Gaithersburg Mayor & Council holding public hearing on Rio Lakefront apartment proposal tonight

The Mayor and Council of Gaithersburg will hold a public hearing tonight, January 5, 2026, on the proposal to build up to 500 apartment units at the Rio Lakefront development in Gaithersburg at 7:30 PM. Under the plan, new residential buildings would be constructed on the other side of the development's lake, between the boardwalk and I-270. Public comment submitted to the City has been trending negative toward the proposal. One factor not helping win public support is the generic architecture being shown at this stage, which resembles numerous other recent apartment buildings in many places in our region (what do you call those tacky facade "frames" that are on virtually every new building these days?), and does not mesh well with the existing structures on the opposite side of the lake.

Montgomery County Council rams through ZTA to upzone SFH neighborhoods

The Montgomery County Council took the first major step toward realization of its radical, warmed-over Reaganomics "Thrive 2050" plan yesterday, by approving construction of duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and apartment buildings up to four stories tall on lots currently restricted to single-family homes along multiple commuter corridors. True to its form of recent years, the Council simply blew off community opposition, and a crowded hearing room of angry residents. Taunting the crowd at times, the Council's sense of invincibility was hard to hide in both their microexpressions and tone of voice. The "More Housing N.O.W." zoning text amendment - like Thrive 2050 - had no grassroots support, and overwhelming opposition among residents.

Steamrolling ahead, the Council's willingness to outright lie about the intention of the ZTA was astonishing. From the beginning, they have attempted to sell Thrive and this ZTA as addressing housing affordability issues. Councilmember Andrew Friedson specifically cited middle-income "teachers, firefighters, police officers and nurses" as being able to afford the $2 million duplexes and $1 million apartments that the ZTA will produce. This is nothing more than pure, unadulterated malarkey. Incredibly, the reporter from The Washington Post accepted this farcical statement at face value, declining to fact check Friedson, ask tough follow-up questions, or outright declare Friedson's statements as false, as the paper regularly does for Donald Trump. The Post even used the term "missing middle," which doesn't remotely apply to the multimillion-dollar units that will be constructed under this ZTA. 

Eligible properties (in pink and yellow) in
Aspen Hill, Glenmont, and Wheaton

All this ZTA will do is increase the cost of housing in Montgomery County. If the townhome right next to the parking garage with no backyard at Westbard Square is $1.x million, then the future duplex with half a backyard and half a front yard in Springfield has to go for $2.x million. Now the colonial with the full front yard and backyard and Whitman school district is suddenly $3.x million, and the new-construction McMansion is $4.x million. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Urbanization of the suburbs is the primary goal of the ZTA. For example, the map of eligible properties shows how this ZTA is advancing the plan to urbanize River Road between the D.C. line and the Capital Beltway, which I have warned you about for many years. You can see the many churches, schools, country clubs, and other large properties the Council and their developer sugar daddies imagine will be demolished in the coming years. The speed limit on River Road has already been improperly reduced to 35 MPH, the exact opposite of sound traffic engineering, as the road is designed for speeds up to 55 MPH. Eventually, under the urbanization plan, River Road will be reduced to one lane in each direction, with bus/bike-only lanes seizing the other travel lanes heading east and west. A Purple Line extension to Westbard will be planned to juice density even further. As tall apartment buildings rise along the sides of River Road, the speed limit will drop to 25 MPH. Similar plans are in the works for Georgia Avenue between Olney and downtown Silver Spring, Old Georgetown Road, Veirs Mill Road, Route 29, MD 355, and other major commuter routes countywide.

Here is how each Councilmember voted on the ZTA yesterday. The names under "YES" are the people you will be voting AGAINST on your 2026 ballot, and the names under "NO" are the people you will be voting FOR in the 2026 Democratic primary election.

YES - to approve the ZTA

Gabe Albornoz

Marilyn Balcombe

Natali Fani-Gonzalez

Andrew Friedson

Evan Glass

Dawn Luedtke

Laurie-Anne Sayles

Kate Stewart

NO - to oppose the ZTA

Will Jawando

Sidney Katz

Kristin Mink

Transformer explosion a symptom of corrupt Montgomery County planning policy

KABOOM! Another Pepco electrical transformer exploded yesterday afternoon in downtown Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle, cutting off power to many residents and businesses in the area. This has become an unacceptably-regular occurrance downtown. Importantly, power grid issues have become frequent in the two areas of Bethesda that were upzoned since 2016, downtown Bethesda and Westbard, since those sector plans were passed. This is no coincidence, and is a clear example of what many opponents of those plans warned - that the growth allowed would outstrip the capacity of the local infrastructure, including utilities. Such gross negligence has impacted communities countywide, where County officials have failed to deliver even the new infrastructure that was included in sector plans, such as downtown Bethesda, Clarksburg, Damascus, Wheaton, Glenmont, and Watkins Mill.

Around 3:00 PM Friday, a massive explosion was heard - and seen - in front of 7944 Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda. One witness saw a bright flash, and noted that power lines on nearby blocks were shaking. The explosion was so big that Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services were dispatched to the scene, but according to witnesses, departed after finding no ongoing fire. Another nearby resident told me that the lights in their apartment blinked, but power remained on. Many others were not so lucky, as you can see in the Pepco outage map shown here.

