What Should Consaul Commons Look Like?

A new look could be coming to Consaul Commons, the public walkway located between the village's two incoming restaurants: Vinamo and The Bay.

The Mandel Group presented four different landscaping schemes to the Village Board Monday night. All four of the options would remove the curb and hedgerows along the walls, allowing outdoor dining tables to be flush with the exterior walls.

Dick Lincoln, senior vice president at The Mandel Group, said renovating the 40-foot-wide walkway is beneficial to Mandel's Beaumont Place apartment development coming to the parking lot north of the Silver Spring businesses.

"It was really important in our overall concept for The Beaumont Place development to develop, maintain and enhance this kind of pedestrian linkage between the Silver Spring business district through the Consaul Commons area, but then through our development as well, and into the residential areas to the north of Beaumont Avenue," Lincoln said.

The design of the Consaul Commons walkway is also of interest to The Bay, which is expected to open later this month, and Vinamo, which is expected to open in August. Both restaurants are planning to offer outdoor dining.

Four landscaping options

Option 1: Essentially maintains the existing format, but eliminates the curb and hedgerows along both walls. The three large honey locust trees would remain in place.

Option 2: Leave the three trees in place, but break the large grassy island into three smaller islands. The area in between each of the islands would feature paved surface and potential seating areas.

Option 3: Two trees would remain – each positioned in a grass island on the north and south ends of the commons area. The middle area would be open for public gathering.

Option 4: Replace the glassy island with a paved walkway, which would feature trees but no grass.

Cost estimates for each of the options were not available at Monday night's meeting. If trustees choose to pursue something other than Option 1, Lincoln said the village will likely be the one responsible for paying those costs.

"If the village wishes to pursue and proceed with some of the more extensive schemes, I think you'd have to have a conversation about how that would be paid for by the village," he said.

Trustees offer input

Bob Monnat, Mandel's chief operating officer, was also at the meeting and recommended not removing any of the trees, because they provide a valuable canopy for outdoor dining. If the village were to remove the existing honey locust trees, they would have to be replaced with adult trees, which could cost $7,000 to $10,000 a piece.

Trustee Jay Miller said he likes Option 2 because it preserves the trees and green space, while opening up public gathering space and expanded pedestrian walkways.

Trustee Jim Roemer said it may be worth the cost to replace the honey locust trees with newer trees, because the existing trees have a shallow, exposed root system. He also suggested adding potted plants to spruce up the commons area.

Using the comments from Monday night's meeting, The Mandel Group will return to the board with cost and design estimates for the board's consideration.