WHITE OAK PLAN County Council divided on transportation upgrades. A-3
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A&E: National Players bring Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” to Olney. A-11
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | WHEATON | BURTONSVILLE DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Navigating Silver Spring on wheels
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City will share data with statewide coordinating center n
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
alking from Blair Mill Road in Silver Spring to the Montgomery College campus normally takes about 10 minutes. Not for Justin Chappell, who, in his wheelchair, must avoid hitting an SUV parked on the sidewalk, potholes, and an uneven ramp. Chappell, a Silver Spring resident, was born with spina bifida, a permanently disabling birth defect. He can’t walk. I met Chappell in front of his apartment complex on Blair Mill Road where he lives with his partner, Ben Celebrate the Spangenberg. We talked about the 24th annianniversary versary of the federal of the ADA in American with DisabiliSilver Spring. ties Act, the topic of a n Page A-10 program in Silver Spring this coming weekend, and decided to take a walk from Blair Mill Road. Justin put his hands on both wheels on his chair and began to move forward. As we moved down the street, I asked whether he thought Silver Spring has become a more walkable and accessible community. “I definitely agree that Silver Spring is a leading example of becoming a more walkable community,” he said, adding, “I think that addressing the needs of people with disabilities is still important to include in the conversation.” Five minutes into our walk, Chappell has to wheel past an SUV blocking part of the sidewalk, a few steps from Georgia Avenue. He stops, looks at the space that was reduced
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Design changes needed in part to work around lane-control signal box, pole n
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Silver Spring biotech United Therapeutics Corp. delayed a scheduled site plan hearing on its proposed “net zero” building before the county Planning Board Thursday to modify the plan. “We had some design changes, which warranted some modifications to the plan submitted,” said Andrew Fisher, a spokesman for the company. Part of the changes involves working around a pole and lanecontrol signal box that state highway workers recently installed on a sidewalk along Colesville Road. That box and pole affect the design of the public space portion of the
PHOTOS BY DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Above, Justin Chappell wheels past a vehicle that blocks part of the sidewalk along East-West Highway in Silver Spring. Below, Chappell talks about living in Silver Spring with a disability.
“Legislation can’t, unfortunately, change attitudes.” Justin Chappell because a vehicle is covering part of the sidewalk, and continues to move, carefully. “Legislation can’t, unfortunately, change attitudes,” Chappell said.
planned development, attorneys for UTC said in a letter to county planning officials. There also are technological changes in certain elements proposed in the public space part that would cause some revisions, they said. The expansion of UTC’s headquarters will involve demolishing a three-story parking garage with 152 spaces and redeveloping the site at Spring Street and Colesville with a six-story building, according to plans. The new building will have 111,724 square feet of offices and labs and 10,000 square feet of retail, along with 152 new parking spaces. A planning report described the garage proposed to be demolished as “dilapidated” and referred to the proposed new building as a “striking gateway into the Silver Spring Central Business District.”
See BIOTECH, Page A-10
We get to the corner of Georgia Avenue and East-West Highway, where there’s a road resurfacing project taking place. Chappell pushes the crosswalk signal button and moves forward after the “walk” signal turns on. When he gets to the opposite side of the road, near a ramp on the other corner, there’s a small step that makes Chappell go backward and slightly tilt his wheelchair to get up on the sidewalk. I watched nervously as he tried to get to the sidewalk with only three seconds left on the “walk” signal display. “The physical barriers were removed by the ADA,” Chappell said. “You wouldn’t have easier access to things like ramps.” According to the Americans with Disabilities Act website, President George H.W. Bush signed the act into law on July 26, 1990. This civil rights legislation prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else, the website says. The act requires an employer not to discriminate against someone with a dis-
See WHEELS, Page A-10
B-11 A-2 B-7 A-11 A-10 A-9 B-1
Volume 27, No. 30, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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UNITED THERAPEUTICS AND EWINGCOLE ARCHITECTS
The new building for United Therapeutics Corporation on Spring Street in Silver Spring will have office, laboratory and retail space.
GAZETTE SENIORS ‘FAST’ thinking helped George Wilson survive a stroke; Rockville man set to defend pingpong titles; should you sell your life insurance policy?; places to volunteer
INSIDE TODAY
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The Takoma Park City Council on Monday narrowly decided to alter its policy on license plate readers to share data with a statewide coordinating center. In a 4-3 vote, Mayor Bruce Williams and council members Tim Male, Fred Schultz and Kate Stewart supported the change, while council members Seth Grimes, Jarrett Smith and Terry Seamens opposed it. Officers attach the mobile license plate readers, or LPRs, to squad cars for use on patrol. Officials say the
See READER, Page A-10
Shelved Greater Lyttonsville proposal is back n
Two more workshops set for fall; expected to reach Planning Board in early 2015 BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Two years ago, the Montgomery County Council put a sector plan for Greater Lyttonsville on hold as officials needed to prioritize planners’ workload. Since May, when the updated plan for the west Silver Spring area relaunched, planners have held five community meetings. The latest was on Tuesday. The area encompasses about 585 acres northwest of downtown Silver Spring and south of the Beltway.
See PROPOSAL, Page A-10
Montgomery officer fatally shoots man in Silver Spring bank
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KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Silver Spring biotech delays site plan hearing BY
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Takoma Park will alter its license plate reader policy
First-person observation:
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SPORTS: Three-year starting quarterback give Springbrook hope for coming season. B-1
A Montgomery County police officer fatally shot a man who had a knife inside a Silver Spring bank on Tuesday, police said. At 11:54 a.m., police received a report of trespassing at the Capital One Bank at 8740 Arliss St., Silver Spring, according to Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for the police department. In a news release, police said a man displayed a knife and was “behaving erratically” in the bank. The man threatened the safety of officers who responded to the call and didn’t respond to officers’ instructions,
See SHOOTS, Page A-10