A Germantown business owner is protesting a planned shopping center that would house Montgomery County’s first Wegmans grocery store, saying the big-box development runs counter to the county’s growth plan. Gregory Pringle, who owns a technology firm near the planned Shops at Seneca Meadows, filed a petition asking the Montgomery County Board to reconsider its approval of the 239,000-square-foot development off Interstate 270. The board will take up the petition Thursday. Pringle said the shopping center planned by Minkoff Development Corp. would prevent construction of the Corridor Cities Transitway through the area. The transitway is still under review but could include light rail and bus service.
“We were under the belief it was going to expand out here,” said Pringle, who relocated his business from Rockville in 2002. “There are a lot of promises that don’t seem to be happening.”
The petition contends the Wegmans grocery store planned for the site goes against Germantown’s planning goals of building mixed office, retail and residential developments that are pedestrian-friendly. The Wegmans would be one more big-box store and massive parking lot in an area already blanketed with similar structures. That would make driving a necessity and eliminate the chance to create a commercial hub near a transitway stop, Pringle said.
The Wegmans, however, has been highly anticipated in Montgomery County since the high-end grocer said more than two years ago that it might expand to Germantown. Prince George’s County scored the first suburban Maryland Wegmans last fall in Woodmore.
Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale said the company didn’t expect the petition to change development plans.
“Our intention is to move forward with the project once we determine where it lines up with other projects we have committed to,” Natale said.
A lawyer for the county planning board said it is rare that the board votes to reconsider an approved project.
The company has said the Germantown store could open as early as next year. Wegmans has five locations in Northern Virginia and four in Maryland, and six more, including Germantown, are planned for the region.
