Business & Tech
Council Members Wary of Crown Farm’s View From the Road
Plans for developing Crown Farm have been largely welcomed by City Council members and the public alike, but there is concern about how the site might look for those driving past the project.
Plans to develop the Crown Farm site across from the Washington Center have been largely welcomed by city residents and council members alike, but there is considerable concern among Gaithersburg’s elected officials that the project will be an eyesore for drivers commuting along Sam Eig Highway.
At the Council meeting Monday night, members were mostly complimentary about the schematic development plan to build 337 townhouses, 60 single-family homes, 1,131 multi-family units, and 257,400 square feet for stores all on about 87.8 acres of real estate just off I-270.
For over an hour, executives from Sunbrook Partners and other companies involved in the development of the site presented their vision, including street plans and design schemes for an array of homes that will be available.
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“It’s beautiful, but it’s internally focused,” said Council member Ryan Spiegel, adding that the developers were focused on disguising its uglier facades such as the back end of a supermarket and the rear of a parking lot to the street where people drive past daily.
Fellow council member Michael Sesma agreed.
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“What you see first (of the development) is the side of a supermarket and a big parking lot…it’s unfortunate,” Sesma said. He also argued that for the project to be truly successful, the developers needed to come up with a plan that would better “fit into its surroundings.”
Still, public concerns about how inviting or not the development would be to non-residents appear to be limited, at least for now. Only one person rose to speak at the hearing, and while he expressed some concerns about how trees may be planted to block views of potential eyesores, he was certainly in the supporters’ camp of the project.
Regardless of the aesthetics to passers-by, it is clear that the success of Crown Farm will be a key part of Gaithersburg’s future as the city looks to outpace Rockville as the biggest city in Montgomery County over the next three decades, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The housing and retail that will be provided by Crown Farm will be critical to that growth.
