After months of patiently — and at times impatiently — waiting for Montgomery County and Lee Development Group to announce an agreement paving the way for a Fillmore music venue in downtown Silver Spring, residents finally got word of the deal late Thursday night.

But questions still remain about the transparency of the negotiations, how the Fillmore will impact the downtown and whether nearby businesses can survive increased rent.

After the Montgomery County Council approved land-use laws to pave the way for the Fillmore in October 2008, negotiations over a final land-use agreement slogged on for months with both sides claiming a deal was close.

But even now that the deal is finally here, some residents say little new information is available.

"Negotiations have been going on for a year, two years," said Phil Olivetti, a member of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board, which twice during the summer had to delay agenda items to discuss the Fillmore negotiations with county officials. "What is different about the agreement now than when it was initially signed?"

To illustrate his point, Olivetti cites a county press release from January 2008 that announced the original lease between the county and the Los Angeles-based concert promoter Live Nation, which will operate the venue.

The 2008 press release mentions the proposed Fillmore site, a former J.C. Penney department store at 8650 Colesville Road, has been vacant for 18 years. The county's press release from last week, nearly two years later, still says the store has been vacant for 18 years.

Both the announcements Thursday and in 2008 stipulate that the Lees will donate the land, worth $3.5 million, to the county in return for assurances that a future project at an adjacent Lee-owned property can be developed under current land-use rules.

The State of Maryland and Montgomery County will contribute $4 million each – for a total $8 million in public investment — toward the cost of building the facility, which will be owned by the county.

As a result, taxpayers – who will in part be paying for the music venue – should have been given more information about the negotiations and should be heard regarding any impacts the venue could have downtown, residents say.

"Now that the deal is done, the county has to take into account issues of traffic, safety and access," said Darian Unger, chairman of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board.

"At some point you are going to have thousands of people streaming out onto the sidewalk with tons of traffic," Unger said.

He noted that the Fillmore's estimated 2011 opening will loosely coincide with the opening of three other major projects in downtown Silver Spring – the Silver Spring Civic Building, the Paul S. Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center and the new Silver Spring Library.

Marco Fortini, who owns a restaurant next door to the proposed site, hopes the project can remain on schedule, because his current lease expires in 2012. If the Fillmore isn't open by then, his rent could skyrocket given his suddenly prime location.

"The key to the Fillmore is keeping the mom and pop stores and not outpricing us with the rent," said Fortini, the owner of Da Marco Ristorante Italiano at 8662 Colesville Road. "We've been here 30 years, and hopefully we stay another 20 if we can."

But even with concerns about the negotiation process and the impact on the community, Silver Spring residents do acknowledge the benefits of the Fillmore coming downtown.

"I wish the project was done next week, because I'd love to see it," Olivetti admitted.

Not only will the Fillmore help the arts and entertainment community already existing in Silver Spring, "I could definitely see people beginning to establish new ventures that coincide with the Fillmore opening," said Jose Dominguez, executive director of Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center.

Pyramid Atlantic currently puts on experimental music concerts at its Georgia Avenue location. When the Fillmore opens, Dominguez hopes Pyramid Atlantic can position itself beside the Fillmore in making Silver Spring a go-to place for non-mainstream music.

Even with his trepidation about rising rent, Fortini is confident that if his business survives, the Fillmore will provide a boost in customers. He's just tired of all the waiting.

"I've been here hoping that it would come a couple years ago, and it hasn't come," Fortini said. "I'll believe it when I start seeing construction on the site."