Of course Montgomery County had begun many years before to implement smart growth policies, earning a national reputation for its early planning initiatives including: wedges/corridors, Agricultural Reserve, TDR's, downtown Bethesda, Kentlands/King Farm, and of course, MPDU's

Public land development has traditionally been viewed as a catalyst for revitalization and private investment in distressed neighborhoods. However, given D.C.‟s strengthening real estate market, public land can play an important role in providing the diversity of housing the city needs, especially in areas with high and rising values. Public land redevelopment can also meet other community needs for services and amenities for a thriving city. Effective public-private development can provide updated public facilities such as libraries and schools, affordable housing, and enhanced community amenities, along with cost savings and other efficiencies.

We wish to express our support for the proposed Master Plan for the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant. This plan is a careful, extensively vetted redevelopment and preservation plan that will highlight the unique historic resources of the site. The plan proposes to provide interpretation and public access to key elements of the distinctive historic resources. This would not be possible without the redevelopment program that helps pay for the cost of the restoration. For decades, access to this large area was prohibited, thus creating a wide gap between surrounding activities and neighborhoods. When you walk across this area, bicycle along Michigan Avenue, or wait for a bus by the hospital as I have done, you feel disconnected, as if you are traversing through no-man's land. This master plan will reengage the site with its surroundings and turn this gap into an inviting destination with a distinctive heritage.

A recent history of the Outer Beltway.

The plan has benefitted from very extensive community involvement and input, particularly regarding the need to preserve and add affordable housing. We commend the community, and our affordable housing partners in particular, for helping to shape this plan and increase the number of committed affordable units. The plan has also benefited from the developer’s early inclusion of the nation's top new urbanist architecture, town planning and transportation experts.