The preliminary investigation has revealed that the school bus was turning left from Plum Creek Road onto East Village Avenue when it was struck by a BMW traveling on East Village Avenue. The driver and passenger of the BMW were transported to area hospitals with life-threatening injuries.
RT @mcfrsPIO7 East Village at Plum Creek, serious collision. Road closure, motorists should avoid the area. @MCFRSNews @mcfrsPIO @DavidPazos15 https://t.co/tGmhRibxtQ pic.twitter.com/TgBatVRh6m
As part of the Retool Gaithersburg effort, the City is hosting two virtual public forums on the Zoning Diagnostic Report, which analyzes the current zoning code and evaluates how it helps to achieve or impede the stated objectives and goals of the City and the community’s vision. This comprehensive analysis report was developed by the City’s consultant, ZoneCo. Read the draft report here.
The virtual public forums take place on June 1 from noon to 1 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. The meetings will include English and Spanish real-time closed captioning options. ZoneCo will discuss the contents of its comprehensive analysis report and, time permitting, will answer questions from attendees. Both meetings will include the same information. No registration is required. Join the meetings using the links below.
The Kentlands Mansion is hosting a collection drive for much-needed period supplies in support of Period Poverty Awareness Week, May 22 to 28. Items being collected include daytime and overnight pads, tampons, and panty liners. Donations can be dropped off at the Mansion, 320 Kent Square Road, Monday through Friday, May 22 to 26, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All packages must be new and unopened and products must be individually wrapped.
Period Poverty Awareness Week was created by the Alliance for Period Supplies to educate and raise awareness on the issue of period poverty and its impact on people who menstruate. One in four people struggle to purchase period products due to lack of income and one in five report missing work, school or similar events due to lack of access to period supplies. The goal of this education is to encourage people to take steps to address this need in their own community.
A Joint Public Hearing on the sketch plan application by Muddy Branch Investments, LLC, to redevelop the former Nike Missile Site, was held on Monday, March 20, 2023. The Planning Commission record closed at 5:00 p.m. on April 21, 2023 and they recommended approval of the sketch plan to the Mayor and City Council at their May 3, 2023 meeting. The Mayor and City Council record will close at 5:00 p.m. on May 19, 2023 and they are tentatively scheduled to conduct their policy discussion at their June 20, 2023 meeting. All meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 31 S Summit Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 (virtual participation will also be available). Any questions or comments on the application should be directed to the Planning Department at [email protected] or 301-258-6330.
According to the applicant, Muddy Branch Investments, LLC, the sketch plan’s main purpose is to redevelop the former Nike missile site into a multifamily residential development that will complement and be compatible with the surrounding Lakelands Ridge, Timberbrook, and Shady Grove Village communities, as well as the Muddy Branch Square Shopping Center. The Application proposes a maximum of 380 multifamily dwelling units, located within four separate development blocks. Individual blocks have been allocated a maximum number of dwelling units out of the overall 380 unit cap. Although the 380 units proposed across the entire 13.71-acre site is significantly less dense (27.7 units per acre) than other recently-approved stand-alone multifamily developments, such as the Fishman Site (109 units on 0.99 acres, or 110.0 units per acre), Kentlands Apartments (365 units on 3.1 acres, or 117.7 units per acre), and Camden at Washingtonian (365 units on 5.86 acres, or 62.3 units per acre), the proposed density is comparable to and compatible with the surrounding Timberbrook Condos (168 units on 9.74 acres, or 17.2 units per acre) and Lakelands Ridge Condos (159 units on 9.39 acres, or 16.9 units per acre).
Per Montgomery County: The Gaithersburg Book Festival, which since its inception in 2010 has evolved into one of the nation’s premier book festivals, will offer the opportunity to hear more than 135 authors for free from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg. Among this year’s feature authors will be humorist Dave Barry.
Among this year’s featured guests at the festival’s numerous pavilions will be the author of dozens of best-seller humor books Dave Barry (4:15 p.m.); poet Fran Abrams (4:15 p.m.); romantic comedy author Sarah Adler (11:15 a.m.); children’s authors M.T. Anderson (10:15 a.m.), Tom Angleberger (10:15 a.m.) and John David Anderson (11:15 a.m.); thrillers author E.A. Aymar (2:15 p.m.); mystery writers Andrea Bartz (1:15 p.m.) and Julia Bartz (4:15 p.m.); and fiction writer Louis Bayard (12:15 p.m.).