In the close vicinity of the transformer explosion, the power outage darkened buildings along the north side of Cordell Avenue, and in the 7900 block of Norfolk Avenue. Those were only two of the affected streets. Not only was this an inconvenience for many residents in an age where everything - including working-from-home - relies upon Wi-Fi, but was a cost to the bottom line of business owners in the area, as well.

Along with frequent power outages and transformer explosions in downtown Bethesda, where thousands of new residential units have been approved and constructed under the 2017 Bethesda Downtown sector plan, the Westbard area has been impacted by ongoing brownouts and power outages. The latter began in 2017, which coincided with the redevelopment of the "Westwood Complex" properties that was approved a year earlier, in the Westbard sector plan.

During these sector plan processes, many residents expressed concerns about how the area's aging power grid, and water and sewage systems, would handle the addition of hundreds or thousands of new households. And if they, inevitably and logically, could not, who would pay for the eventually-necessary upgrades? Their concerns were laughed off by the Montgomery County Planning Department, County Planning Board, and County Council. Nobody living or running a business in the affected areas is laughing anymore.

We've also seen increased flooding during heavy rains in downtown Bethesda, Westbard, and White Flint, which County officials have tried to blame on "climate change." In fact, it is those very Planning staff members, Planning Commissioners, and County Councilmembers who are personally responsible for the flooding - which has been fatal, in some tragic cases - because they approved the massive development and reduction of green space that has increased runoff countywide.

All of these problems stem not simply from developer greed, but from County government not placing limits and protections on that greed in the planning process. You can't blame developers for seeking the moon, if they can get it - that's their job. It is the planners, Planning Commissioners, and County Councilmembers who are tasked with protecting their constituents.

Instead, we've seen planners and commissioners who represent development interests fully take over the planning process. And developers in the Montgomery County cartel have controlled a majority of County Council seats since 2002, when they funded the "End Gridlock" slate. Today, we have a Council where all 11 members have taken varying degrees of money from developers. Not surprisingly, the Council's planning agenda has mirrored that of the developers who funded their victorious campaigns.

The approach can be summed up with a childish analogy. Developers - and the elected, appointed, and hired officials they support above and below the table - are skipping the vegetables, and going right to the chocolate cake every time. That all-sweets diet has understandably impacted the health and quality of life in our communities. Instead of doing the hard work of providing the infrastructure for the growth being proposed, our officials are simply approving all the growth, and not requiring those who are profiting from that growth to fund the infrastructure upgrades it requires.

Longtime residents know that developer-beholden officials have been a major factor in the economic, environmental, and quality-of-life decline over the first quarter of this century. Those engaged enough to pay attention can keep complaining about it - or we can actually do something about it. Here are just a few action items to consider:

1. Virtually every town, city, and county has an adequate public facilities ordinance. Montgomery County's is clearly in-adequate. It needs to be beefed up considerably. An APFO doesn't limit growth, it simply ensures that the private companies profiting from that growth pick up the tab for the infrastructure their new development demands: electric grid and sewer capacity upgrades, new classrooms, new social services, new police and fire facilities and equipment, etc. Right now, the majority of those costs - like the taxes the Council increasingly exempts developers from - are being pushed off onto the backs of residents in the form of higher property taxes and higher utility bills.

2. Stop the planning-to-profit revolving door. The Council should pass a law preventing planning staff and commissioners from accepting jobs with development companies and real estate law firms for at least 5 years after leaving their County position. 

3. Vote smarter. Do you vote somebody else's ballot on Election Day, a ballot that represents someone else's interests, instead of your own? Think about it. The rotten Apple Ballot represents the interests of the powerful teacher's union, which along with developers and other cartel members, is bankrupting the County finances. Endorsements by The Washington Post editorial board reflect the interests of developers, who not only purchase massive amounts of ads in the Post every week, but have actually bought multiple properties from the Post itself, which has profited from those real estate transactions. The Post, in effect, is engaged in property development itself.

Instead, vote YOUR ballot, that represents YOUR interests. The interests of you, your children and grandchildren, your neighborhood, your business. 

Do your research. Find out which candidates are funded by developers, and pay attention to which candidates are calling for responsible growth, and which are calling for unlimited growth unsupported by new infrastructure. The developer-funded candidates can often be identified by their use of terms like "abundance," "housing now," "missing middle," "inclusionary zoning," "redlining," "attainable housing," "social justice," "activity centers," "resilience," "growth corridors," "mix of housing," "Thrive 2050," "a variety of housing types," "equity," "duplexes," "triplexes," "quadplexes," and "parking minimums." That final phrase is utilized in calling for those parking minimums to be done away with to expand developer profits, not the enforcement of such adequate parking space requirements.

Remember, the County Council not only determines who sits on the Planning Board, but also controls the budget of the Planning Department. So, while it cannot regulate who is hired by the department or the policies it puts in front of the Board for approval, it can defund the Planning Department if it pushes policies that are contrary to the public interest.

4. Public financing reform. Currently, developer contributions to those Council candidates using the County's "public" financing system get matched by you, the taxpayer. Does that sound fair to you?

