Editor’s note: This story, published at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2024, was updated at 3:40 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2024, to add information from police that the driver has not been charged. It was updated at 5:40 p.m. to include a statement from WSSC Water General Manager and CEO Kishia L. Powell.

A WSSC Water employee has been identified as the victim of the fatal pedestrian collision that occurred early Sunday in Silver Spring, according to Montgomery County police.

Ernest Joseph Dyson, 39, of Clinton was working when he was struck by a driver of a black 2011 Volkswagen CC at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and Rodney Road, police said Monday in a statement. WSSC Water provides water and wastewater services to customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to its website.

WSSC Water General Manager and CEO Kishia L. Powell said in a statement Monday afternoon that the WSSC Water organization was “heartbroken and honestly still in shock” following news of Dyson’s death.

According to Powell, Dyson, who worked at WSSC Water for 18 years, was responding to a water main break in Silver Spring when he was fatally struck early Sunday.

“This is a sad reminder of the risks our front-line water heroes face in service to our 1.9 million customers,” Powell said. “…Ernest was the embodiment of professionalism and public service … [and] a dedicated and highly respected member of the Utility Services Department.”

Powell said that the WSSC Water would continue to support Dyson’s family and team following the “senseless tragedy.”

At approximately 4:40 a.m. officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service crews responded to the scene of the collision for a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, police said. The collision occurred in the Hillandale neighborhood of Silver Spring near Hillandale Local Park.

An investigation revealed the driver of the vehicle was allegedly “intoxicated” and traveling southbound on New Hampshire Avenue when the collision occurred, according to police.

Dyson was pronounced dead at the scene. The adult driver was uninjured, according to a police statement issued Sunday.

The driver of the vehicle has not been charged, police spokesperson Casandra Tresler said in an email Monday.

Tresler said that the department’s Collision Reconstruction Unit “thoroughly investigates” fatal collision cases and investigations can take up to eight weeks to complete. When the investigation is complete, the case is presented to the State’s Attorney’s Office for review and the potential determination of charges.

Detectives are asking those who may have witnessed the collision to call 240-773-6620. The investigation is active and ongoing.

WSSC Water did not immediately respond to MoCo360’s email and phone call requests for comment Monday afternoon.

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Silver Spring resident Jian Li found he’d landed more than a huge fish when he reeled in a 38-pound yellowedge grouper while on a charter boat off Ocean City last week—he’d also landed a record-setting catch. 

The 43-inch fish caught Aug. 27 by Li, who fishes as a hobby, set the first record in Maryland for the heaviest yellowedge grouper in the Atlantic division, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 

“When he pulled it up, we [were] really excited,” recalled Xicheng Zou, Li’s friend who was also on the boat. “Everyone dreams [of catching] a big fish.” 

Zou said that Li, a native of China who was unavailable to speak to MoCo360 on Wednesday, goes fishing three or four times a year, and this was the first time he reeled in a fish of that size. 

“The reason it got a state record was because of its remarkable size, and it was only 10 pounds under the world record,” Erik Zlokovitz, who works in recreational fisheries outreach for the DNR, told MoCo360 on Wednesday. 

Li’s catch was just 10.6 pounds lighter than the 48.6-pound yellowedge grouper that holds the International Game Fish Association world record, according to the DNR. That fish was caught off Dauphin Island, Alabama, in June 2012. 

Zou and Li were two of four anglers who headed out Aug. 27 on the Tiderunner, a charter boat operated by Capt. Chase Eberle. 

After an unsuccessful attempt at fishing offshore for mahi mahi, the fishermen tried “deep dropping,” or fishing in deep ocean waters, at Poorman’s Canyon off Ocean City. They sank false albacore strip baits attached to heavy sinkers 420 feet down to search for large bottom fish, according to the DNR. 

All four hooked large fish, but only Li was able to reel in a catch, according to the DNR. Zlokovitz noted that yellowedge groupers are more typically found between the waters of North Carolina and Brazil, but that anglers have been catching more yellowedge in the canyons off of Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey due to the use of the deep-drop fishing technique. 

