WASHINGTON — National Institutes of Health had planned to add up to 1,000 parking spaces to its expanding Bethesda, Maryland, campus over the next 20 years. But a federal land use authority has rejected the plan.

The National Capital Planning Commission rejected the parking plan.

Montgomery County Council member Roger Berliner, whose district includes the NIH Bethesda campus, calls the decision “a victory for our community.”  Earlier this month, Berliner had asked that NIH “be a better neighbor.”

Berliner and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., along with a group of Maryland state legislators, said NIH should stick with a formula that allotted one parking space to every three employees. Under that formula, Berliner says, NIH could effectively take 3,300 cars off the road.

The NIH campus, which is on Md. 355 (Wisconsin Avenue) and just off Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway, becomes a major choke point during rush hours.