The Friendship Heights Village Council voted unanimously on Oct. 14 to authorize Mayor Roy Schaffer to send a letter to the Montgomery County Planning Board requesting preservation of the green space in front of 5550 Friendship Boulevard and the requirement of independent traffic studies for proposed development at the GEICO and Saks Fifth Avenue sites.

Council member Francine Klein, who led the development committee's work on the GEICO site, briefed the council on the property's planning history and argued the village should press the county on several points before additional approvals are granted. "Absent extraordinary action by the council reversing itself, these binding elements will remain in place no matter who develops the property," Klein said, referring to amenity commitments approved in a 1998 Montgomery County Council order associated with the original GEICO plan.

Klein told the council that GEICO has repeatedly sought extensions of its 1998 approvals while delaying implementation. She described the 1998 plan's binding elements for the site, negotiated with nearby Brookdale, that included a 50-to-70-foot greenway buffer, enlargement of Brookdale Park, an on-site central open space and off-site amenity commitments. She argued those commitments and tree preservation deserve renewed scrutiny in light of the passage of time and new sector-plan work under way.

The council also unanimously approved a second motion to retain village land-use attorney David Brown for additional legal advice on the sector plan update. Klein said Brown had already provided counsel in the GEICO matter and that the village now needed legal review focused on the sector-plan process.

Why it matters: the council is responding to both GEICO's recent site-plan modification request and the county's sector-plan update process for the area. Klein said the village wants to ensure that green space, traffic and tree-preservation issues are assessed through independent traffic analyses and that longstanding binding elements negotiated with neighbors remain protected.

Council discussion: Council members voiced divergent views about strategy. Some members urged skepticism about GEICO's request for extensions and changes, arguing the village should protect green space and require updated analyses. Others warned that opposing extensions outright risks losing negotiated benefits or provoking a change in development pressure that could lead to higher-density outcomes; one councilor urged continued engagement with GEICO under conditions recommended by county planning staff. The planning staff's public recommendation to issue a conditional placeholder plan for GEICO was discussed during the meeting.

Next steps: The authorized letter will be sent to the Montgomery County Planning Board; the village will also secure additional legal advice from David Brown on sector-plan implications and next options for testimony at the county planning hearing scheduled Oct. 23.