After docking, the anglers took photos with Li’s record-breaking fish. According to a DNR press release from Wednesday, Sunset Marina staff in Ocean City weighed the grouper on a certified scale and DNR biologist Gary Tyler confirmed the species.

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Nearly five years after Fuddruckers served its last burger and fries in downtown Silver Spring, the hamburger chain is planning to reopen in its former location on Ellsworth Drive.

On Monday, Houston-based Fuddruckers posted on social media that it would open new locations this fall in Silver Spring and Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown.

Laurie Yankowski, regional marketing director of the Peterson Cos., confirmed with MoCo360 Thursday that Fuddruckers signed a lease to return to its previous location at 819 Ellsworth Drive. The Peterson Cos. owns and manages the downtown development where Fuddruckers will be located.

The MoCo Show first reported Fuddruckers’s return to the county and Washington, D.C.

Yankowski did not provide an opening date for when the restaurant will reopen. Fuddruckers did not immediately respond to MoCo360’s request for comment Thursday afternoon.

In December 2019, Fuddruckers closed its Silver Spring location. At the time, MoCo360 reported that Yankowski did not know why the location had chosen to close. That closure followed the August 2019 closure of the chain’s location at 1592 Rockville Pike in Rockville.

The burger chain offers burgers grilled-to-order on scratch-baked buns that are made daily. Patrons can customize their burgers with a variety of items from Fuddruckers’s extensive topping bar.

Fuddruckers also offers specialty burgers, fish and chips, nachos, chili cheese dogs, veggie burgers, chicken sandwiches, wings, salads, wedge-cut fries, shakes and bakery treats, according to the chain. Plant-based burger options are also available as well as specialty meats such as bison and Kobe beef.

Fuddruckers was previously owned and operated by restaurant company Luby’s Inc.

In 2021, North Carolina-based businessman Nicholas Perkins acquired the franchise for approximately $18.5 million, according to a June 2021 press release announcing the sale. Perkins’s company, Black Titan Franchise Systems LLC, took over ownership of Fuddruckers and its more than 92 U.S. locations.

“We’re excited to be purchasing Fuddruckers and look forward to working with Fuddruckers’ many dedicated, highly capable franchisees to further build this brand,” Perkins said in the release.

“As a Fuddruckers franchisee, I have a vested interest in ensuring that all Fuddruckers franchisees have the resources, infrastructure, and operational and marketing support they need to maximize their return on investment,” Perkins said. “This strategic alignment, when combined with the fact that we sell the ‘World’s Greatest Hamburgers,’ will ensure the long-term success of the brand and our franchisees.”

When Perkins purchased the company, he became the first Black person to have 100% ownership of a national burger business, according to Essence.

In a 2021 interview with Essence, he said the company’s long-term goal is growing its franchise operations domestically and internationally.

“I always wanted to become a part of this iconic brand. I just didn’t realize that one day I’d end up owning it,” said Perkins, who grew up eating Fuddruckers. “You cannot buy a better burger.” 

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Nash & Smash, a halal eatery serving Nashville hot chicken sandwiches and smash burgers, will be opening its first Montgomery County location in Silver Spring in early to mid-September, according to owner Zayan Abbasi.

“Everything is almost done,” Abbasi told MoCo360 Monday, noting the store in the Woodmoor Shopping Center at 10121 Colesville Road has received its final permits and inspection approvals from the county.

Signage and window decals for the shop have been posted at the restaurant since around late June, according to the MoCo Show, which first reported the restaurant opening in December.

The new shop will be in the former home of a Subway sandwich shop and will sit in between Bento, a Japanese restaurant, and the Woodmoor Cleaners.

Nash & Smash opened its first shop in Manassas, Virginia, in February and the business has been doing well in that community, according to Abbasi.

“People love our sandwiches,” he said.

Aside from hot chicken sandwiches and smash burgers, the menu includes fried chicken tenders and wings, mac and cheese, waffle fries and mocktails. According to the Nash & Smash website, the eatery aims to use high-quality and local ingredients in its products.

Abbasi said the Nash & Smash concept had been in the works for about three years before he opened the Manassas shop. Since opening the first shop, he opened two locations in Maryland in Ellicott City and Laurel, and also in Ashburn and Herndon in Virginia.

