Manage Growth

When Roger ran for office in 2006, he pledged to reinstate a critical "transportation test" to determine whether development can proceed, a test that the prior Council, with the vote of Roger’s predecessor, had eliminated.  When the “growth policy” was before the Council, it was Roger’s transportation test that was adopted, a stronger test than had been proposed by the Planning Board.  It is the test today. 

When the Council was considering a “school test” in the most recent Growth Policy last fall, the Committee’s recommendation had been to allow development to take place without contributing school construction funds even if school capacity in the entire cluster was already in excess of 110 percent.  Roger sponsored the amendment to the growth policy adopted by the full Council that said no:  if school capacity in a cluster exceeds 105%, developers should contribute to school construction costs. 

Shortly after Roger took office, citizens in Bethesda and Friendship Heights started complaining that when developers were constructing a major project, sidewalks would be closed for weeks at a time, and even longer.  Streets and sidewalks would be effectively given to the developer for the construction project, leaving pedestrians and drivers to fend for themselves.  Roger stepped up and modernized our Rode Code, which was based on a suburban model not applicable to business district realities.  Now, our streets and sidewalks belong to us again. 

Here is what Robert Cope, a community leader with a long history in development related battles said about Roger:

“Councilmember Berliner has consistently shown his commitment to protecting the integrity of our neighborhoods and managing growth.” 

Real Smart Growth

Roger believes that the environmental imperative to reduce our carbon footprint means we must stop sprawl, grow smarter, and invest in more transit.  In White Flint, we have the opportunity to transform the classic suburban strip mall model into a walkable, bikeable, vibrant community that has a grand boulevard, more transit options, a civic green, and community amenities that create a sense of place.  At the same time, surrounding neighborhoods must be protected and our commitment to state of the art transit options must be real.  That is what Roger is working towards.  

Protecting the Heart of Bethesda 

A major development was proposed for the area along Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, above where the Landmark Theater and the Capitol Crescent trail join.  Roger thought it would have almost totally eliminated what has become a "public commons" and the small piece of green in the midst of our urban experience.  Roger asked the Planning Board to scale back the proposal so that our public green space could be preserved and even enhanced.  Working with a local landscape architect, he submitted drawings of how beautiful and green the area could become.  The developers withdrew their original proposal and, working with the community, supported a plan that highlights and preserves the public areas.  Even the developers think it turned out for the best that they were asked to go back to the drawing board.  The heart of Bethesda was saved.