MD board: Rockville Planning Commission violated Open Meetings Act

The State of Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board has found that the Rockville Planning Commission violated the Maryland Open Meetings Act in its two closed sessions on November 5, 2018 and August 7, 2019. Rockville resident and former planning commissioner David Hill brought the matter to the board's attention last year, and their ruling has now been issued. Hill also informed the Mayor and Council of the issues and the ruling at their December 16 meeting.

Both Hill, and the West End Citizens Association, further argue that City staff actions and advice to the Planning Commission in regards to the closed sessions led to the violations, and failed to provide sufficient transparency to the public. WECA had actively participated in the public approval process of a development proposal for 107 W. Jefferson Street. Representatives of WECA were present at commission meetings during that process, in one instance waiting outside of the chambers during a closed session at which commissioners departed the room without returning to open session following their closed discussion.

The Mayor & Council will now discuss the violations and related issues at their January 6, 2020 meeting at 7:00 PM at City Hall. Hill is urging them to take some substantive action rather than let the OMCB's findings simply stand, as that body only determines whether the law was violated, but does not issue penalties. He also is requesting they investigate the actions of City Attorney Debra Yerg Daniel in the matter. "The City Attorney serves at Mayor and Council pleasure," Hill noted in his testimony. "That gives you supervisory responsibility of her conduct. As a citizen of Rockville and former commissioner, I call on you to discover why the law was broken, censure that, and fix it."

WECA is further recommending the Mayor & Council utilize an independent outside counsel to study the matter. The WECA board suggests that the approval of the 107 W. Jefferson Street development also be part of that independent investigation.

Mayor & Council photo via City of Rockville

Rockville Planning Commission postpones vote on next Chair

Planning Commission Chair
Don Hadley said he is ready to
turn the gavel over

The Rockville Planning Commission declined to vote on who its next Chair will be last night. Commissioners were undecided as to who wanted to take on the responsibility, and wanted the two absent members to have a say in the decision. That decision will now come in January.

Commissioner Jack Leiderman was next in line under the traditional criteria, but declined the Chair position when asked by his colleagues. Leiderman cited his often-outspoken opinions, and the fact that his term is winding down with no guarantee of reappointment, as reasons for declining the chairmanship.

David Hill, a longtime commissioner who has served as Chair in the past, said he felt he would continue to be most effective without the title of Chair, as it frees him up to fully engage in the discussion and make motions on planning items. Commissioner John Tyner, another veteran who has chaired the body, said he would be willing to do it again if necessary. All agreed they would prefer if one of the newer members of the Commission would take the Chair position. Commissioner Anne Goodman declined for personal reasons. Commissioners Charles Littlefield (who was floated as a potential chair by several commissioners) and Gail Sherman were not at the meeting.

Current Chair Don Hadley said it would be a negative for the institution of the commission for him to serve in that role beyond this month. He said the commission is best-served if the leadership chair doesn't become too closely associated with one person. Hadley asked Hill to lead an offline discussion to attempt to reach a consensus on who is interested in the seat. At the commission's January meeting, members will have to either vote at the outset of the meeting, or appoint a pro-tempore chair to get through the meeting agenda that night. Then a discussion and vote can be held later in the evening.

As the commissioners prepared to adjourn, they were stunned to hear of the departure of Senior Assistant City Attorney Marcy Waxman. Waxman said she appreciated the opportunity to work with the Commission over the past several years, and would miss them personally and professionally. She noted she had been working for the City on a temporary basis since August.

Waxman did not mention what her next career move would be, but her LinkedIn page says she is now a Real Estate Agent and Attorney with RE/MAX Realty Group. The commissioners expressed their gratitude for her service. Waxman said she will be succeeded at the Commission by two new attorneys hired by the City.

Rockville Planning Commission approves Avalon Bay project, mulls new tools to control school overcrowding

A development project delayed repeatedly over the last decade had yet another scare last night before the Rockville Planning Commission. But Avalon Bay's Twinbrook Station apartment site plan ultimately gained approval, before the end of another epic Planning Commission meeting - a meeting that began last night at 7:00 PM, and ended early this morning.