Abassi said he chose to open a location in the Woodmoor shopping center because he has always liked the busyness of the center at the intersection of Colesville Road and University Boulevard. It also helped that the landlord of the shopping center where the Manassas shop is located also owns the Woodmoor center, he said.

When Nash & Smash opens, Abassi said he looks forward to being in an area with plenty of eateries and transit options near Montgomery Blair High School, which is about a block away on an opposite corner of the intersection.

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About 75 Montgomery County firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at a church in Silver Spring during the early morning hours Friday, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service officials said on social media.

At around 1:45 a.m., crews were dispatched to the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church at 16325 New Hampshire Ave. for an alert from an automatic fire alarm, MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer posted on social media.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, they encountered smoke and high-heat conditions. The blaze was vented through the roof of the building and caused “significant” damage, according to Piringer.

No injuries were reported but a cost estimate of the damage to the church is likely more than $5 million, Piringer said.

Although extreme weather conditions occurred overnight with heavy rains, flooding and tornado warnings, Piringer said the fire was not weather-related.

The fire, which began in the sanctuary area of the church, was deemed accidental and caused by malfunctioning electrical equipment such as cords and power strips, according to Piringer.

On Friday morning the church released a press release saying the county fire department “responded promptly” and will continue to manage the situation.

“Preliminary findings suggest that the cause of the fire was electrical in nature and originated in the audio-visual booth,” the release stated.

On Facebook, the church’s pastor, Jason Lombard, asked church congregants to “avoid coming to the church property, as it is not yet safe and assessments will need to be completed by the fire department before allowing anyone onsite.”

The church said it would provide further updates later Friday about Saturday services by email and through the Spencerville Church Facebook Community Group.

“In times like these, we’re reminded that the church is a community of people, not a building,” Lombard wrote.

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Sections of Sligo Creek Parkway in Silver Spring will temporarily close starting in September to make way for Purple Line construction, according to Montgomery Parks.

The Purple Line, a 16-mile light-rail line that will run from New Carrollton to Bethesda and be operated by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), is slated to be complete in late 2027. Closing part of the road will allow the project’s construction team to install light rail tracks along Wayne Avenue and reconstruct the road’s intersection with Sligo Creek Parkway, according to a Montgomery Parks release.

According to a Purple Line release, during the closure traffic will travel on one lane in each direction on Wayne Avenue.

“Work in this area is a critical part of progressing track installation and continuing the Purple Line toward revenue service. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnership with Montgomery Parks as we continue the momentum on the Purple Line,” said Ray Biggs II, MTA senior project director for the Purple Line.

Beginning on or about Sept. 16, the north side of the parkway from Schuyler Road to Wayne Avenue will be closed to vehicles until November, the release said. The 5.6-mile parkway runs from University Boulevard to New Hampshire Avenue and parallel to portions of the Sligo Creek Trail.

Montgomery Parks and the Purple Line news releases did not provide the exact date for the reopening of the road.

While construction is underway, the Sligo Creek trail is expected to remain open but there may be some short-term closures for trail improvements, the release stated. In December, the trail will be closed for four weeks for repaving.

Montgomery Parks Director Miti Figueredo said in the release that the temporary parkway closure will allow the intersection to be completed in a shorter amount of time while allowing the parks department to improve the road and trail in the area.

“We think parkway and trail users will be pleased with the result,” Figueredo said.

During the construction, vehicular traffic and pedestrian detour signs will be posted around the work zones. Here is a map of the closures and detours:

After construction on the north side of Wayne Avenue is completed, a southbound portion of the road running from Piney Branch Road to Wayne Avenue will close next spring.

Montgomery Parks officials did not provide a time frame for the spring closure but said each parkway closure is expected to last approximately two months. Updates will be provided as the work progresses, according to the release.

Next summer, the trail from Piney Branch Road to the Dale Drive Neighborhood Park bridge over Sligo Creek will close for four weeks for repaving. According to the release, the time frame is dependent on construction progress and updates will be provided by Montgomery Parks.

