The Gaithersburg City Council approved the Lakeforest Sketch Plan application and rezoning by a 5-0 vote Monday night.
This comes after Gaithersburg’s planning commission recommended approval of the plan with conditions last month. Councilmember Jim McNulty says this development is a transformational opportunity for the City of Gaithersburg, but had some concerns.
“There were a number of comments that the applicant made during the public hearing about what was providing a sense of place and I was a little concerned about what those were and I kind of found them insufficient,” said McNulty. “I think public comment was pretty universal that this really does need to be a unique space. Like for us, you know, once drew from all across montgomery county and what we are going to offer here needs to be unique, something that you can’t find at Rockville Town Center.”
WRS Inc., the development group that purchased the mall told neighbors during a meeting in January that they plan to demolish it and begin new construction 2024. Councilmember Robert Wu proposed a condition that the developer shall preserve and integrate specimen trees on the site, to the extent reasonably practicable.
“I would like to emphasize in the ordinance, the importance that we should be placing on mature trees and specimen trees and recognizing their value as tree cover that they just simply can’t be replaced by sapling,” Wu said.
During an interview with Montgomery Community Media on April 14, Mayor Jud Ashman said what’s being proposed is similar to the Crown development in Gaithersburg. At Monday’s meeting, Ashman said has been in touch with members of the Montgomery County Council to suggest they inventory the recreational needs of the area.
“Then we can facilitate a discussion with the applicant here and and maybe something good can happen,” said Ashman. “Because I think it’s a great opportunity for Montgomery County to serve residents who apparently aren’t being served well enough.”
Next, WRS, Inc. is tasked with presenting detailed designs for the redevelopment plan.