Avalon Bay has proposed building a 55' high, 238-unit apartment building at 12720 Twinbrook Parkway. There will be 24 studios, 115 1-bedrooms, and 99 2-bedroom units, and a 351-space parking garage. Thirty units will be set aside as affordable housing. Amenities promised include a swimming pool, fitness center and club room. Despite the Twinbrook Parkway address, the main driveway access will be off of Ardennes Avenue.

The project site is less than a quarter mile from the Twinbrook Metro station. Ranging from only 3-4 stories despite that transit-oriented location, the project had to also balance its proximity to the single-family home neighborhood directly adjacent to it. Commissioners - including Jack Leiderman, who cast the only dissenting vote against the plan - praised the applicant for its restraint on height and density.

View of rooftop deck at
future Avalon Bay Twinbrook
apartments, including
outdoor grill station

Concerns mostly centered on its impact on schools, including Twinbrook Elementary; traffic circulation; and public safety.

The school question caused the commission to briefly jump ahead to a discussion of what school capacity data it should consider related to projects, which had originally been confined to a later agenda item. Leiderman argued strongly that - despite this year's decision by the City Council to allow more overcrowding, by weakening Rockville's Adequate Public Facilities Standards on school capacity - the Planning Commission retains significant oversight authority and responsibility to ensure adequate classroom space.

“I do have one concern here that has to do with schools," Leiderman said of the Avalon Bay project. "Twinbrook Elementary is struggling with being over-capacity. The APFS standard, per se, when we go to the finding that we would make…the standard number three about the adequate public facilities standard…that does not preempt a municipal planning commission from taking into account what’s going on at a local school near the site."

While Avalon Bay's projected student impact "may not trigger an automatic moratorium, I would contend that the planning commission still” has authority to consider the capacity of schools in that cluster, Leiderman suggested. He recalled that Councilmembers Tom Moore and Virginia Onley, in voting for the APFS change, "made the point that nothing in the APFS change restricts the planning commission from evaluating [school capacity] on a case-by-case basis. I take that to heart [in considering] the general welfare finding. I’m not equipped with enough data to make a finding."

“We suggested that that’s not appropriate,” planning staff liaison Andrew Gunning said of why staff was not furnishing all of the numbers Leiderman and others have requested. Because the city has adopted a new standard, it should stick to that in measuring impacts of developments, Gunning argued. “To look at two different sets of measurements…would be really confusing and introduces a lot of, just, confusion,” Gunning said.

Leiderman replied that detailed data is necessary for the commission to holistically consider whether or not there are adequate public facilities to permit approval of a particular application. As it stands, “I don’t have the information I would need as a commissioner to do due diligence to make a finding,” Leiderman said.

Commissioner John Tyner disagreed. “We are bound by what current law is. That is what staff has based their recommendations on,” Tyner said.

But the "legislative intent behind [the current law] was that the commission still uses its judgement," Leiderman said. “If site plans were simply based on numbers, we wouldn’t need commissioners. [Considering school capacity] is still in our purview.”

Avalon Bay's attorney, Barbara Sears, objected to the late discussion of new school-capacity criteria. "I believe in the rule of law," Sears said regarding the new APFS revision. "I know you’re disspointed it was adopted, but the city has adopted" a lower standard.

Commission chair Don Hadley agreed with Sears in principle, suggesting that Avalon Bay - as the first applicant to come before the commission under the new standards - shouldn't be penalized for that random fact. He concurred with the idea of the commission discussing new tools it could utilize to fulfill the responsibilities Leiderman suggested were within its authority over schools. But, Hadley said, "this is not the project" to have that discussion around.

With school concerns off the table, there were not any issues that threatened to derail the project.

Regarding traffic, some commissioners were concerned that the Ardennes access would have a negative impact on streets like Halpine Road. Katie Mencarini of the Rockville Department of Public Works said that traffic studies showed the Avalon Bay development would actually generate less vehicle trips than the previous office use.

Leiderman, in discussing the lack of rear driveway access for firetrucks, segued into a discussion of a catastrophic fire at another Avalon Bay development in New Jersey. That fire left 1020 residents homeless, and is the subject of ongoing litigation and investigation by authorities, Leiderman noted.

