 700 block of Thayer was flanked by police vehicles last night when, just after 6:00, someone (according to eyewitnesses) decided to test the limits of the traffic calming devices. Luckily, the driver walked away with minor injuries. Not sure if the other car helped cause the flippage or if it was just a casualty of war, but let this be a lesson: Slow the hell down, people. There are no less than 12 kids living within four houses of this mayhem. Assuming speed did cause this, I have absolutely NO sympathy for the driver.

Thanks to D Stegmeier for the photos.

Most impressive is their selection of large bottles of beer, something to which I’m particularly attuned. I normally end up going to Gilly’s Craft Berr & Wine in Rockville or piggyback a Costco trip to The Perfect Pour in Columbia. The latter has the best selection in the greater DC/Baltimore area, but it is, after all, in Columbia. And Gilly’s actually has food and three taps to sample in-store. But it’s nice to have something in the Silver Spring CBD that has something akin to it.

Among the items I’m really happy with is their selection of Unibroue beers, as well as a growing selection of brews from the Southern Tier Brewing Company. The also have a broad selection of six packs like Dogfish Head, Brooklyn, Magic Hat and more. As everything is currently stacked up in the store on boxes, I anticipate the inventory and interior decor will grow as the business does.

As for wine, their selection is small but full of things you might not find at a lot of other stores. I tend to go to other outlets for wine, though. Or have it shipped direct to DC and bring it across the state line because the idiots in Maryland still haven’t let go of their regressive direct shipment laws. (I was also told by the director of Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control Board that this is entirely legal, so until they change the direct shipment laws, I encourage you to have at it.)

I spoke to the owner, Suman, and they’re having a grand opening celebration on January 23, with free tastings of Belgian beer from 1:00-3:30om, and wine from 4:00-7:00pm. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by. Would love to see these guys stay around a while.

On a Much Sadder Note…
Our beloved Silver Spring Penguin will cease and desist operations as of this Friday, January 15, 2010. Jen Deseo has been a great asset to the community and I, for one, will miss her greatly. If you’re looking for blame, point it at Penguin photog Ron Pace, who was given a great opportunity up in New York.

Calling all Downtown Silver Spring Twitterers
Don’t forget the DTSS Tweetup - a gathering of local twitterers (tweeps?) - on Friday, January 22 at Mi Rancho. Use hashtag #DTSStweetup for Twitter promos and live tweeting. Margaritas start flowing at 6:00.

None, because it’s close, the people of the Republic tend to treat local businesses well, and nothing goes better with the scent of patchouli than coffee. On the other hand, I rarely drink coffee without a big slab freshly seared foie gras. They go so well together. But they frown on that there. And they don’t like me anyway because I think East Silver Spring should not designate itself as an historic district, much like the one those people came in and pushed at an ESSCA meeting some time ago.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m happy for Mayorga. I really am. But for the sake of the people in Takoma Park, I hope that the food is better, they provide more vegetarian and vegan options (because nothing tastes better than fried vegans), and the service is less sucky than what I’ve experienced over the past several months. I will say it could be a great complement to Mark’s Kitchen, one of my (seriously) favorite places in the greater DC area. And I hope they continue to serve the booze. That was a bonus. I might actually trek down there for that.

Otherwise, it’s Highland Origin for me.

Mayorga Blogger Mayhem
As you have no doubt seen from The Gazette, the plethora of blog posts, and the press release from the horse’s mouth, Mayorga’s fuel-injected enterprise is coming to a close. (Props to SoCo Eats for being the one to sent the InterWeb into a flutter with his mention.) As everyone has mentioned, things have been going downhill there lately. The food had become subpar, they took the French Cuban sandwich off the menu, and servie was spotty at best (bar notwithstanding).

And as a parent, I can say this: Mayorga is NOT the place for parents to sit and chat while their children run wild, yet that’s what it turned into many weekday mornings. At any rate, it will be interesting to see where the daily campers with their computers end up. And if you never went for beer pong (sponsored by Hook & Ladder), you really missed out.

In Less-reported News…
On or about November 23, Montgomery County Police reported an arrest was made for drugs at Red Lobster in DTSS. How this did not make the wider gossip circle for ridicule, I’ll never know, but I’m gonna push it. I, for one, have never eaten at that Red Lobster, but my wife and I continue our threats to go in order a drink, ask for several baskets of Cheddar Bay Biscuits, chow, and leave. Stay tuned to the Twitter stream for up-to-the-minute action.

But I digress. What drugs? Patrons or workers? Dealing or using? The mention in the crime report, of course, contains no details, but the place always seems to have a pretty good crowd. And for the record, searching Google images with the keywords “lobster” and “drugs” brings back some interesting results.

