Glenmont Civic Association, Inc.
LEGGETT LETTER 2009
LEGGETT LETTER 2009
Glenmont Civic Association, Inc., 12407 Flack Street, Silver Spring, MD 20906
April 17, 2009
Montgomery County Executive Leggett
Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street
Rockville, MD 20850
Dear County Executive Leggett:
I am writing to you as president of the Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. (GCA).
The purpose of this letter is to briefly summarize our opposition to the 1200 car Metro parking garage Montgomery
County plans to build west of Georgia Avenue in Glenmont. This letter also provides you with new information that
is pertinent to whether another Metro garage is needed in Glenmont.
Since 1993, Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. has represented the residential area west of Georgia Avenue in
Glenmont. Most of our members live near the west side Metro entrance. In recent years, new members have joined
who live and work in the larger Glenmont area including the commercial area east of Georgia Avenue. Our
members are private citizens, workers and business proprietors, and church leaders including a pastor. Our website
is saveglenmont.org
Previous Meeting
You may recall that several members of our association met with you in February 2007. At that time, we stated
our opposition to the west side Metro garage.
Our association opposes the west side garage because it will be a magnet for crime in our neighborhood. Its height
will be 64 feet with floodlights; it will be 186 feet wide and longer than a football field. It will be built on one of the
highest areas along Georgia Avenue, and it will be a permanent eyesore.
The west side garage goes against the 1994 Glenmont Sector Plan. The Sector Plan does not call for a garage near
the west side Metro entrance, rather it says the two acre open space is for townhouses, a minimal Kiss and Ride
(built), a natural park with tree stand area and wetlands, and a community facility.
In April 2006, the Montgomery County Planning Board unanimously voted against a stand alone garage on the west
side. It said if a new garage is erected, it should be built on the east side. The Planning Board said further that if a
garage is built on the west side, it should be surrounded by townhouses.
New Information
Recently, our civic association has compiled new information which focuses on whether a west side garage is
needed.
To begin, we have counted empty parking spaces in the east side garage. Our counting effort shows that the
Glenmont Metro garage east of Georgia Avenue is not being used to capacity. This information goes against
Montgomery County’s premise that a new garage is needed because the current garage is full.
Glenmont Metro Garage Not Full
Here is some background on the Montgomery County government position that the east side garage is fully used.
On April 26, 2006, Metro held a public hearing on the need for a second garage in Glenmont, this one to be built on
the west side. At that hearing, Edgar Gonzalez of the Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT)
spoke in favor of a second Metro garage. He said it was needed because there was “insufficient space” in the east
side garage. He said, “… the current (east side) garage often fills before 8:00 a.m.” This theme was DPWT’s
justification for a second (west side) Glenmont garage.
Beginning in mid-2006, members of our civic association periodically visited the east side garage to see if it was
actually full. When counting empty parking spaces in 2006, they reported several hundred empty spaces. They
counted empty spaces in “reserved,” “non-reserved,” and “handicapped” parking areas. Together, empty spaces
came to well over two hundred. Members counted on regular workdays after the morning rush hour. They knew
from counting that the garage was not near its full capacity.
Later, on a June, 2008 workday, they counted 270 empty spaces.
In April, 2009, for purposes of this letter, members of our association again counted all empty parking spaces
(reserved, non-reserved, handicapped, and areas being renovated) in the east side garage. This count was done
between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. over a two week period, April 7 to 9 and April 14 to 16. The following table
shows the results of our survey.
Empty Spaces in Glenmont Metro Garage
April 7, 2009 April 8, 2009 April 9, 2009 April 14, 2009 April 16, 2009 April 17, 2009
Reserved Spaces 267 267 267 267 267 267
Reserved Spaces Empty 62 85 116 20 22 98
Handicapped Spaces 28 28 28 28 28 28
Handicapped Spaces Empty 0 0 0 0 0 6
Regular Spaces 1486 1486 1486 1486 1486 1486
Regular Spaces Empty Due
to Ongoing Garage Repairs 159 159 159 170 173 182
Regular Spaces Empty 0 0 1 0 3 13
Total Empty Spaces 221 244 276 190 195 299
These numbers show that even after operating eleven years, the Glenmont Metro garage is not operating at full
capacity.
Metro Utilization Report
As you may know, each year Metro publishes a Parking Utilization Report which, among other information, gives
parking utilization figures for each Metro garage. For 2008, the Report says the Glenmont garage had a parking
utilization rate of 106 percent. Our question is this, if the utilization rate is 106 percent, how can this be reconciled
with well over two hundred empty spaces we have counted in the garage?
We believe the discrepancy is explained by Metro’s practice of counting “reserved spaces” twice in its Utilization
Report. For example, Metro counts a reserved space as being “utilized” once when a driver pays a monthly fee of
$55 for the privilege of parking in the reserved area. Metro then says reserved spaces are utilized twice when
drivers park in a reserved space after paying $4.75 daily to park in the garage. The Glenmont garage has 267
reserved spaces. Incidentally, anyone may park in the reserved space after 10:00 a.m. each workday.