Avalon Bay's Martin Howle acknowledged the January blaze at its Avalon at Edgewater apartments was "clearly a tragedy." New Jersey fire officials blamed that five-alarm inferno partly on the building's "lightweight wood construction," according to NJ.com.

But, Howle asserted, "the building actually performed the way it was supposed to," allowing occupants to escape. He said Avalon Bay has hired safety officers since the fire, and promised their Twinbrook project would have an "upgraded fire suppression system," beyond what current regulations require of developers. "We take these issues very seriously," Howle assured commissioners.

Commissioner David Hill questioned if there would be sufficient parking, were the 2-bedroom unit tenants to have more than 1 car. Sears said the parking-to-units ratio at Twinbrook would be 1.5, higher than the 1.2 average among other Avalon Bay properties. Hill also expressed concern over the lack of employment in the all-residential project. Sears replied that the primary motivation for the 100% residential proposal was that "the community didn't want to see retail in there." She noted that there are many jobs available within short walking distance of the site, most notably at the Department of Health and Human Services site.

Tyner moved to approve the site plan. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Anne Goodman. Commissioners approved the project by a 6-1 vote, with Leiderman dissenting.

The commission held a short discussion of the APFS staff report, but decided to postpone an in-depth conversation due to the early morning hour. Leiderman mentioned that courts have ruled schools are a local concern, meaning that the city could write laws regarding them, even if it doesn’t directly control them. He also suggested there needs to be an adequate public facilities element in the citywide Master Plan the commission is currently working on.

Renderings courtesy Avalon Bay and
SK+I Architecture
All rights reserved

No apologies: Rockville Planning Commission responds to Councilman's query regarding Pike Plan

Rockville Planning Commission
Chair Don Hadley

Rockville Councilmember Tom Moore wrote to the city's Planning Commission to request an update on when the Mayor and Council might expect the Rockville Pike Plan back from that body. That letter was brought up at the commission's last meeting. According to commission chair Don Hadley, Moore expressed a strong interest in receiving the plan in time for the current Mayor and Council to act on it prior to Election Day in November. Should this not happen, Hadley said, Moore implied that the work of residents, staff and elected officials would be wasted.

Commissioner John Tyner noted, jokingly, that Moore "didn’t thank the members of the Planning Commission of our 4 years of work on this project." Overall, none of the commissioners expressed any concurrence with Moore's choice of timing, and several referred to it as an "artificial deadline."

To the idea that any further delay would have wasted time and effort, Commissioner David Hill responded that the commission had taken great time and effort to obtain citizen feedback on the plan, and said "I don’t think that’s a wasted effort in any manner."

Commissioner Jack Leiderman argued that it was the Council majority that overturned the city's Adequate Public Facilities Standards for school overcrowding that was actually to blame for the holdup.

"When the Mayor and Council unilaterally changed the apes standards, it sort of changed the groundwork upon which our plan had been developed," Leiderman said. "We did warn them in advance that it would be disruptive to the planning process for the Mayor and Council to move precipitously in that area. They chose to go ahead and do that."

 "I don’t make any apologies to anyone on the council 

who’s asking why is there a delay, because the council majority

 is actually the cause of the delay."

"I think this commission reserves the right to reassess the plan in light of what now needs to be discussed," Leiderman continued, "because the [Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance] and APFS are repeatedly referred to in the plan. And so I don’t make any apologies to anyone on the council who’s asking why is there a delay, because the council majority is actually the cause of the delay."

After getting feedback from commissioners, Hadley said he would compose a letter representing their thoughts on the matter. "We’re not a political body, we’re not playing politics," Hadley said, stressing that the commission is committed to updating the plan under the new APFS standards in the best interests of residents.

"The easiest way to put it," Tyner suggested, "is that when we’ve completed our deliberations, and have come up with a plan that’s in the best way for the needs of the citizens of all of Rockville, then we’ll send it forward."

" Potentially catastrophic " changes wrought by Rockville APFS vote

Unintended consequences, or a "shell game"? How some changes slipped through along with Rockville's adoption of Montgomery County's school capacity standards, was a question on the minds of several Planning Commissioners at last night's meeting.

