White Flint has been proposed as a home for a new 2nd District Police Station but the possibility faces strong opposition from Bethesda business leaders who want to see it remain in downtown Bethesda, the county’s point person on White Flint redevelopment said.
White Flint Implementation Coordinator Dee Metz on Monday told members of the White Flint Implementation Advisory Committee that the county has considered moving the Station, which serves as headquarters for police covering Bethesda, Chevy Chase, North Bethesda and Potomac, up Rockville Pike.
Metz said the county is in the process of purchasing the land of the Fire Station at the corner of Montrose Parkway and Rockville Pike from the State Highway Administration. The county would like to build a larger Fire Station and possibly a police sub-station to serve a growing White Flint on that site.
The county hopes to reach an agreement on the Fire Station site in the next three months, Metz said, but discussion of the police sub-station is a lower priority than finding a solution for the 2nd District Station.
The 2nd District Station, at 7359 Wisconsin Ave. for more than 50 years, is in need of replacement according to the county’s Capital Budget.
A public-private land swap deal with Chevy Chase-based developer JBG Cos. that would have put a new station at Wisconsin and Cordell Avenues fell through last year.
Last month, the county put out a new Request For Qualifications and Development Proposals and hosted developers on a tour of the existing Station last week. Metz said the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce is strongly against moving the 2nd District Station out of downtown Bethesda.
Implementing the 2010 White Flint Sector Plan, which is projected to bring 14,000 housing units and 13 million square feet of mixed-use development to both sides of Rockville Pike around the White Flint Metro station, includes creating new facilities for police, fire, schools and public parks.