In Glenmont, 15 percent of total parking spaces are reserved, and all reserved spaces are rented. If all reserved
spaces are filled with cars, Metro says the Glenmont garage is 30 percent utilized – double 15 percent. If the
remaining 85 percent of the garage is filled, Metro says the garage is 115 percent utilized.
Beside reserved spaces, there are 28 “handicapped” spaces in the Glenmont garage. The total capacity of the
Glenmont garage is 1781 parking spaces. The total number of non-reserved and non-handicapped spaces is 1486.
The Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. has devoted time and effort to shed light on the actual parking situation in the
Glenmont garage. We ask Montgomery County to use the Metro Utilization Report with the full understanding that
it overstates garage utilization. We think the best method to determine garage utilization is simply to count the
number of cars that have paid $4.75 to park daily. That number, compared to the total number of parking spaces,
is the actual garage utilization rate.
Empty Parking Spaces in Wheaton and Glenmont
In June, 2008, besides counting empty parking spaces in the Glenmont garage, our civic association made an
assessment of parking utilization in the Wheaton Metro garage and the Montgomery County Wheaton garage on
Fern Street. Our survey was conducted between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on a regular workday. Here are the
results: Wheaton Metro garage, 660 empty spaces; Wheaton Montgomery County garage (Fern Street), 420 empty
spaces; Glenmont Metro garage, 270 empty spaces. Total for the three garages was 1,350 empty parking spaces.
Since the Wheaton garages are only minutes away from Glenmont, should the Glenmont garage be at full capacity,
there are many hundreds of parking spaces available in Wheaton.
Summary
From our legwork and counting, we know that Glenmont Metro garage is consistently under utilized. We know that
Wheaton has an over-abundance of parking spaces. And, we know that Metro’s method of computing garage
utilization is inflated. These facts – plus the reality that a garage will degrade the residential neighborhood – make a
strong case against a west side garage.
We respectfully ask you to reconsider Montgomery County’s decision to build a garage west of Georgia Avenue in
Glenmont.
If a second garage is built, it should be located on the east side adjacent to the current garage. It should hold no
more than 600 cars and should not have a negative visual impact.
Finally, I want to say that Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. thanks you for the time and effort you have already
devoted to this issue. We believe you will, as you have done in the past, give full consideration to our concerns
about this garage.
Sincerely,
Michael McAteer, President
Glenmont Civic Association, Inc.
cc: Nat Bottigheimer
Marc Elrich
April 17, 2009
Montgomery County Executive Leggett
Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street
Rockville, MD 20850
Dear County Executive Leggett:
I am writing to you as president of the Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. (GCA).
The purpose of this letter is to briefly summarize our opposition to the 1200 car Metro parking garage Montgomery
County plans to build west of Georgia Avenue in Glenmont. This letter also provides you with new information that
is pertinent to whether another Metro garage is needed in Glenmont.
Since 1993, Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. has represented the residential area west of Georgia Avenue in
Glenmont. Most of our members live near the west side Metro entrance. In recent years, new members have joined
who live and work in the larger Glenmont area including the commercial area east of Georgia Avenue. Our
members are private citizens, workers and business proprietors, and church leaders including a pastor. Our website
is saveglenmont.org
Previous Meeting
You may recall that several members of our association met with you in February 2007. At that time, we stated
our opposition to the west side Metro garage.
Our association opposes the west side garage because it will be a magnet for crime in our neighborhood. Its height
will be 64 feet with floodlights; it will be 186 feet wide and longer than a football field. It will be built on one of the
highest areas along Georgia Avenue, and it will be a permanent eyesore.
The west side garage goes against the 1994 Glenmont Sector Plan. The Sector Plan does not call for a garage near
the west side Metro entrance, rather it says the two acre open space is for townhouses, a minimal Kiss and Ride
(built), a natural park with tree stand area and wetlands, and a community facility.
In April 2006, the Montgomery County Planning Board unanimously voted against a stand alone garage on the west
side. It said if a new garage is erected, it should be built on the east side. The Planning Board said further that if a
garage is built on the west side, it should be surrounded by townhouses.
New Information
Recently, our civic association has compiled new information which focuses on whether a west side garage is
needed.
To begin, we have counted empty parking spaces in the east side garage. Our counting effort shows that the
Glenmont Metro garage east of Georgia Avenue is not being used to capacity. This information goes against
Montgomery County’s premise that a new garage is needed because the current garage is full.
Glenmont Metro Garage Not Full
Here is some background on the Montgomery County government position that the east side garage is fully used.
On April 26, 2006, Metro held a public hearing on the need for a second garage in Glenmont, this one to be built on
the west side. At that hearing, Edgar Gonzalez of the Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT)
spoke in favor of a second Metro garage. He said it was needed because there was “insufficient space” in the east
side garage. He said, “… the current (east side) garage often fills before 8:00 a.m.” This theme was DPWT’s
justification for a second (west side) Glenmont garage.