Commissioner Jack Leiderman questioned city planning staff regarding a little-noticed change in traffic standards, which mysteriously accompanied the relaxing of school standards, in the City Council resolution.

The change now exempts age-restricted senior housing projects from traffic impact standards. As senior housing has little to do with school capacity, Leiderman wanted to know why such a change was made, and how it was done without alerting the commission or the council. "I'm a little bit troubled by the process involved," Leiderman said.

Under the new standard, Leiderman argued, if Redgate Golf Course were redeveloped as a Leisure World-style community - minus facilities that would subject it to traffic penalties - the resulting major automobile generator would be entirely exempt. Leiderman said the new policy "could be potentially catastrophic."

Staff Liaison Andrew Gunning and Chief of Planning Jim Wasilak said the change likely slipped through when staff tried to match the subdivision staging policy with that of the county's.

Leiderman noted that Mayor Bridget Newton brought the traffic policy change up twice during council discussion of the APFS changes. Commission Chair Don Hadley recalled that he mentioned it specifically during his Annual Report briefing to the Mayor and Council.

A suggestion of drafting a text amendment to correct the unintended change was proposed by Leiderman. Commissioner David Hill preferred to limit action to a letter alerting the Mayor and Council to the problem. Hadley offered a compromise: a letter that would outline how the Mayor and Council might consider correcting the language. Leiderman moved to adopt Hadley's suggestion; his motion was seconded by Hill.

The motion passed unanimously.

Acting on a question of senior housing had some additional impetus with word that the developer behind the Quality Suites project by I-270 may be rethinking the project. Once planned as "multi-family housing," the hotel conversion had been switched to senior housing, and had obtained a school capacity waiver from the commission under that guise. If the project is reconsidered, the developer technically still has approval for multi-family housing, Wasilak said, having not yet acted on the senior housing plan. The project could now go forward as multi-family housing, now that the moratorium has been lifted by the APFS vote.

APFS battle may not be over yet in Rockville

Planning Commission
Chair Don Hadley

The 3-2 vote by the Rockville City Council to drop the city's tighter school capacity standards in favor of Montgomery County's was the end of the Adequate Public Facilities Standards battle, right? Maybe not, if discussion at last night's Rockville Planning Commission meeting was any indication.

Rockville Planning Commissioner Jack Leiderman, acknowledging to his colleagues that he was opening a "big can of worms," suggested the council's action has several implications the Planning Commission must now address.

Leiderman stressed that the Mayor and Council had been warned by both a memo, and a report delivered by Commission Chair Don Hadley, that much of the commission's and residents' support for the draft Rockville Pike Plan was predicated on the safeguards provided by the APFS. He noted that the plan refers in several sections to the APFS as written at the time the plan was drafted.

By only one deciding vote, Leiderman said, 3 councilmembers "shot the horse out from under the rider." With the APFS "gutted," Leiderman suggested, the draft plan may no longer enjoy the support it once had. In fact, it may need to be revised and adjusted for the new standards, he said.

The Planning Commission is required to consider school overcrowding and protect future residents in the Rockville Pike Plan area from having to attend overcrowded schools, Leiderman argued. To that end, he proposed two actions.

First, Leiderman recommended the commission add language to the Pike Plan that would reflect the 2005 school standards, and would apply only to the Pike Plan area. What the council passed was only a resolution, not a text amendment, he said.

Second, Leiderman asked planning staff to continue to provide commissioners with the same school capacity data it had been collecting and furnishing since 2005. That would mean breaking the numbers down by individual school, forecast over a 5 year period, and also taking into account development that is in the pipeline.

Staff Liaison Andrew Gunning said planning staff are still having an internal discussion about how to implement their responsibilities under the new standards. He said that staff will discuss the potential of collecting the old data alongside the new county calculations, and report back to the commission.

The presentation by Chief of Planning Jim Wasilak clearly showed how deceptive the county standards are, compared to the former APFS standards. Whereas several areas of the city were in moratorium for development prior to the change, the entire city is now open for development, without a single desk being added to any school. And the cluster averaging shows school capacity being far greater than it is at many individual Rockville schools in reality.