Corrupt users and supporters of the current "public" financing system will tout the "small contributions" that are fueling their campaigns with "people power." What they won't tell you, is that a massive number of those "small contributions" are coming from developers, development attorneys, and their family members. This is a huge advantage, as those candidates can take a great haul in checks from those development interests, and then they receive a matching amount from the pot of taxpayer money that has been budgeted for "public" financing.

Real public financing not only would not allow such outsize developer involvement, but would give every participating candidate at least some respectable amount of money to campaign with, instead of rewarding corrupt candidates who are backed by deep-pocketed development interests with six-figure payouts from the taxpayer. The current system represents a brilliant move by developers and their puppet candidates to force you to fund their campaigns.

Elrich to veto Montgomery County Council's massive developer tax break

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has declared his intention to veto a bill recently passed by the Montgomery County Council, which would exempt new residential developments from property taxes for 20 years, if they provide at least 17.5% affordable units and are converted from - or replace - existing office buildings. The legislation would apply to so many projects that it would likely drain billions from County coffers over the next two decades, and bankrupt the County. Such projects are already being built in great numbers without the new incentive.

"This bill makes no sense," Elrich said in his weekly update video Friday. "It gives away desperately-needed revenues to the developers." The Council is expected to try to overturn Elrich's veto. Seven councilmembers will have to vote in favor of overturning the veto to be successful. "Now is the time to speak up," Elrich said, urging residents to contact their councilmembers, and tell them they oppose overturning Elrich's veto. Although all councilmembers have accepted financial contributions from developers, the vote to overturn Elrich's veto will be closely watched, to see which councilmembers are willing to risk fiscal oblivion merely to facilitate even-higher profits for their developer sugar daddies.

Montgomery County residents overwhelmingly favor funding Office of the People's Counsel

Peggy Dennis and Ruben Meana Paneda
testify before the Montgomery County Council

Ten of the eleven residents who testified before the Montgomery County Council yesterday urged councilmembers to restore funding for the Office of the People's Counsel in the FY-2024 operating budget. All ten also spoke in strong opposition to the bill that was the subject of the public hearing, a legislative move to permanently eliminate the office, which the Council has failed to fund since 2010. Bill 18-23, introduced by Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D - District 1), would kill the position of People's Counsel, an attorney who could advise residents and civic associations on land-use and zoning issues, and represent their interests in administrative hearings. Friedson's bill would replace the People's Counsel with a toothless resident advisor, who would not have to be a licensed attorney, and who would not be allowed to participate in administrative hearings, would be unable to call or cross-examine witnesses, and would be forbidden to introduce evidence or point out violations of zoning law in those hearings.

Resident Sue Present said Friedson's developer-friendly bill "keeps the fat cats fat, and throws neighbors and neighborhoods under the bus." Friedson has received extensive campaign contributions from development interests, and developers have hosted fundraisers for him. 

The only resident to testify in favor of Friedson's bill to eliminate the People's Counsel was Jane Lyons-Raeder of Silver Spring, who has previously been employed as a lobbyist by the developer-funded Coalition for Smarter Growth. Lyons-Raeder said the quiet part out loud, expressing concern that a restored People's Counsel "could quickly turn into a free lawyer for people who oppose development in their neighborhood." She argued that Friedson's proposed advisor position would be preferable, as it would not "allow for free legal representation" for residents.

But the small way in which the Office of the People's Counsel takes a tiny step toward leveling the playing field with development interests who can afford high-priced lawyers is precisely what the 90% of residents who testified in favor of restoring the position yesterday see as its central appeal. Resident Max Bronstein pointed out that in a land-use dispute he was engaged in from 2007 to 2012, the developer had two lawyers, and a team of five land-use specialists. Montgomery County government has over 100 attorneys who represent it, he added. "Should not the 1 million people of the county have 1 lawyer representing them?" Bronstein asked the Council.

Bronstein said the Office of the People's Counsel was "a great aid" in his case up until 2010, when the Council defunded the office. He pointed to the Office of Legislative Oversight report on the OPC, which recorded that the People's Counsel participated in an average of 44 land use cases per year, and provided information on zoning and land use to residents an average of 347 times per year before being defunded.

Nowhere in the OLO report was it recommended the Office of the People's Counsel be closed, Bronstein noted. He said the People's Counsel will be particularly needed in the coming years, as the Council attempts to implement the controversial Thrive 2050 plan, which will allow attached housing and small apartment buildings to be constructed in existing single-family home neighborhoods.

Rick Meyer of the MoCo Coalition for Control of Cell Towers concurred that expert advice is needed for zoning text amendments, and not just for residents, but for the Council itself. A Council ZTA to allow 5G antennas to be placed in locations that were off-limits to such equipment at the time was later found to be in violation of the County's own laws. If even the five-year head of a Council committee couldn't understand the zoning laws, Meyer suggested, it indicates the need for just such a knowledgeable land-use attorney as the People's Counsel. In fact, one of the People's Counsel's duties and powers is the ability to point out when a developer or the County itself is in violation of the law during adminstrative proceedings.