Construction on the Purple Line began in 2017. In March, the Purple Line completion was pushed back from the spring of 2027 to December of that year. Since the project’s inception, construction of the light-rail line has faced numerous delays and rising costs that are nearing $10 billion.

In May the project marked an important milestone with the opening of the Talbot Avenue Bridge in Silver Spring after roughly seven years of closure. The bridge is near the future Lyttonsville Purple Line station.

Shortly after, the Spring Street Bridge in Silver Spring closed in June for Purple Line construction and is not expected to reopen until 2025. During the closure, the existing bridge, paved for vehicle traffic over rail tracks, will be demolished and Purple Line crews will build a new span, according to MDOT.

In July, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Purple Line project team unveiled the first Purple Line vehicle at a press conference in Prince George’s County. Each light-rail vehicle measures 142 feet, the longest of its kind in the nation, according to MDOT.

At the time, Maryland transit officials said the project was more than 65% complete, “with thousands of feet of rail track installed and 16 of 21 stations currently under construction.”

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Charmaine Coleman says she was drawn to Tuesday’s National Night Out at downtown Silver Spring’s Veterans Plaza to get a sense of community from others who came to the annual event sponsored by local law enforcement.

Despite growing concerns about safety in downtown Silver Spring expressed recently by other community members, the 23-year Silver Spring resident said she feels safe in the area and appreciates the number of security present.

“You get to know the people in the community and the people in the area so that you will feel safer because you get to know the people around you,” Coleman told MoCo360.

Held in numerous locations around Montgomery County and the nation, National Night Out is an event in which community members of all ages, county officials and local law enforcement come together for an evening of fun activities such as mini golf, push-up and pull-up contests and to listen to live music. The event is promoted as a way for residents to connect with their local police officers and discuss safety and enforcement work in their community, according to authorities.

At Silver Spring’s event, community members checked out a Montgomery County police department’s emergency services vehicle, participated in push-up and pull-up contests, danced with the mascot for the Nando’s restaurant and McGruff the Crime Dog.

Those attending also learned about the Silver Spring Safety Alliance program run by the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce and the police department.

Chamber President and CEO Stephanie Helsing told MoCo360 that the alliance was created after the chamber heard from community members concerned about crime in downtown Silver Spring.

“What [the alliance] does is it allows people to see that the business community understands their concerns and that we are trying to be an active part of the solution,” Helsing said. The alliance provides businesses with window signs stating they are part of the program and listing a phone number for customers to call if they see an incident or emergency.

Eventually, Helsing said the program will provide a wraparound communication tool that will allow the chamber, businesses and county police to share information about crime and safety in the downtown area.

County Councilmember Kate Stewart, who also attended the event, said that when it came to the perception of rising crime in the downtown area, the most important part is how people feel.

“Our job is to make sure that people feel safe coming to downtown Silver Spring, coming to eat, going to the stores, going to movies,” she said, noting that crime statistics have shown a decline in recent months in the area.

Stewart also noted the council has implemented measures to address crime and community concerns in the downtown area such as the police department’s Drone as a First Responder program, increasing the number of officers in the central business district and having more cameras surveilling the area.

She also pointed out the impact of a bill she introduced in February that restricts late-night business hours for hookah lounges and tobacco and vape shops, requiring them to close at 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.

“I’ve heard from our police officers that that’s having an impact and helping them be able to shift resources that they have,” Stewart said. “We’ve done a lot here in downtown Silver Spring and having people come out and really enjoy being out is important.”

At a National Night Out event in downtown Bethesda, officers from the police department’s 2^nd District set up a tent dedicated to the Drone as a First Responder program that will be coming to the Bethesda area within the next month or so. Police officials at the event said they are still looking for a high-rise building in the downtown area to use as a launch location for the drone.

Diana Bertocchi, who lives in the Randolph Hills neighborhood in North Bethesda, listened as an officer discussed how and when the drone would be deployed and asked questions about privacy.

Bertocchi told MoCo360 that the drone program was a “touchy subject” because of concerns about surveillance and privacy. Still, she understood the program’s goal of helping police respond to 911 calls more effectively and liked the idea of “trying something new,” she said.

