Letter: Planning Board should be wary of downtown Columbia plans

I would like to expand on my comments about the Warfield neighborhood traffic outlook presented at the April 12th meeting of the Planning Board hearing and reported in your April 19 edition.

The Town Center Village Board, which represents Warfield residents, expressed concerns that while adding 800 residential units and new retail stores, the Howard Hughes Corporation plan approved by the Planning Board actually reduces the number of travel lanes on Mall Ring Road in the vicinity of the AMC Theater, from the number recommended in the original Downtown Design Guidelines. The approved plan also calls for the addition of parallel parking and dedicated bike lanes on this heavily congested section of Ring Road, further exacerbating traffic. Our board also questioned the validity of the Howard Hughes Corporation's Traffic Study, which was conducted on Monday through Friday, ignoring the weekend traffic levels in the mall area.

In its testimony, the Town Center Village Board also sought assurance that the Warfield amenity space, i.e., public gathering areas, proposed by the Howard Hughes Corporation, but the responsibility of General Growth Properties, the property owner, would be fulfilled.

Our board looks forward to the start of Downtown Revitalization, but asks that the Department of Planning and Zoning and the Planning Board be more circumspect in considering future plans, to insure that the long-planned vision for a vibrant and livable Downtown is realized.

Linda Wengel

Vice Chairwoman

Town Center Village Board