Elizabeth Joyce of the 
Montgomery County Civic Federation

Elizabeth Joyce and Alan Bowser of the Montgomery County Civic Federation both recalled that several of the sitting councilmembers had promised their organization that they would restore funding for the Office of the People's Counsel during candidate interviews the federation held last June. Joyce said money is not the issue, because the funds Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has earmarked for the office in his proposed FY-2024 budget amount to only .0004% of the total budget.

Given the recent scandals that ended with the resignation of the entire Planning Board, Bowser questioned why Friedson would suggest eliminating a tool of equity and transparency like the Office of the People's Counsel. "Why in this moment of broad distrust, why would any of you want to exacerbate this situation" by proposing to eliminate the OPC? Bowser asked. Comparing Friedson's OPC-killing bill to a similar one that failed to pass seven years ago, Bowser concluded, "This was a bad bill in 2016; it's a terrible bill in 2023."

Resident Susan Labin pointed out that Friedson had ironically recently complained that a state bill that would have increased the County Executive's authority over planning and zoning was "a power grab," while Friedson is now attempting to grab power away from residents by killing the Office of the People's Counsel. "It seems like at every turn the real power grab is by the special interests," Labin said.

Nicole Williams

"I'm speaking from painful experience," Potomac resident Peggy Dennis said at the beginning of her testimony against Friedson's bill, and in favor the Office of the People's Counsel. She spoke of the many hours residents in her community spent fighting a gigantic assisted-living development that was in violation of the area's sector plan and County law, which was proposed by "a well-heeled developer." Had the OPC been in operation at that time, Dennis argued, "all of that time would have been saved...That person could have introduced evidence in a hearing, called witnesses, pointed out" illegal violations. 

Such time investment is beyond the means and availability of most residents, Nicole Williams said. "We shouldn't have to" spend time trying to interpret zoning and land-use laws while developers have the advantage of expensive attorneys. After 13 years of failing to fund the People's Counsel, Williams said, it's "time to stop giving residents the runaround."

The reality, as Bronstein noted during his testimony, is that there are hardly any land-use attorneys who will represent residents, even when wealthier neighborhoods have the money to pay them. This is absolutely true. For years, Norman Knopf would take such resident and civic association cases. After he retired, his partner David Brown continued in that role. But Brown refused to represent the Westbard residents who sued Montgomery County over illegal actions during the approval of the Westbard sector plan. Michele Rosenfeld took the residents' case. With her victory on Kensington residents' behalf in the Costco gas station case, and partial victory in downsizing the density of the Westbard Square development, Rosenfeld is now the preeminent land-use attorney representing residents and civic associations in court and in administrative proceedings. 

But that can only help if you can afford to hire an attorney. With the large number of newer residents in the County either being low-to-moderate in income, and many not speaking English as their first language - as Present noted in her testimony, a public resource and representative like the Office of the People's Counsel becomes more vital every day. And with the Planning Board and County Council increasingly ruling against majority sentiment and ignoring resident and civic association testimony, it can be argued that - if anything - the role and power of the People's Counsel should be expanded and made more muscular.

Montgomery County Council unanimously "reaffirms" appointment of James Hedrick to Planning Board

Montgomery County Planning Board commissioner James Hedrick will remain a member of the body, after his February appointment was unanimously "reaffirmed" by the County Council yesterday. County Executive Marc Elrich had vetoed Hedrick's appointment last Friday, leaving the Rockville resident's fate in limbo for several days, as supporters and detractors resumed their debate over his candidacy over the weekend. Hedrick had received eight votes from the eleven-member Council on February 28 to secure his appointment, and needed nine yesterday to survive Elrich's veto.

Hedrick found nine, and then some, when every councilmember supported his appointment at yesterday's Council session. Some councilmembers who showed unusual spine in opposing Council President Evan Glass's behind-the-scenes maneuvering when the new Council first convened last December found their knees buckling on Tuesday. A tweet prior to the meeting inadvertently revealed that the Council had already reached a decison to unanimously support Hedrick, an agreement that was come to off-the-record, out of public view. Some of the same councilmembers who took Glass to task for making decisions off-line in December about committee assignments went along with his ex parte process this time.

It's likely the Council circled the wagons in this case because Glass could have sold the Hedrick Holdouts the argument that this was a vote on principle, of the power and will of the Council versus the executive. Does this mean the more independent minds on the Council will now support the Glass agenda for the rest of his term as president? No, as the competing bills on rent stabilization clearly show.

Is the Hedrick appointment reason for opponents of Thrive 2050 and its threat to end single-family-home zoning to get their blood pressure up? No. As I noted Saturday, Hedrick's support of Thrive and upzoning are hardly unique on the new Planning Board. The Council will not appoint anyone who opposes Thrive. Hedrick's votes will likely be indistinguishable from any other commissioner this Council would have appointed in his place.

If anything, Hedrick's appointment may improve the quality of the Board's work. Even if you disagree with the plans and policies he might vote to approve, his experience as chair of Rockville Housing Enterprises gives him an expertise on some of the technical and practical issues of multifamily housing that has been lacking in some of the commissioners in recent years. Board observers won't soon forget the many classic "amateur hour" moments from the Casey Anderson era, such as commissioners determining the maximum height for a parcel in the Westbard sector by looking at a distorted Google Street View image during a meeting.