Commissioner David Hill said he was uncertain that the commission would be able to have a tighter standard for the Rockville Pike corridor than for the rest of the city. But, he added, the commission should develop a solid argument justifying doing so, if it wishes to act on Leiderman's proposal.

Hadley acknowledged that the APFS change indeed has serious implications for the Pike Plan and planning in general. He said that he will work to come up with new language for parts of the draft plan, to reflect the new reality.

In short, the councilmembers who sought the standards change may have inadvertently slowed down the already-lengthy Pike Plan process even further. The commission was supposed to respond to a Mayor and Council communication regarding the plan, leading to some debate last night on how to respond.

Commissioners voted unanimously to have Hadley draft a cover letter reflecting where things stand in light of the APFS change. Hadley also said that it may be beneficial for Rockville to have the final Pike Plan informed by the major goals of the city's next Master Plan, a separate process that only recently got underway.

Rockville Planning Commission grants schools waiver to hotel converting to senior housing

The Rockville Planning Commission granted a schools waiver from the city's Adequate Public Facilities Standards to the Quality Suites hotel that is converting into senior housing. Located at 1380 Piccard Drive, the 219-room hotel will become a 203-unit senior housing development. No exterior changes are planned for the building.

Commissioner Charles Littlefield expressed concern that the development, while limited to seniors, would impact the city's most overcrowded school, College Gardens ES, if it somehow ever generated any students. Erica Leatham of Ballard Spahr, LLP, the applicant's attorney, said that the only residents under 62 who could live in the building would be caregivers.

One related question to that was, what if sneaky parents try to use the former hotel's address to enroll their kids at College Gardens? Commissioner Jack Leiderman asked if the city could communicate to Montgomery County Public Schools that anyone applying from the address of 1380 Piccard Drive should be rejected by the school system. Staff Liaison Andrew Gunning affirmed that could be done.

Littlefield asked if the applicant intended to operate the housing once it opens. Leatham said it does for the immediate future, but added that it is impossible to speculate about a future transaction a decade down the road.

Commissioner David Hill questioned the demand for senior housing at that location. Leatham said that her own parents had recently applied to the Ingleside senior residence at King Farm, and were told it would be a 5-6 year wait. "There's clearly a pent-up demand," she said. Commissioner Anne Goodman noted that a friend of hers was accepted at Ingleside in only 7 months. Leatham jokingly said she would have to take that up that apparent discrepancy with Ingleside.

Thoughts on the hotel's current parking lot were mixed. Hill felt the opportunity exists to reduce parking in favor of more green space around the building. But Leiderman said that would not be advisable. It turns out there are only 216 parking spaces for the 203 units. That could easily be filled if only 13 residents had two cars. And that does not begin to include parking for caregivers and visitors. If anything, it appears parking would be at a premium.

"I don’t see a lot of seniors who are going to give up driving to live out by 270," Leiderman said, citing the poor access to rapid transit at the site alongside Interstate 270.

Otherwise, commissioners were in agreement on the main points of the waiver request Wednesday night. They voted unanimously to approve the waiver, which required a supermajority for approval. The motion was made by Commissioner John Tyner, and seconded by Goodman.

ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION SENDS MEMO ON APFS SCHOOL STANDARDS TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL

Ahead of a February 2 discussion and February 9 vote by Rockville's Mayor and Council on the proposed changes to school capacity standards in the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, the Rockville Planning Commission approved a memo expressing its opinion on the matter. The opinion is advisory to the Mayor and Council, separate from the actual legislation that will be voted upon on February 9. The memo was approved at Wednesday night's meeting.

In discussing the memo's final draft, prepared by Commissioners Charles Littlefield and Anne Goodman, some changes were suggested. Goodman and Commissioner Jack Leiderman agreed that a line proposing the city fully adopt the Montgomery County APFS, if the school standards were changed, should be eliminated. Leiderman said it would be preferable for the Mayor and Council to make changes in that event, rather than require automatic adoption of the County policy in whole.

