The owners of the land slated to house Silver Spring’s Fillmore Music Hall say they are done negotiating over the aspects of the deal, just as some Montgomery County Council members are saying they may want land use details fine-tuned before they approve the project.
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett signed a letter of intent with Live Nation nearly a year ago to put a music hall on Silver Spring’s Colesville Road on property long owned by the Lee Development Group.
Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson has called the proposal a “blank check” for developers and worried about the precedent it sets. The plan hinges on a zoning change that would allow the Lees to build the music hall before it constructs the rest of its proposed development in the area, flipping zoning rules that usually require the development to come before the public amenity, and giving the Lees up to 15 years to develop the rest of the land.
Bruce Lee, president of Lee Development Group, said residents need to remember that the county approached the Lees to ask them for the land, whereas developers typically approach the county with a plan. The Lees have been working with the county for six years and two administrations to bring a music hall to Silver Spring.
“We are being asked to donate very valuable land and begin a development timeline and process for a much larger project for which we don’t have a timeline in hand,” Lee said. “We can’t go any further. [Leggett] feels very good about this and so do we.”
Not so fast, some council members say, since land-use decisions fall to the council.
Councilman Marc Elrich, one of only two council members to vote against any earlier aspect of the project, says some council members resent the idea that the Lees aren’t willing to budge.
“Something is wrong when you think you’re at a negotiation and they won’t negotiate anything,” Elrich said. “The county executive can’t approve this, the council and planning board are supposed to approve it, and park and planning has already rejected it.”
Council President Mike Knapp said most council members support the project, but some want the opportunity to closely review the details, so the plan is “not necessarily a slam-dunk.”
“It is a good thing for Silver Spring; the question is what are the implications for land use,” Knapp said. “They may be OK for this parcel, but could they establish precedence that is not so good for other places? I don’t know that it would, but we need to check it out.”