Bertocchi also noted that she was interested in the cost of the drone program.

“I know there’s going to always be the initial costs and it will get cheaper as it goes on,” she said. “But that is the concern is too: Are our tax-paying dollars being used wisely?”

During the event, 2nd District Commander Amy Daum walked along Norfolk Avenue and talked with community members as well.

She told MoCo360 that despite recent reports of increased shoplifting in downtown Bethesda, crime in other categories has gone down, including property and violent crimes.

“Even despite some sensational incidents that have caught attention through the media and have certainly exploded on social media, in downtown Bethesda crime is down,” she said. “It remains an extraordinarily safe place to come out, enjoy our restaurants, enjoy the nightlight, community events.”

Daum also said the National Night Out event is a way for community members to see that law enforcement is an active part of the community and to ensure that community members are involved with local police. “That is part of why this town thrives,” she said.

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A Silver Spring man was sentenced to 23 years in prison Friday in connection with the 2017 strangulation death of a 17-year-old boy, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Daniel Howard, 29, pleaded guilty June 27 to second-degree murder in the March 21, 2017, death of Christian Matthews, also of Silver Spring, according to a statement from the state’s attorney’s office.

Judge John Maloney of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County sentenced Howard to an additional five years of supervised probation upon release, according to the statement. Howard will receive credit for three years he has already served.

Howard’s attorney, Roland Harris, did not immediately respond to MoCo360’s request for comment Monday afternoon.

Howard is the third co-defendant to be tried in the case after Christian Matthews’ sister, Leaundra Matthews, 26, of Prince George’s County was convicted of second-degree murder in August 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in February. In January 2019, a jury convicted Tysean Lipford, Leaundra Matthews’ boyfriend at the time of the killing, of second-degree murder for his role in Christian Matthews’ death.

On March 23, 2017, Lipford, who shares two children with Leaundra Matthews, confessed to police that he fatally strangled Christian Matthews while he slept in the basement of his home at 1021 Mondrian Terrace in Silver Spring. Lipford told police he and his girlfriend conspired to kill the teen, according to charging documents.

Lipford told investigators that Christian Matthews had threatened to cause harm to Leaundra Matthews and the couple’s daughter (who was a baby at the time) and “had to go,” charging documents state.

On the night of the murder, Leaundra Matthews picked up Lipford and Howard and drove them to the family’s home. She checked the basement room where her brother lived to make sure he was asleep, according to charging documents. After confirming her brother was asleep, Leaundra Matthews unlocked the back door of the residence and left disposable gloves for Lipford and Howard to use, documents said.

Montgomery County police responded to the 1000 block of Mondrian Terrace around 2:25 a.m. for a “suspicious situation,” and upon arrival, officers found Christian Matthews unresponsive in the basement of the home, charging documents stated. He was transported to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring where he was pronounced dead.

According to charging documents, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore ruled that Christian Matthews was asphyxiated and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.

After his confession, Lipford told investigators he sent text messages to Leaundra Matthews before and after the killing and the messages were later obtained by a search warrant, documents said.

Within the text messages sent the night of the murder, Leaundra Matthews mentioned picking up “Ghost,” an alias name for Howard, who was later identified as a co-conspirator in the killing, according to charging documents.  

On Aug. 15, 2019, Leaundra Matthews confessed to her mother and an aunt that she conspired in the murder of her brother, according to charging documents. Referring to alleged abuse she received from her brother, Leaundra Matthews said “It had to be done” and that “he had to go because he wasn’t going to stop,” documents state. She also told them that Howard held her brother down while Lipford choked him, according to charging documents.

Lipford was sentenced in June 2019 to 30 years in prison, which he is currently serving at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Somerset County, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

Leaundra Matthews’ twin sister, Lemae Matthews, was in the home at the time of the death and also was charged in the case, according to charging documents.

Lemae Matthews pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact in October 2021, according to the state’s attorney’s office. She faces up to 10 years in prison during a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 16.

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Members of the Montgomery County Planning Board are questioning the county’s plans to construct a public parking garage on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring and intend to tell County Executive Marc Elrich about their concerns.