One thing is for certain: the Hedrick controversy aside, the developer campaign contributors to the County Council are over-the-moon about the Planning Board situation as a whole. By all rights, the many scandals that ended with the forced resignation of the entire Board last year should have triggered comprehensive investigations by the local media, the Council, the Maryland Attorney General, and the FBI - starting with Farm Road and ending with Liquorgate. Some people might have even been looking at time behind bars in federal prison. Few could have imagined that the Council would be able to not only entirely sidestep investigations, but also seize the unprecedented power to appoint an entirely new Board and Chair all at once. 

We can wonder why the media and those other levels of law enforcement agreed to look the other way, much as they did during the 2018 County government $6 million embezzlement scandal. But we can truly know why the Council found the chutzpah to sweep the Anderson-era scandals under the filthy Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission rug. 

Once again, it goes back to one of the most pivotal moments in Montgomery County political history: the victory of the County political cartel over the Columbia Country Club in the Purple Line struggle. The elected officials dared to grab the third rail (pun intended), and when the next election came around, they realized that they weren't electrocuted - they were reelected! Turns out, especially when you have the local media in your back pocket, the third rail is a brass ring. If we can beat the Columbia Country Club, they concluded, we can beat anybody.

Energized to try their luck, the 2014-2018 Council approved a massive property tax hike, and the Westbard sector plan. They even aggressively defended the cover-up around, and ongoing desecration of, the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. While they ended up getting term limits, albeit with extremely-generous 12-year terms, when the actual elections came around in 2018...the voters - whose posteriors were still smarting from a tax and Westbard spanking they had just received two years prior - voted for the same or similar candidates who had delivered the beatdown to them.

The Council couldn't believe its good fortune. Realizing it now enjoyed serious Trump-shooting-somebody-on-Fifth-Avenue immunity, it could now go for broke. "Smart growth" around transit stations and the 2014 pledge that "we just want the shopping centers, we won't touch the neighborhoods" suddenly gave way to developer fever dreams like Thrive 2050. Serious players like Kenwood and the Citizens Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights who had to be bargained with in the past could now be ignored, resulting in decisions like the Little Falls Parkway road diet scandal, and the Westbard-area road closure fiasco.

Of course, the Anderson-era Planning Board was the harbinger of this iron-fist, winner-take-all era we've now entered. Gone are the days when well-argued testimony from a resident could lead a commissioner like Francoise Carrier, Amy Presley or Norman Dreyfuss to change their mind on an issue. When you come to a Planning Board session in recent years, you know how the vote is going to go, with extremely rare exceptions. Your only role as a resident or civic association officer is to at least get the opposing view on the record for posterity.

One can hope independent minds will somehow emerge on the new Planning Board. But the Council demonstrated such closed minds in its interview process, that it's hard to believe this new Board won't redefine the term "lockstep" with frequent unanimous votes. 

Consider that among the applicants for the interim board was former Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo. By every measure, Giammo was - if anything - overqualified to serve as a Planning Board commissioner. As mayor, Giammo successfully delivered the $400 million revitalization of Rockville Town Center. He also had served as a commissioner on the Rockville Planning Commission prior to that. And after leaving office, he has been a leading voice for the interests of City residents on growth, development and school overcrowding issues. In short, someone familiar with the nuts-and-bolts of development and its impact on public facilities and infrastructure, but with a record of representing the best interests of the community. That is the essence of what you would want in a Planning Board commissioner, right?

The Council didn't even include Giammo on its finalist interview list. 

That tells you everything you need to know about the credibility of the County Council in this process.

Boyds Warrior Canine Connection HQ proposal to be reviewed by Planning Board

A proposal to create an operational headquarters for the non-profit Warrior Canine Connection in Boyds will be reviewed by the Montgomery County Planning Board. The plan proposes to convert an existing barn and kennel facility at 14934 Schaeffer Road into a headquarters with office space for the organization. All 17 acres of the property, which are located within Seneca Creek State Park, are owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. That means that the plan will be review under the mandatory referral process. In plain English, that means that the Board may comment, advise and recommend changes to the proposal, but has no legal authority to force the DNR to alter the plan, or to deny approval of the plan.

Warrior Canine Connection plans to use the modified building to expand its program and the number of physically and mentally-injured veterans it can assist. Through the organization, veterans train service dogs for other veterans. The new headquarters facility will have additional space for the breeding, training and care of the dogs housed by the non-profit for the program.

Because the property is on a rustic road, no modifications are required to the front entrance of the site. The entrance driveway will be fully-paved, a new well and septic tanks will be installed, new pathways will be paved, an ADA-compliant parking area will be created, an above-ground fire suppression tank will be erected, a paved area for dumpsters will be poured, and power lines will be undergrounded. No new outdoor lighting is being sought by the applicant. There will be one employee on-site 24 hours a day in case of any emergency related to the property or to the animals. 

The Board will review the proposal at its January 19, 2023 meeting, where the public may testify. Planning staff are recommending approval of the application.