Beginning in mid-2006, members of our civic association periodically visited the east side garage to see if it was
actually full. When counting empty parking spaces in 2006, they reported several hundred empty spaces. They
counted empty spaces in “reserved,” “non-reserved,” and “handicapped” parking areas. Together, empty spaces
came to well over two hundred. Members counted on regular workdays after the morning rush hour. They knew
from counting that the garage was not near its full capacity.
Later, on a June, 2008 workday, they counted 270 empty spaces.
In April, 2009, for purposes of this letter, members of our association again counted all empty parking spaces
(reserved, non-reserved, handicapped, and areas being renovated) in the east side garage. This count was done
between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. over a two week period, April 7 to 9 and April 14 to 16. The following table
shows the results of our survey.
Empty Spaces in Glenmont Metro Garage
April 7, 2009 April 8, 2009 April 9, 2009 April 14, 2009 April 16, 2009 April 17, 2009
Reserved Spaces 267 267 267 267 267 267
Reserved Spaces Empty 62 85 116 20 22 98
Handicapped Spaces 28 28 28 28 28 28
Handicapped Spaces Empty 0 0 0 0 0 6
Regular Spaces 1486 1486 1486 1486 1486 1486
Regular Spaces Empty Due
to Ongoing Garage Repairs 159 159 159 170 173 182
Regular Spaces Empty 0 0 1 0 3 13
Total Empty Spaces 221 244 276 190 195 299
These numbers show that even after operating eleven years, the Glenmont Metro garage is not operating at full
capacity.
Metro Utilization Report
As you may know, each year Metro publishes a Parking Utilization Report which, among other information, gives
parking utilization figures for each Metro garage. For 2008, the Report says the Glenmont garage had a parking
utilization rate of 106 percent. Our question is this, if the utilization rate is 106 percent, how can this be reconciled
with well over two hundred empty spaces we have counted in the garage?
We believe the discrepancy is explained by Metro’s practice of counting “reserved spaces” twice in its Utilization
Report. For example, Metro counts a reserved space as being “utilized” once when a driver pays a monthly fee of
$55 for the privilege of parking in the reserved area. Metro then says reserved spaces are utilized twice when
drivers park in a reserved space after paying $4.75 daily to park in the garage. The Glenmont garage has 267
reserved spaces. Incidentally, anyone may park in the reserved space after 10:00 a.m. each workday.
In Glenmont, 15 percent of total parking spaces are reserved, and all reserved spaces are rented. If all reserved
spaces are filled with cars, Metro says the Glenmont garage is 30 percent utilized – double 15 percent. If the
remaining 85 percent of the garage is filled, Metro says the garage is 115 percent utilized.
Beside reserved spaces, there are 28 “handicapped” spaces in the Glenmont garage. The total capacity of the
Glenmont garage is 1781 parking spaces. The total number of non-reserved and non-handicapped spaces is 1486.
The Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. has devoted time and effort to shed light on the actual parking situation in the
Glenmont garage. We ask Montgomery County to use the Metro Utilization Report with the full understanding that
it overstates garage utilization. We think the best method to determine garage utilization is simply to count the
number of cars that have paid $4.75 to park daily. That number, compared to the total number of parking spaces,
is the actual garage utilization rate.
Empty Parking Spaces in Wheaton and Glenmont
In June, 2008, besides counting empty parking spaces in the Glenmont garage, our civic association made an
assessment of parking utilization in the Wheaton Metro garage and the Montgomery County Wheaton garage on
Fern Street. Our survey was conducted between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on a regular workday. Here are the
results: Wheaton Metro garage, 660 empty spaces; Wheaton Montgomery County garage (Fern Street), 420 empty
spaces; Glenmont Metro garage, 270 empty spaces. Total for the three garages was 1,350 empty parking spaces.
Since the Wheaton garages are only minutes away from Glenmont, should the Glenmont garage be at full capacity,
there are many hundreds of parking spaces available in Wheaton.
Summary
From our legwork and counting, we know that Glenmont Metro garage is consistently under utilized. We know that
Wheaton has an over-abundance of parking spaces. And, we know that Metro’s method of computing garage
utilization is inflated. These facts – plus the reality that a garage will degrade the residential neighborhood – make a
strong case against a west side garage.
We respectfully ask you to reconsider Montgomery County’s decision to build a garage west of Georgia Avenue in
Glenmont.
If a second garage is built, it should be located on the east side adjacent to the current garage. It should hold no
more than 600 cars and should not have a negative visual impact.
Finally, I want to say that Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. thanks you for the time and effort you have already
devoted to this issue. We believe you will, as you have done in the past, give full consideration to our concerns
about this garage.
Sincerely,
Michael McAteer, President
Glenmont Civic Association, Inc.
cc: Nat Bottigheimer
Marc Elrich
This letter was sent to County Executive Leggett following the count of empty spaces done by Glenmont Civic Association, Inc. (GCAI) in April
2009.
2009.