Chair Don Hadley informed his colleagues that a pending Maryland court case could require delay of the city requesting an "authoritative interpretation" from the state's Attorney General's office on whether the Mayor and Council indeed have the authority to change the APFS. He said an Anne Arundel County case pending before the State Court of Appeals will determine if a jurisdiction can "have laws passed by the legislative body that are inconsistent with the Master Plan."

The case will involve the legal standing of a citizens association to challenge something inconsistent with a Master Plan. And how "inconsistent" is defined, Hadley said.

Hadley advised that requesting an opinion from Attorney General Brian Frosh be put on hold until the court rules in the Anne Arundel case, or else "we'd be asking the AG to get ahead of the court." He suggested the Attorney General could then issue an opinion. Hadley noted that the Attorney General's brief in the case reflects his office's Fall 2014 opinion that has raised the question of whether or not the Mayor and Council have the power to change school standards.

Commissioner John Tyner questioned if Commissioner David Hill's previous concern that the school changes might be unconstitutional should be written in authoritative language, or by stating the commission believes there is a chance it might be. Tyner suggested "may well be unconstitutional" for the language. The commission's "resident expert", Commissioner Dion Trahan, said that the argument wouldn't "hold water," in his professional opinion. Trahan holds a graduate degree in Constitutional law. No clear final language was stated aloud on that point.

Hill moved that the document be adopted and transmitted to the Mayor and Council by today. The memo was unanimously approved by the commission.

ROCKVILLE APFS DISCUSSION AT PLANNING COMMISSION FINDS INCREASING SKEPTICISM OF PROPOSAL

The more Rockville's Planning Commissioners analyze and discuss the proposed changes to school capacity standards in the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, the less convinced they are of the wisdom in adopting them. Several commissioners have expressed doubt that the proposal to adopt Montgomery County's weaker 120% overcrowding cap - and assess capacity by cluster rather than by individual school - is necessary, viable, or even Constitutional.

"I would actually contend that it’s a violation of your Constitutional rights to equal protection when it comes to public schools," to measure capacity by cluster, Commissioner David Hill argued. Hill found it ironic that many MCPS policies are "based on that specific premise." Adopting the proposed changes would be "incredible. Criminal? Yeah, I suppose, if you violate someone’s Constitutional rights," Hill concluded. The matter is "a question of principle," he said.

Commissioner Jack Leiderman noted that the current language exempting senior housing from traffic standards would allow an automobile-dependent mega-retirement community the size of Leisure World to be built in the City of Rockville, and still be exempt from the standards - an oversight Leiderman described as "mind-numbingly stupid." "I think you have a good logical point about that, it makes sense," Hill concurred.

Leiderman went on to demolish the case that proponents of the changes have made on several points.

"It basically eliminates everything that the city had put into place to more accurately count school demand," he said, removing "the protection that it gave city residents." Alluding to the obvious developer support for the proposal, Leiderman suggested passage of the legislation would be "basically a complete deregulation of the development industry in the city."

Language that would allow extension of queue dates for individual developments was too weak to account for the fact that a developer could always claim that lack of school construction funds from the state of Maryland were an issue. Leiderman predicted developers could exploit that "ad infinitum. The way this is constructed, you’ve got all this language in here that looks like we’re doing something, when in fact we’re not doing squat to protect the schools, or the citizens, if this unfortunate piece of legislation were to pass," Leiderman said. "Eloquently put," Commissioner John Tyner seconded.

Use of the MCPS 5-year test and cluster averaging will be "an elaborate shell game” to cover-up the overcrowding of city schools, Leiderman said. It's the "distorting effect of cluster averaging and the 5-year test" that allows MCPS to currently run schools at 180% capacity, even when it claims a 120% cap exists. Faced with development moratoriums, Leiderman said, MCPS will cite "paper schools" where there will be capacity in 5 years. But it’s a "fictitious school" that never actually gets built, while the proposed development does. Under that scenario, "you’re not even adopting a 120 - you’re not even adopting a 180," Leiderman argued.

