Ourisman Chevrolet opens at Wintergreen Plaza

Ourisman Chevrolet has opened its new dealership at Wintergreen Plaza on Rockville Pike. Their existing dealership at MD 355 and Gude Drive is currently available for lease, but as of last night, continues to hold vehicle inventory, Ourisman signage and - of course - its famous giant American flag.

New parking garage opens at Montgomery College (Photos)

The Rockville campus of Montgomery College is celebrating the grand opening of a new parking garage, just in time for the new Spring semester. Located by the Physical Education building along North Campus Drive, the garage holds 918 parking spaces, and electric car charging stalls.

For safety purposes, it is equipped with a whopping 59 security cameras, and two emergency phones on each level. It will also be patrolled by campus security officers.

One high tech touch is a digital readout of how many spaces are available on each of the 7 floors of the garage.

“The garage will help alleviate challenges with parking on campus, and that’s a big deal," said Dr. Mark Carmody, director of facilities for the campus. "We want to make it easy for students to get to class on time and to be ready to learn,” he added.

CSNY PIzza lighted sign installed in Rockville (Photos)

CSNY Pizza, a new venture from the duo behind CS Pizza, has installed its permanent lighted sign. The pizzeria is promising authentic New York-style pizza, and is scheduled to open in March at 1020-1066 Rockville Pike.

First look: Little Dipper Hot Pot House in Rockville (Photos)

Little Dipper Hot Pot House is undergoing final Montgomery County inspections, and is on target for an early February opening in Rockville Town Square. It will be in the former Noodles and Company space at 101 Gibbs Street. As you can see in the bottom photo, they are hiring for all positions.

Former Houston's/Chef Geoff's Rockville restaurant space split in half; pediatric urgent care to be tenant (Photos)

Unable to find a large restaurant tenant for the space formerly-occupied by Chef Geoff's at 12256 Rockville Pike, Towne Plaza has divided it into two retail spaces. The first tenant to take over half will be PM Pediatric Urgent Care. Construction has begun on the interior of the future clinic, and the second half of the space remains available for-lease.

Longtime residents will recognize this as the end of an era in South Rockville dining. Before it was Chef Geoff's, the space belonged to Houston's, which - while a chain - was considered by the less-pretentious to be one of the top restaurants in Rockville and Montgomery County. Only its Bethesda location remains, under the name Woodmont Grill.

New tobacco/cigar shop coming to Ritchie Center in Rockville (Photos)

A new tenant is moving into the Ritchie Center on Rockville Pike. There is no sign up yet, but the boxed merchandise inside is all tobacco-related - cigars and hookah. And there is a cigar brand sign installed in the front window. Stay tuned.

MoCo Councilman plotting new way to overcrowd roads, classrooms

Montgomery County's public schools and roads are already filled to overcapacity. The promise that unfettered residential growth would generate massive tax revenues has given way to the reality of a massive structural County budget deficit. Despite all that, County Councilman Hans Riemer wants to pack in as many more new residents as possible.

During a recent Twitter discussion, Riemer said he wanted to pursue a zoning change that would allow single-family home properties in the county to be subdivided into two residences, in the form of duplexes. Given that today's smaller families would easily fit into a duplex unit, Riemer's plan would massively increase the student generation rate in existing neighborhoods. Not to mention the impact on MoCo's traffic congestion, already rated the worst in America.

Riemer's exchange with pro-urbanization blogger Dan Reed requires some background to fully appreciate. Reed was at one time a staff member in Councilmember George Leventhal's office. Leventhal infamously called the suburbs "a mistake," and in a 2010 television appearance, displayed a rendering showing a single-family home being replaced by an apartment building. This dystopian vision for urbanization of existing SFH neighborhoods is one of the worst-kept secrets of the Montgomery County political cartel.

The bulldozing of single-family homes at the edges of current and future urban centers in the county will begin in areas where real estate values are lower - Aspen Hill, Twinbrook, Glenmont, Wheaton, and White Oak, for example. But what about places like Chevy Chase, East Bethesda and "Westbard," where teardowns get replaced with two-million-dollar homes? It's unlikely a development firm could afford to buy blocks worth of such homes in the 20814 and 20816 zip codes.

Reed memorably lamented this obstacle to bringing urban density to the suburbs a few years ago, and proposed a solution of converting large luxury homes (often derided by critics as "McMansions") into what would essentially be boarding houses with multiple units inside (however, it was not clear what sort of nuclear armageddon, Maoist cultural revolution, or similar catastrophe would have displaced the wealthy families who currently reside inside these homes).

So as Reed contemplated the million-dollar home obstacle in Chevy Chase again in late December, Riemer had a bright idea - what about duplexes? Twice the strain on schools and roads, and twice the drain on County revenues. What's not to like, right?

Remember, he's not talking about greenfield development. Riemer explicitly tweeted, "this is specifically single lot redevelopment."

For a guy who voted to urbanize the established, low-density "Westbard" area of Bethesda, while falsely claiming it was a "mile from two Metros," such zeal for overcrowding doesn't surprise.

But the exchange showed again how little California carpetbagger Riemer understands Montgomery County. 

Duplexes are considered lower-class, not desirable. And Riemer asked if there are "market examples" of duplexes in Montgomery County. He's obviously never made it to Aquarius in Aspen Hill, or Berry Street near Glenmont, to name just two. Not surprising for a guy who needs a GPS to find his way around the county. But those were new developments - Riemer is proposing retrofitting the whole county for duplexes. Good luck with that.

"I am going to look into this further," Riemer vowed. Given his disastrous record on liquor reform, food trucks, the "nighttime economy," and cybersecurity, those words are your cue to either chuckle...or run for the hills.