Rendering courtesy Montgomery County Planning Department

Gaithersburg proposal would replace single family homes with 2 apartment buildings

A developer has proposed replacing single-family homes at 201 Brookes Avenue and 9, 11 and 15 Park Avenue in Gaithersburg with two apartment buildings. Four-story-tall Building 1 would be at the corner of Brookes and Park, and have 70 units and a surface parking lot. Five-story-tall Building 2 would be on Park Avenue, and hold 110 units. Building 2 will have a parking garage. The completed buildings would be adjacent to the remaining single-family homes in the neighborhood.

The Gaithersburg Historic District Commission had advised rejecting the proposal, recommending historic designation for the existing homes. That recommendation was rejected by the City Council on October 3, 2022. The Gaithersburg Planning Commission will now review the apartment buildings proposal at its December 7, 2022 meeting at 7:30 PM. Planning staff are recommending approval of the proposal with two conditions: 1) that the windows around the building entrances be changed to comply with Olde Towne District Design Guidelines, and 2) that the applicant successfully receive a waiver for the fifth story of Building 2 from the Mayor and Council, or else reduce that building to four stories.

Montgomery County Executive, Civic Federation call on County Council to disapprove Thrive 2050 plan

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) and the Montgomery County Civic Federation have both asked the County Council to disapprove the controversial Thrive 2050 growth plan. Elrich wrote in a memo to councilmembers that a new consultant report underscored his previous concern that there was insufficient outreach to residents of color, and of lower-income levels. He also noted that a survey touted by Thrive 2050 proponents used deceptive questions that referred to end goals of the plan, without disclosing the new zoning changes that would be implemented to achieve them.

Elrich advised the Council to put its political interests in passing Thrive 2050 before the November election aside, in favor of more outreach, and incorporation of more than 65 changes recommended by the consultant to prevent gentrification and displacement of residents of color and lower incomes. These proposed changes include Community Benefit Agreements, rent-to-own programs, and constructing more parks in areas that fit those demographics. Elrich said disapproving the current plan would also allow time for further public hearings.

A major complaint of Thrive 2050 detractors from the beginning has been the impression that the plan was rammed through by the County Planning Board while the general public was distracted by the pandemic. The most controversial aspect is that the plan would allow construction of multifamily housing in existing single-family home neighborhoods. This would drastically change the character of those neighborhoods, while the resulting attached housing units would be too expensive to help address the perceived lack of affordable housing in the county. 

Thousands of new housing units have come online countywide since 2014, but that surge in inventory has had no downward effect on prices. As volume increases, home prices and rents have only gone upward, creating skepticism that Thrive 2050's massive construction scheme will make housing affordable. In fact, based on the data of the last decade, it would likely only jack up prices further. If new townhomes sell for over $1 million in an industrial area of 20816, how much would a new larger duplex unit sell for in the same desirable zip code? Not less.

The resolution passed by the Civic Federation addressed many of the same concerns Elrich raised, as well as environmental sustainability and the need for broad community support for master plans. Thrive 2050 supporters have dismissed that idea, arguing that despite their six-and-seven figure investments in a SFH-neighborhood environment, County home buyers should have no say or leverage in the zoning or development of any property besides their own. 

New chapters should be added on each of the topics that the consulting team determined were shortchanged in the current draft, the Federation advised, including environmental, racial equity and social justice issues. A new public hearing should be held on each of those new chapters, its resolution added. The Federation also opposes universal upzoning and by-right zoning changes implemented through the controversial Zoning Text Amendment process, and notes that the consultant report suggests that a legitimate process to address the areas of concern it identified would take at least one year.

Other concerns that have been expressed throughout the Thrive 2050 process have included school overcrowding, loss of green space and tree canopy, inadequate parking spaces for the higher neighborhood densities proposed, and whether the existing infrastructure such as water and sewer can handle such a population increase in existing neighborhoods. 

The Council currently has planned to vote on the Thrive 2050 plan by October 25.

Gaithersburg Mayor & Council to vote on resolution denying proposed car wash on MD 355 tonight

Gaithersburg residents have shifted the debate over a proposed car wash that would replace two single-family homes at 605 and 607 South Frederick Avenue, and an undeveloped plot at 601 South Frederick. After residents launched a campaign to oppose approval of the car wash, and the Mayor and Council discussed the project and the feedback from all stakeholders, city staff has now drawn up a resolution denying approval of the site plan.

Issues raised by the community, of which ten residents spoke at the March 21, 2022 public hearing, included traffic back-ups, and noise and light concerns. The proximity of a stream to the properties, and the proposed location of a retaining wall relative to the stream's buffer zone, also generated environmental impact concerns. 

Staff found that the car wash would not fit with the residential character of the location, which is how the city's master plan currently characterizes it. A car wash would not foster "an attractive and cohesive development pattern" for that area, the staff report asserts, as it would create a more "vehicle-intensive use" and include a structure larger than anything currently around it. The side street, Central Avenue, is residential and could not handle the traffic volumes of the car wash curb cuts on that side of the property, staff concluded.

The two homes that would be demolished are old enough that they cannot be demolished without a review of their historical significance, the staff report notes. Overall, staff concluded, the project is not in "the public interest," based on negative community feedback, and increased traffic and environmental impacts. 

