Councilman proposes park alternative for Bethesda site

Planning Board will consider Woodmont East plans Thursday

The drawings, along with all other submitted and oral testimonies, will be considered by the Planning Board when it meets Thursday to discuss the preliminary and project plans for Woodmont East.

Berliner originally presented the idea in September, during a roundtable discussion about the project that brought together the developers and community members.

‘‘It is my hope that the board will exercise its judgment in light of today’s reality, its commitment to quality of life and to an environmentally appropriate and sustainable level of development,” Berliner said in testimony submitted to the Planning Board along with his plans.

County Council members, Berliner recognized in his letter to the Planning Board, usually have no say in proposed developments. However, the Woodmont East project is different because it is contingent upon the abandonment of Reed Street, a small, unused block in the middle of the proposed project. The County Council would vote on the abandonment.

While tight-lipped about his plans, Berliner said he is well aware of his, and the council’s, role in the project.

‘‘If the Planning Board approves the project as proposed, it will come to the County Council,” he said. ‘‘And I have told the project sponsors that if they have five votes, they win. We’ll see how it turns out.”

The preliminary and project plans for the 539,825-square-foot Woodmont East, which would be located across the street from the Bethesda Barnes & Noble, are on the Planning Board agenda for Thursday.

The park plans, prepared by Lila Fendrick Landscape Architecture and Garden Design, of Chevy Chase, include a large open space in the middle of the proposed project, complete with a fountain and grassy area.

‘‘It would be a very soft, green, natural environment,” said Lila Fendrick. ‘‘It would become Bethesda’s town green.”

Berliner searched for a landscape architect who knew the space and the area, he said. Fendrick’s company has also done design work for other streetscapes along Bethesda Avenue, so the company is familiar with the plot.

The plans were done pro bono, and cost nothing to the county.

As the plans stand now, Woodmont East would have a common area, but it would include less grass and more patio area for restaurants and shops than the Fendrick design.

At the roundtable meeting in September, architects for the project described the site as an ‘‘outdoor living room,” similar to ones in Tokyo.

In his letter to the Planning Board Berliner cited community complaints, saying residents believed the space to be more of a ‘‘slot canyon,” a narrow area with steep walls blocking sunlight.

Fendrick said the space would be an ‘‘educational garden,” complete with native Maryland plants and grasses, including Black Eyed Susans and inkberry bushes.

She said the project, led by Elizabeth Guthrie and Doug Stookey, was designed for the space to be a ‘‘yin and yang” of the Barnes and Noble plaza across the street.

‘‘Texturally this would be very different than that space,” Fendrick said referring to the Barnes and Noble plaza, which includes a fountain and brick patio. ‘‘This space is very soft, while that, although beautiful, is hard.”

The project is being developed by JBG Associates, LLC, and has encountered difficulties throughout its design process. A stretch of the Capital Crescent Trail runs through the project site.

Calls to attorneys for JBG Associates as well as Planning Board staff were not returned.