Hi Neighbors!

We were surprised and overjoyed by how many of you took time out of your busy lives to learn about this issue and help move a solution forward.  We also had many people reach out and let us know you want to stay connected, but couldn’t be there in person.

The turnout, positive attitudes, and the great ideas shared last night shows that this is a community that cares about each other and doing right by our hometown. We do not want to wait another 10 years for this 94% vacant shopping center to be redeveloped. While as individuals we have little ability to influence what happens with this space, we know that when we get organized as a group of residents, business owners, legislators, and other stakeholders that we cannot be ignored.  

During the meeting, we had an in-depth presentation on the history of the shopping center, the current constraints and opportunities for development, how changes in traffic and public transit will impact this space, and held a community brainstorming session about our priorities for redevelopment.  

We are in the process of creating a website where all the meeting materials will be posted, and will share the link for that as soon as it is available.  

Now that we’ve had a chance to get the information out there and brainstorm as a community, what happens next?  

• We are currently reviewing all worksheets and meeting notes and will post a summary of results
• We will use the meeting results to create options for development for community review
• We will schedule another community meeting to discuss the proposed options (with more chairs and a microphone this time!)
  • During this meeting we will select a development option to advocate for as a collective group.  
• We will take the idea that the community supports to the developer and work collaboratively with them to operationalize the plan
• Based on identified challenges and opportunities in this process, we will develop and implement an advocacy plan with our legislators and other influencers to compel action on our proposed development approach

We are so excited to work with you towards a shared vision of a Better Burtonsville!  

Stay tuned for more updates and a survey about your interest in volunteering and skillsets.