Citing City Councilmember Tom Moore's recent grilling of his colleagues who oppose the changes, Leiderman found a double standard on the use of data. "The leading proponent of this legislation was sort of torturing his colleagues recently about their positions not being data-driven, and I had to just laugh out loud. Because this is not only not data-driven, but it’s ignoring the data that we have, which says that the schools that operate under this are in horrible condition," Leiderman recalled. Echoing the argument of Mayor Bridget Newton, Leiderman made the case that the current APFS standards have succeeded in not only protecting Rockville students from overcrowding worse than today's, but have actually resulted in new schools getting built. "We in fact have [new schools] coming online…ahead of a lot of the other areas in the county, despite" the APFO. He said that fact suggests "the impetus behind [changing the APFS] is extraordinarily specious, and unsupported by the data. I wish that the people who are behind this would actually tell us the real reason why they want this to happen."

Tyner implored the city to consider the impact on core facilities at schools, not just classrooms. "Beall no longer has playgrounds anywhere, neither does Twinbrook," Tyner noted. Core facilities are "the things that really determine if kids get a good education or not," Tyner said. "We’re only talking about classrooms."

One other interesting point not often brought up is that tying city standards to the County would leave Rockville bound to any future changes MCPS would make to its current standards, for better or for worse. Senior Assistant City Attorney Marcy Waxman confirmed that would be the case, after Commissioner Charles Littlefield questioned why the language couldn't be simpler in noting that link.

The Mayor and Council are currently scheduled to act on the proposal in early February, and residents can speak on the matter at a public hearing this coming Monday.

ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION FINDS NO COMPELLING NEED TO CHANGE APFS SCHOOL STANDARDS

The Rockville Planning Commission voted unanimously last night to oppose proposed changes in the city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance regarding school capacity standards. Some on the city council are in favor of replacing the current school standards with those used by Montgomery County. The changes would include averaging school populations over a cluster, rather than measuring overcrowding at each individual school, as the current Rockville standard does.

Commission Chair Don Hadley reiterated his previous remarks that the recent legal opinion handed down by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler suggests the Mayor and Council lack the authority to change the APFS school standards. Hadley said they and the commission "need to find out what the rules of the road are," before changing the standards. Commissioner John Tyner said the recommendations of the city's APFO Committee a couple of years back - to implement no changes to the Rockville school standards - were forwarded by the Planning Commission to the Mayor and Council. "My opinion has not changed on that," he added.

There was a sense among some commissioners that something fishy is going on, and that the proposed changes are being pushed behind the scenes for an unstated purpose. "I'm fearful something non-transparent is going on that should be made transparent," Commissioner David Hill said. Commissioner Jack Leiderman said the demand for changes is certainly not coming from the city's residents. "Whenever there has been a proposal to weaken the APFO, this room has been filled to capacity" with citizens opposing the change, Leiderman noted. He said the January 5 date for the APFO public hearing - during holiday vacations - appeared to have been "frankly, chosen to minimize" public input.

Hill said he welcomed a "vibrant public debate" on school standards, but agreed that January 5 was not particularly conducive to having one. He reiterated Tyner's point that the commission had already spoken to the school matter by forwarding the committee report to the Mayor and Council. "I am not ready to change" school standards, Hill said. He said other jurisdictions in the state have used Rockville's 2005 APFO standards as a model, and therefore, the authority issue is very appropriate for Gansler to address at this juncture. Commissioner Anne Goodman concurred that the city should get a legal opinion from Gansler before acting on the APFS. "We have a legal uncertainty," Hadley said. "It leaves us in a very tenuous position."

Leiderman suggested the commission go on the public record regarding the controversial January 5 public hearing, and send a formal letter to the Mayor and Council. Hill said he agreed "it's the Planning Commission's place to make a recommendation."

Hill prepared language for a commission resolution that would reiterate the body's support of the 2012 APFO committee recommendations. He said they should emphasize to the Mayor and Council that those recommendations were "the product of a citizen committee that spent many hours" studying the complex issues related to adequate public facilities. Leiderman argued the commission should add one element missing from the committee recommendations, namely, to affirm that 110% of capacity is the maximum allowable in a particular school. He also said that passing the proposed changes would not be a mere alteration of regulations, but a de facto repeal of the APFO - an act that would require a text amendment. Leiderman warned that the county has even considered raising its weaker standard to a higher level of acceptable overcrowding - which would leave Rockville's schools well over the 120% county standard.

