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Montgomery County Police will have a new Third District headquarters in White Oak in the near future. It's not as clear what will happen to the land surrounding the building.

The county initially bought land along Milestone Drive off New Hampshire Avenue to relocate the Third District station from its current location on Sligo Avenue in Silver Spring to a more centralized location within the district. When Isiah Leggett became county executive in 2006, plans were proposed to also develop multifamily housing on the property.

That's become a point of contention for North White Oak Civic Association President Barry Wides, who says the area is too congested for a multifamily housing development and that the White Oak Master Plan does not permit it. Wides said the Lockwood Drive/April Lane area includes about 3,000 multifamily housing units and garden-style apartments.

"You kind of have to of stick to master plan," Wides said.

Wides said Jackson Road Elementary School in Silver Spring is already overcapacity and the construction of apartments would overburden roads and schools. According to Montgomery County Public Schools data, the Jackson Road has a capacity of 386 students. Next year, the school is projected to have 595 students.

While Wides supports the removal of the police station and said townhouses would be an acceptable alternative to the denser garden-style apartments, he said he thinks the area could be a park instead of a development.

"They could leave it as open space," Wides said. "That would be nice."

But those chances are unlikely because of the county's investment, Wides said.

The proposed police station, to be located near the New Hampshire Avenue and Route 29 overpass, will cost $5.21 million, said Cynthia Brenneman, director of the office of real estate for the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation, in a March 2008 Gazette article.

Plans for the two-story headquarters include a public access area, operations, patrol and patrol support functions, and holding cells on the first floor. There would be investigative units, staff support and administration on the second floor.

Silver Spring resident Nancy Navarro, a school board member and Democratic candidate for the County Council District 4 seat, has met with Wides to discuss the development. She said the community "had some concerns" about the density of multifamily housing on the development and that she would work to strike a compromise between townhouses and affordable housing.

"We need to have a balanced approach [as to] where we build," Navarro said.

Jennifer Hughes, a special assistant for Leggett (D), said the county will continue to meet with the community to get feedback on what kind of housing the county will construct.

"There has not been a definite decision on what kind of housing would be," Hughes said.

Lucille Baur, a county police spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that a public meeting is planned for the summer. It will be followed by a project submission to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission for mandatory referral. She said no visual plans of the police station are available.

"The current schedule includes a September 2010 construction start with occupancy in July 2012," Baur said.