Earlier today, we reported that the Walnut Hill shopping center in Gaithersburg (16529 S Frederick Ave) is “at lease” with a new grocer to take over the 21,000 SF spot that has previously been home to Weis, Bottom Dollar, and Food Lion. We can now confirm that both Aldi and Sheetz have finalized deals to come to the shopping center.
Granite Canyon Partners, a local real estate investment group, is partnering with Standard Properties, the original/current owners of Walnut Hill, with the redevelopment of the shopping center. Granite Canyon tells us that bringing a grocery store back to the shopping center was their number one priority and that the redeveloped Walnut Hill will have a modernized look and feel that includes a large mural facing 355 and nine electric vehicle charging stations.
If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of Lakeforest Mall, you will have your chance in late June as items from the mall will be available via auction, per Capital Auctions. The listing posts soon, so it is unclear what items will be available, but you may be able to purchase fixtures from stores, decorative pieces, and more. Interested parties will be able to preview the items on Wednesday, June 21st and pick up items they win via the auction between June 26 and June 30th. We’ll have additional information once the auction goes live.
Lakeforest Mall closed permanently to the public on March 31st, after almost 45 years. The mall first opened on September 12, 1978. At that time, the mall’s anchor stores were JCPenney, Sears, Woodward & Lothrop, and Hecht’s. The mall was one of the first in the United States to feature an indoor ice skating rink on the lower level, in the “H section”, along with being the biggest indoor shopping mall in the county at the time of grand opening. The ice skating rink was replaced by a NTI Theaters movie theater in 1984, later renamed Cineplex Odeon Lakeforest 5, then by a food court, which now occupies the space. The mall was built on top of Lake Walker, a park on the property prior. The mall opened with approximately 30-50 stores, with some of the first stores being relocated from the then nearby indoor Village Mall (now an outdoor strip mall called Montgomery Village Center since 1991) and absorbed onto the property.
Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Emily Velasquez, a missing 15-year-old from Gaithersburg.
Emily was last seen on Monday, May 15, 2023, at approximately 11 p.m., in the 19300 block of Pointsetta Court in Gaithersburg. Emily is approximately 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighs 150. She has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts. Police and family are concerned for her welfare.
After her father was diagnosed with stage four thyroid cancer in 2019, Emily Bhatnagar began For Love and Buttercup, a pediatric book drive for children with cancer. Bhatnagar, a 2022 graduate of Quince Orchard High School, purchases books by using the tips she earns from working at her parents’ small bread shop, Monsoon Kitchen in Gaithersburg. A large portion also come from donations made through her Amazon Wishlist.
If you would like donate, visit the For Love and Buttercup Amazon Wishlist or send a direct message to @forloveandbuttercup on Instagram.
Scholarships are awarded each spring to deserving high school seniors based on the embodiment of the Six Pillars of Character, personal merit, financial need, and the student’s commitment to further education. Since the program’s inception in 1998, 95 students have received more than $170,000 to help with their continuing education costs.
Former Gaithersburg Mayor Ed Bohrer was enthusiastic about CHARACTER COUNTS! Representing the City, he joined staff in advocating for the program and sharing Gaithersburg’s experiences with other communities in Maryland. Sadly, Mayor Bohrer passed away in office in 1998. In tribute to his commitment to character education, the W. Edward Bohrer, Jr. Memorial CHARACTER COUNTS! Scholarship Program was established with the support of his family that year. The scholarships are awarded at the discretion of the City’s Educational Enrichment Committee.
The Walnut Hill shopping center in Gaithersburg (16529 S Frederick Ave) is “at lease” with a new grocer to take over the 21,000 SF spot that has previously been home to Weis, Bottom Dollar, and Food Lion. We will let you know as soon as the lease is fully-negotiated between the grocer and soon-to-be renovated shopping center.
Additionally, the shopping center is negotiating with a pad site that will be built in the parking lot close to 355 on the south side of the shopping center, in front of New Fortune and H&R Block. While there is no confirmation on who the grocer and new pad site will be, there has been speculation that it will be Aldi and the city of Gaithersburg’s (and Montgomery County’s) second Sheetz location, according to The MoCo Source (see posts below). Featured photo courtesy of klnb.