Have a slice. Don’t cost nothin’.
Silver Spring’s new pizza joint, Flippin’ Pizza (8517 Colesville Road, across from Discovery), is having their Grand Opening on Tuesday, December 15. You can score two free slices (cheese or pepperoni) and a drink for free from 4:00 to 7:00pm. Expect a big honking queue for that one as it gets RTed all over the Twitterverse over the next five days.

Celebrity Panhandler
There’s been much hullabaloo on the listserv about some guy (white male) panhandling from door to door in the neighborhood. He’s apparently making up stories about needing to get somewhere or his mother being sick, or some other such nonsense. Everyone and their mother has called the cops on this guy, yet he continues to evade apprehension. Theoretically, walking up to someone’s door and asking for money is not against the law, but I can see the public nuisance issue. Posts about his exploits have become so ubiquitous on the listserv that someone busted out the term “Our Neighborhood Celebrity Panhandler.” (Well done, Jerry!) I can only hope this guy surfs the Web from the library or something from time to time and recognizes his status.

On a serious note, if you run into him or he comes to your door, call the Montgomery County Police Non-Emergency Line at (301) 279-8000.

The sign says the cafe will be opening tomorrow (November 16), but there are still inspection issues. Let me know if you see any progress in the morning.

In other news…
Shitty Place is looking particularly shitty as of late:

It’s like someone needs to just put it out of its misery.

County Gets Silver Spring Property Worth $3.5 Million For Free To Open Fillmore Music Hall

Montgomery County and the Lee Development Group today signed a final agreement permitting the construction of a Fillmore Music Hall on the property which formerly housed the J.C. Penney Company in downtown Silver Spring.  After completion of the Music Hall, Lee Development Group will donate the land to the County.

Under the terms of the agreement, Montgomery County receives the $3.5 million property at no cost to create a dynamic new music, entertainment, and community use venue in downtown Silver Spring, a move that will bolster economic development and the music scene for that community and the County as a whole.

The new music hall, to be run under contract by Live Nation, will preserve the historic façade of the old J.C. Penney store site on Colesville Road owned by the Lee Development Group – a site vacant for 18 years — and build a modern, new music and community use venue behind it. The State of Maryland and Montgomery County will contribute $4 million each – for a total $8 million in public investment — toward the cost of building the facility, which will be owned by the County. The Music Hall requires no ongoing public subsidy.

An economic impact analysis done by the County’s Department of Finance shows an annual cost to the State and County on projected bond issues as approximately $355,000 and annual direct and indirect income tothe State and County from sales, income, beverage, fuel, and other taxes, as well as rent, as  approximately $1,067,000. This results in a net annual profit to the public of $712,000.

When the value of Live Nation’s improvements to the County-owned building and Live Nation’s ongoing and structural maintenance work are included – as well as the value of community use and Live Nation community contributions – the net benefit to the public increases by another $951,000 to a total net public benefit annually of about $1,663,000.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Lee Development Group would also provide for free management services for the construction of the facility, a $500,000 value.

The land donation is intended to serve as the required “public use space and public amenity” that is required for County development projects. Almost always such an amenity is provided in conjunction with a development project. In this case, however, the Lee Development Group is providing the amenity up-front – long before they have a development project on the property adjoining the former J.C. Penney site.

“The County’s vision is to bring a dynamic, first-class music, entertainment, and community use venue that will offer a wide range of musical choices to Silver Spring at the former J.C. Penney site,” said County Executive Ike Leggett. “That’s why the County approached the Lee Development Group with this innovative approach, asking them to donate this key property at the gateway to Silver Spring.

“We want to bring Silver Spring revitalization across Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue. We want more customers for Silver Spring businesses and restaurants. This location will create a dynamic center of music and entertainment with the American Film Institute and the restored Silver Theater directly across the street.”

“This is one more giant step toward delivering that vision,” said Department of Economic Development director Steve Silverman. “Now more than ever, we need to take Silver Spring revitalization to the next level.”

“This complex and groundbreaking agreement is finally signed. Now we look forward to working with the County Planning Department to move this project forward,” said Bruce H. Lee, President of Lee Development Group.

More information on the project is available at www.livemusicss.com.

Just when I thought I’d be able to ressurect this image… BOOM goes the dynamite! Fantastic.

Next on the list? Booking some of the most esoteric bands money can buy. First one should be something awesome like Gogol Bordello. You know, to really get the naysayers in the neighborhood up in arms.

Next? (Thanks, M.D.)