The Mayor and Council will consider the resolution of denial at their meeting tonight, June 21, 2022. 

Gaithersburg Mayor & Council to discuss new Parklands development, controversial car wash tonight

Gaithersburg's Mayor and Council will discuss a proposed multifamily development on the Stevenson and Metgrove properties adjacent to the never-built Parklands town center and CSX railroad along Metropolitan Grove Road at their public meeting tonight, May 16, 2022 at 7:30 PM. A developer has proposed building up to 287 residential units on the properties, and an amenity space alongside the CSX right-of-way. The units may include townhomes, 2 over 2 townhomes, and/or triplexes, with heights ranging from 4 to 5 stories. Amenities proposed include a clubhouse, pool and railroad noise barrier.

No final decision on the project will be made tonight. The purpose is for discussion only. Also on the agenda tonight is a controversial car wash proposal that would replace two single family homes and a third plot of land at 601, 605, and 607 S. Frederick Avenue. Again, this will be a discussion, with no final vote scheduled for this evening.

Gaithersburg homes could be replaced by car wash

Two single-family homes on MD 355 in Gaithersburg could be demolished and replaced by a car wash, if the proposal is approved by city officials. Crain Partners, LLC of Bowie has submitted an application seeking approval of the site plan for a 5,617 square foot automatic car wash facility at 601, 605 and 607 South Frederick Avenue from the City. 605 and 607 are the house properties; 601 is undeveloped land at the corner of MD 355 and Central Avenue. The properties are backed by a stream that has a wetland buffer zone.

New ingress-egress curb cuts would be added on the Central Avenue side of the property for the car wash. A 3' retaining wall would be constructed along the parking spaces and drive aisle on the site. 18 vacuum stations would be provided for customers. A 16'x11' dumpster enclosure would hide a refuse dumpster. And three micro-bioretention planter boxes would assist in stormwater management. Crain Partners has agreed to donate part of the property along Central Avenue, as required by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, to meet right-of-way requirements for that street.

Proposed site plan

Some car washes in the county have had issues with backed-up lines spilling out into traffic lanes. Gaithersburg has a 200' stacking length guidance for car wash lanes. Crain Partners has proposed going above and beyond what it is required to offer, by providing two lanes that will total 510' of stacking length. The required 23 parking spaces will also be provided under the site plan, but the applicant will seek waivers for parking space dimensions and parking green space requirements at a later date.

Crain Partners has proposed planting 9 trees and 46 shrubs on the site. The applicant is seeking an environmental waiver related to the retaining wall facing the stream buffer. While the walls will not be built within the buffer zone, workers and their equipment will need to be on the buffer zone land for temporary periods to construct and maintain the walls.

A public hearing on the car wash proposal will be held tonight, March 21, 2022, by the Mayor and Council at 7:30 PM. Because this is the initial hearing on the matter, city staff will not make a recommendation on the proposal at this juncture.

Montgomery Village 2022 election voting underway

Voting is now underway for the 2022 Montgomery Village Foundation Board election. Three seats are up for election, and six candidates have filed to run for them. Residents vote for their choices using mail-in ballots, a method that put Montgomery Village ahead of its time many years ago. Ballots must be received by 5:00 PM on Friday, March 18, 2022.

MVF Board incumbents Doniele Ayres and Scott Dyer are running for reelection, joined by challengers Albert Bennetts, Brian R. Della Rocca, Dick Rabil and Tosan Tutse-Tonwe. The winners will serve a three-year term.

Candidate statements and resumes can be found in the mailing sent to each household with the mail-in ballot, and in the February 4 issue of the Montgomery Village News. Voters can also participate in a virtual Zoom meeting with the candidates prior to the MVF Board meeting on February 24. Letters of endorsement can be read in, and submitted to, the Montgomery Village News. 

One issue coming to the forefront in the election is the newly-proposed Evergreen development on the Lidl property, which is of particular concern to the Whetstone community. Whetstone resident Brian R. Della Rocca and four-term incumbent Scott Dyer have both focused on the Evergreen proposal in their campaigns, among other development concerns. 

Della Rocca is a member of a Whetstone steering committee for residents opposed to the development. Dyer has been endorsed by the Save Our Whetstone Coalition after expressing opposition to the Evergreen proposal as it is currently formulated, as well as by former MVF Board member and attorney Jim Shalleck, who rose to prominence as a prosecutor in the 1977 "Son of Sam" case in New York City.

The Evergreen issue is sure to be part of the discussion at the February 24 Zoom meeting with candidates, where voters will have a chance to hear what each candidate's position on the current proposal is. 

Clarksburg Town Center developer seeks permission to swap approved condos for townhomes

CTC Development, Inc. is seeking permission from the Montgomery County Planning Board to swap an approved plan for 24 "manor home" condominium units in Clarksburg Town Center with a new plan for 12 townhomes on two lots. The new plan would reduce the number of affordable MPDU units from eight to seven. Planning commissioners will review the request at the board's meeting today, January 6, 2022. Staff is recommending approval of the new plan, with conditions.

