By Christopher Jennison, President of Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad and Board Member of Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association
Most people never think about where their ambulance comes from. They do not think about who pays for the station, who replaces the roof when it starts leaking, or who figures out how to replace a building that is nearly fifty years old and wearing out. That is understandable. When someone calls 911, they should be focused on the emergency, not the facility behind the response. But somebody has to think about it.
A Rescue Squad Headquarters Built for a Different Era
As President of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of our organization. Our headquarters on Battery Lane opened in 1976. It has served this community well for half a century. But like every building, it has a lifespan.
Replacing a rescue station is not cheap. Neither is maintaining one. Construction costs have exploded. Equipment costs continue to rise. Personnel costs continue to rise. At the same time, it is harder than ever to recruit and retain enough volunteers to cover the majority of our service hours. Like many nonprofit organizations, we pursue grants, fundraising, and every other available source of support. We appreciate the assistance we receive from the County and from our donors. But the reality is that there is no check sitting somewhere waiting to build a new rescue station.
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Redevelopment Could Help Fund Public Safety and Housing
Montgomery County faces enormous capital needs: school construction, transportation projects, public facilities, and deferred maintenance. Every budget cycle brings another discussion about aging infrastructure and limited resources. Volunteer rescue squads face the same reality. Several years ago, BCCRS began exploring whether redevelopment of our Battery Lane property could help fund a modern headquarters while also creating new housing in downtown Bethesda. The concept was straightforward. A prime piece of land could potentially support both public safety and additional housing while reducing the burden on taxpayers.
Developers Are Pulling Back From Montgomery County
At the time, we were told the property had tremendous value. Today, we are hearing something very different. Developers are increasingly reluctant to pursue multifamily projects in Montgomery County. Some have shifted investment elsewhere. Some have stopped looking altogether. Most concerning, we have been told there may be little or no interest in redeveloping our property under current market conditions.
If that is true, it should concern everyone. This is bigger than one rescue squad. Montgomery County leaders routinely talk about the need for more housing, more school construction, more infrastructure investment, and stronger public services. They are right. But all of those goals depend on a county that can still grow, attract investment, and build.
Montgomery County Cannot Build More by Making Building Harder
A county cannot build housing by making housing harder to build. A county cannot solve infrastructure challenges by discouraging investment. And a county cannot continue adding obligations while weakening the economic activity that helps pay for them.
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Rent control was adopted with the goal of helping residents. I do not question the intent. But intent and outcomes are not the same thing. If a policy is reducing housing production, discouraging investment, and making it harder for community institutions to finance needed projects, we should be willing to acknowledge that and make adjustments. That is not ideology. It is common sense.
Voters Should Ask How Montgomery County Will Pay for the Future
As voters head to the polls this June, I hope they ask candidates a simple question: how are we going to pay for the future? Not just next year’s budget. The future. Because eventually every discussion about housing, schools, transportation, and public safety comes back to the same question: can we still afford to build what we need?
From where I sit, trying to plan for the next fifty years of emergency service in Bethesda, that question deserves a much more honest conversation than it is getting today.