“This is an opportunity site a quarter mile from transit, highly valuable, [a] perfect place to put housing,” Commissioner Josh Linden said during the board’s July 25 discussion of the county’s plans to build the garage. “If you’re going to activate this neighborhood, you’re going to activate it with people. You’re not going to activate it with cars.”

The plans, submitted as a mandatory referral by the county Department of Transportation, propose the construction of a public garage at 8615 Georgia Ave. with 675 parking spaces and 3,000 square feet of ground-floor space intended for retail and commercial use. Currently, the site is a surface parking lot and loading alley for surrounding offices and businesses.

Mandatory referrals are plans that are submitted by government entities for any type of land acquisition, sale, use or development activity, according to Montgomery Planning. The board reviews plans on an advisory basis and can deny a project or approve it with or without comments.

The project is part of a partnership between the county and United Therapeutics Corp. that also would transfer county ownership of the 1,344-space Spring Cameron Garage at 8700 Cameron St. to the biotechnology company whose headquarters are at 1000 Spring St. Through the land-transfer deal, United Therapeutics expects to expand its footprint in downtown Silver Spring by 40% and build a facility that could realize the company’s goal of manufacturing transplant organs, according to a December county press release announcing the partnership.

Under the agreement, United Therapeutics will construct a public parking garage at the site on Georgia Avenue. The company also will provide funding to the county to build a new fiber hub and relocate the county transportation department to a renovated facility at 9150 Brookville Road in Silver Spring, the release said.

The county’s fiber hub is currently located in the Spring Cameron Garage and would need to be replaced. At the July 25 meeting, the board reviewed mandatory referral plans to redevelop a parking lot next to Fairview Road Urban Park to build the new hub.

Once the garage is complete, United Therapeutics is expected to transfer the site to the county. In return, the county will transfer ownership of the Spring Cameron Garage to the biotech company, according to the release. Another term of the agreement requires United Therapeutics to invest at least $50 million in any new facility on the site within 15 years of the ownership transfer, the release states.

While housing is not part of the county’s mandatory referral plans, Montgomery Planning staff have recommended the garage be structurally designed to accommodate future housing development, planning documents state. In the December press release, county officials said the garage site would include a “parcel designated for a future affordable housing development.”

Upon hearing a presentation of the project plans, board members expressed frustration that housing construction was not a key element of the proposal and agreed to send a letter to Elrich outlining their concerns.

“The problem isn’t that it’s not a nice garage, it’s that it’s a garage,” Commissioner James Hedrick said at the meeting.

Planning Board Chair Artie Harris noted the location of the garage is close to the Silver Spring Transit Center Station on the corner of Wayne and Colesville roads and in an “optimal location for housing.” Commissioner Shawn Bartley echoed his colleagues’ frustration with the plan and said the project lacked the amount of commercial space that’s available at the public garage on Ellsworth Place facing Veterans Plaza and was not “ambitious” in housing as well.

Elrich told MoCo360 on Thursday the county tried to negotiate with the property owners of the proposed site for the new garage, Silver Spring-based Lee Development Group, to allow the county to build housing at the site.

“We asked, we pushed, we didn’t give up easily, but at the end of the day, they said, ‘No housing.’ … And that’s where we got stuck,” Elrich said. “We didn’t do this willfully.”

He added that without the Georgia Avenue site, the county’s partnership with United Therapeutics could have fallen through.

“I wasn’t going to blow up a deal like this over that,” Elrich said. “We’ll get what housing we can get.”

Jeremy Souders, acting division chief of the transportation department parking, also told the board at the meeting that the county has the “intention to have affordable housing” at the Georgia Avenue site.

He said the county plans to build housing on a smaller surface lot on the eastern portion of the site and will request development proposals once the county takes possession of the garage.

According to planning documents, the board approved in 2010 plans that proposed a three-story music hall, a 12-story office building and a 14-story hotel with structured parking at the Georgia Avenue site. Only the music hall, known as The Fillmore Silver Spring, was constructed and the office building and hotel were never built.

