Through 10 worksessions, the council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee has gone back and forth over where to locate public facilities needed to support the Smart Growth development that would cluster 5,400 to 6,350 housing units around the Shady Grove Metro Station.

Arguably the principal planning elements shaping the proposed Shady Grove Sector Plan, the locations of a new library, elementary school, park space and a recommended community center cannot be fixed until the fate of the County Service Park is decided.

The latest plan, agreed to on Monday, is a series of development options revolving around the relocation of the publicly owned facilities in the 91-acre service park situated on both sides of Crabbs Branch Way along the south side of Shady Grove Road.

County holdings include a Department of Park and Planning maintenance facility, several Department of Public Works and Transportation facilities and a school system food service facility.

The key question is whether all or part of the service park facilities can be relocated elsewhere at no additional cost to the public, as Executive Douglas M. Duncan requires.

That depends on the results of feasibility studies and whether developers agree to foot the bill in exchange for development rights at the service park, located near the Metro station. That process is likely to take more than a year, council legislative analyst Marlene L. Michaelson said.

Throw in a time-sensitive development agreement reserving the county's right to buy an alternative school site at the Casey at Mill Creek property for roughly the next two years and things get complicated.

"The problem is it's a bouncing ball," Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park said, discussing the complexities of facility locations.

One option would locate the new school on the 8.5-acre Casey at Mill Creek property near Washington Grove if two developers, Eakin Youngentob and Miller and Smith, agree to purchase the Casey land in exchange for service park land. If such a deal cannot be worked out, then the school could be built on a planned section of the service park named Jeremiah Park -- provided the service park facilities is relocated.

"There are a lot of ifs," Michaelson said. "Many are tied to the service park redevelopment. Until some of those decisions are made, you really can't tell."

Relocating facilities from the service park and replacing them with housing, a park and library, as planned in one of the committee's development options, may make a pretty picture, Floreen said, "but that's all it is."

"That depends on a lot of stuff happening," Councilwoman Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton agreed. "And if it doesn't, this could come down like a house of cards."

If the service park cannot be relocated, the committee may put the school on the Casey at Mill Creek site with land purchased by the county school system, a payment option Floreen opposes. The library would be located on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority property just south of the service park.

The committee had previously decided to build the library outside of the sector plan area at Laytonia Recreational Park near Muncaster Mill and Shady Grove roads, only to discover that an animal shelter already has been slated to be built there.

If the service park is relocated, the committee agreed to three optional plans that would locate the school at Jeremiah Park, unless the developers agree to buy the Casey at Mill Creek property. The library would go on either the WMATA property or Jeremiah Park.

Removing the term community center from the sector plan, the committee agreed to consider building additional space in the library, if such a need exists at time of construction.

With so many variables, Michaelson said the location of many of the public facilities might not be finalized until the time of development.

The committee had previously taken a 12-acre meadow that buffers Washington Grove and Blueberry Hill Park in Derwood off of the list of potential school sites. Three adult-sized ballfields will be planned within the sector area.