Damascus senior housing project receives $2.5M loan from state of Maryland

A senior housing project at St. Anne's Episcopal Church at 25100 Ridge Road in Damascus has been awarded a $2.5 million loan from the Maryland Rental Housing Works Program. The funds will go toward the construction of 76 1-and-2-bedroom apartments for seniors on the church property. Maryland's Board of Public Works approved the loan at its October 20, 2021 meeting.

Rendering courtesy St. Anne's Episcopal Church

Gaithersburg Mayor & Council to be briefed on Corridor Forward plan by Montgomery County

 

Montgomery County planners are scheduled to brief Gaithersburg's Mayor & Council on the County's "Corridor Forward: I-270 Transit Plan" at tonight's Mayor & Council meeting. The plan includes some long-delayed and unrealized transit projects, such as adding MARC capacity in the I-270 corridor, a Metro Red Line extension, and the Corridor Cities Transitway. From that standpoint, it makes practical sense.

But the plan includes a menu of developer pay-offs, such as extensions of the Purple Line that would obliterate the western segment of the Capital Crescent Trail, implementing coal-mining-style hilltop removals and clearcutting wooded areas from the southwest of downtown Bethesda to the D.C. line. It also calls for bizarre new actions in the County's ongoing War-on-Cars, such as actively taking steps to prevent any additional automobile capacity - for a corridor that is automobile-dependent!

As currently envisioned, the Corridor Forward plan can be summed up thusly: A taxpayer-funded payoff to the developers who fund all nine County Councilmembers' campaigns. It evens states as a goal improving access for Frederick County to the District, and to Tysons. 

So it would give an economic boost to Frederick and Fairfax counties, further establish Montgomery as a bedroom community, increase development in the exurbs of Frederick (which the Council and their developer friends claim they oppose), and have you, the taxpayer, subsidize all of this, to boot. In short, it's a close runner up to Thrive 2050 for the Al Capone award.

Gaithersburg Planning Commission to review proposed Spectrum plan amendment converting office to residential

Last month, Gaithersburg's Mayor and Council voted to send a proposed sketch plan amendment for the Spectrum development to the city's Planning Commission for review and a final decision. The proposal would convert pad sites currently approved for a bank and an office building to residential use instead. Up to 225 residential units would be constructed, if the amendment is approved.

Commissioners are now scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed amendment at their Tuesday, September 14, 2021 meeting at 7:30 PM. Planning staff is suggesting the public record be closed on the matter on Friday, October 15, 2021 at 5:00 PM. Commissioners are then expected to vote on the amendment at their November 3, 2021 meeting.

Gaithersburg solar array plan heads to Montgomery County Planning Board

A proposal to construct a solar array on the site of the former Oaks Landfill at 6010 Riggs Road in Gaithersburg will be considered by the Montgomery County Planning Board at its September 15, 2021 meeting. The 170-acre landfill is capped, and gases remaining from that use in the soil are currently being harnessed to generate electricity. 24 of the acres would be used for ground-mounted solar arrays under the proposed plan, generating 11.4 million kilowatt hours of AC power annually. Planning staff is recommending approval of the project.

Spectrum developer seeks to convert office, commercial space to residential

Mayor & Council also expected to

make final decision on 

Lakeforest Mall master plan

Montgomery County's weak office market and moribund economy may end up sinking more potential office space development in Gaithersburg. A developer at The Spectrum property at the I-270 interchange with Watkins Mill Road is asking the City of Gaithersburg to convert sites approved as office and commercial use to residential apartments.

Under the current approval held by HIP Projects, Inc., the two sites were expected to become a bank branch, and an office building. The revised plan, if approved by city officials, would replace both with a six-story residential building containing 225 units. This would raise the total number of residential units at the Spectrum development to 690 apartments. A planned senior housing development, a police station, and a senior center have yet to be constructed at the Spectrum.

The request will be reviewed by the Mayor and Council at their meeting tonight, August 16, 2021. They are being asked by city staff to direct the Planning Commission to hold a public hearing, and send them back a final decision on the proposal. The Mayor and Council also have the right to retain final decision-making power on the matter for themselves. 

This would be only the latest example of space that could house high-wage jobs being switched to residential, reducing potential commercial and job growth if the stagnant County economy could be turned around in the future. Montgomery County continues to evolve into a bedroom community for the job centers located elsewhere in our region. I've been writing about it for a decade, but even former County Executive Ike Leggett expressed alarm at the trend in 2016.

The Mayor and Council will also review a final resolution on the Lakeforest Mall master plan draft that would allow up to 1600 housing units to be constructed on the site of the current mall. They are expected to vote on that resolution tonight. On the one hand, 1600 units seems like a small amount for a property of that size, if its proximity to MARC rail could be maximized. On the other hand, few expect county and state leaders to ever deliver such long-promised rail upgrades, and the mall is not walking distance to Metro.

Gaithersburg Planning Commission to make official recommendation on Lakeforest Mall draft master plan

Gaithersburg's Planning Commission will make its official recommendation to the Mayor and Council on whether or not to approve the draft Lakeforest Mall master plan at its virtual meeting tomorrow night, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The plan will set design standards, and make recommendations that any future redevelopment is expected to remain consistent with. Planning staff has recommended approval of the draft master plan, with conditions. Those conditions will be mandatory, and will be subject to their own public hearing.