In the end, board members approved the mandatory referral plans and transmitted their comments to the county’s transportation department.

Harris said he wanted United Therapeutics’ expansion projects to move forward, “but we also want to explain to others” that the board was concerned about housing.

According to the plans, the Georgia Avenue garage would include a green roof or solar panels and decorative fins on the façade to provide screening of the parking.

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Plans for a redevelopment project that aims to preserve the historic dining car of Tastee Diner as part of a 30-story mixed-use residential building in downtown Silver Spring are moving ahead after receiving an initial green light from the Montgomery County Planning Board last week.

The Planning Board unanimously voted July 18 to approve the preliminary and sketch plans from Washington, D.C.-based Roadside Development for a high-rise proposed for 8676 Georgia Ave.

The next task for Washington, D.C.-based Roadside Development will be to submit a site plan for the project. The company did not respond this week to MoCo360’s request for comment.

The company’s plans propose for Tastee Diner’s historic dining car to remain at the corner of Cameron Street and Ramsey Avenue, which was the site of the popular eatery before it closed in March 2023, and at the foot of the high-rise. Another Tastee Diner location in downtown Bethesda remains open.

In May, Roadside filed a preliminary plan for the project, showing the developer’s interest in preserving the historic dining car as part of the redevelopment.

The mixed-use building, proposed for two lots that were most recently home to a branch of Capital One bank and the diner, would include up to 550,000 square feet of residential space, 25,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and an internal structured parking garage, according to the plans. The developers expect a grocery store to anchor much of the commercial space.

The building is expected to house up to 525 residential units, 15% of which will be moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs) as required by county rules.

Board Commissioner Josh Linden said he was excited about the prospect of the development adding 525 units to the county’s housing stock.

“This is the project that we need in this area,” Linden said.

Before voting to approve the redevelopment plans, Planning Board members responded to concerns from residents of the Cameron Hill townhome community, which sits across the street from the proposed development site.

Neighbors told the board they were concerned about the size and scale of the proposed 300-foot building, the proximity of the loading zone to the townhomes lining Ramsey Avenue and the small size of the street that the loading area would utilize.

“Our first major concern is that Ramsey Avenue, currently a peaceful residential street, will be turned into a service alley supporting the tallest building in Silver Spring,” Lee Turcotte, president of the Cameron Hill Homeowners Association, told board members during the meeting’s public hearing section.

“We know from lived experience that Ramsey Avenue is too small to accommodate the requirements of this proposal,” he said. “… We’re talking about tractor-trailers backing within feet of townhomes every day. This is unacceptable and again, as far as we know, unprecedented in Silver Spring.”

Cara Fitzwater, a Cameron Hill townhome resident and real estate agent, said she is concerned the development could cause property values to drop in the townhome community.

“Having a loading dock face our properties is akin to buying a property next to a large warehouse, both of which are unsightly and detract from the visual appeal of this 25-year-old neighborhood,” Fitzwater said. “This will make our residential community less appealing to potential homebuyers due to its industrial nature.”

In response, Planning Board Chair Artie Harris told the development team to consult with the residents about the building’s loading management plan as it works on the project’s site plan.

Developers should “make that garage the prettiest garage you’ve seen–because that’s what they’re going to be looking at–and make sure that … the doors are closed,” he said. “We want to make [this] also a great experience for the people that invested in that community 25 years ago.”

Lira Gallagher, another Cameron Hill resident, said the building’s proposed height was “unnecessarily tall” and “would cast a huge shadow, literally and figuratively, over our community.”

In response to comments about the building’s height, Commissioner James Hedrick said that the building “fits with the character” of the area.

“It’s going to be a large building but one of the things that gives resilience to neighborhoods is having a variety of different types of housing,” Hedrick said.

Linden noted the project’s site plan would be another opportunity for Cameron Hill residents to engage with developers on the loading management plan for the proposed building, such as delivery times and the movement of trucks on Ramsey Avenue.

Harris also told the developers that he would like the building to have a number of two- and three-bedroom units to increase the local supply of units for families.

“It’s really important,” Harris said. “Families also need to live in downtown Silver Spring.”

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