Ultimately, the commissioners came to a unanimous recommendation that the Mayor and Council should not change school standards at this time. 

Meanwhile, former mayor Larry Giammo posted a second article on his blog regarding the APFO controversy. Giammo was mayor when the city passed the original ordinance, which several commissioners argued last night is clearly working to prevent further school overcrowding. This latest post is devoted to debunking the stated rationales for loosening school standards in Rockville.

ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION GRANTS DEFERRAL FOR CONGRESSIONAL PLAZA APTS. PROPOSAL

Developer Federal Realty requested a deferral for its Crest II apartments site plan, after the matter was discussed by the Rockville Planning Commission last night. Commissioner David Hill moved to allow the deferral to the commission's first August meeting; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Jack Leiderman, and approved 6-0 by the commission.

The plan was originally scheduled to be presented for approval at last night's meeting.

ROCKVILLE PIKE PLAN VOTE DELAYED

The Rockville Planning Commission delayed its scheduled vote on the new Rockville Pike master plan at last night's meeting, in order to give the Mayor and Council, the public, and other interested parties time to study the finished draft. Given that an official transmission of the draft would trigger a 60-day review by the Mayor and Council, several commissioners expressed concern that summer would not afford the maximum time and attention to review of the document.

Following two hours of discussion, the commission voted unanimously on 3 straw votes, worded by commissioners David Hill and Jack Leiderman. The first vote was to direct the planning department to draw attention to the publication of the final draft plan on the city website. Second was to delay the formal vote in order to allow all interested parties time to review the many changes to the final draft. A final vote asked the Mayor and Council to provide "timely" advice regarding the timeframe in which it is prepared to begin the formal 60-day review process. This would likely include at least one public hearing.

Planning staff sought a more formal directive from the commission, but Assistant City Attorney Marcy Waxman backed the commissioners' decision to rely on a straw vote. Several commissioners said they wanted to avoid any sort of formal vote before giving elected officials a chance to review the plan. Now the exact calendar will be determined by the Mayor and Council's response to the commission's action. Commission chair Don Hadley requested the planning staff assist him in drafting a communication to the Mayor and Council regarding the body's decision.

Commissioner Dion Trahan expressed some disappointment in the delay of the plan's approval, saying enough feedback had already been received on the plan. "I have to work in the summer," he added, suggesting the vacation season shouldn't impact the work of city officials. He and Commissioner Charles Littlefield both stated that municipal governments need to be efficient in their land-use decisions. Leiderman noted that many significant changes had been made, and that all affected parties needed sufficient time to review what is essentially a new document.

The next move will be determined by the Mayor and Council. It certainly makes sense, given that it is difficult to get any meaningful public participation during the summer vacation months.

ROCKVILLE RESIDENTS TELL PLANNING COMMISSION: CURRENT BIKEWAY PLAN WOULD BE "DISASTER"

The president of Regents Square's condo board told Rockville planning commissioners that the draft Bikeway Master Plan would be "a disaster for our community," at last week's public hearing on the document. Joe Covey said his community of 252 townhouses on Azalea Drive, and Nelson Street, were planned with street parking designed to complement off-street lot parking. Woodley Gardens Civic Association President James Reschovsky shared Covey's concern, although both emphasized that their communities are not opposed to improving bike mobility through their neighborhood.

A primary issue is the plan for a .4 mile bike climbing lane on Azalea Drive, that would displace existing street parking. Reschovsky said he did not have the precise number of parking spaces that would be lost, but estimated them as 50-75. "What I can say with confidence," Reschovsky added, is that "the street is totally parked, the off-street parking lots are full [and] there’s already a parking problem now." "50 to 75 is a substantial number of cars," Planning Commissioner Jack Leiderman said, describing the parking elimination as "a major change."

Reschovsky suggested the city examine alternative routes for the new bike connection between Nelson Street and Gude Drive. Pressed by commissioners for specific routes, Reschovsky said it would be inappropriate to speculate, without input from Woodley Gardens residents. He said Crocus Drive and Aster Boulevard would be possible alternatives, but that residents had not had a chance to address that specific question yet.

Montgomery College also expressed opposition to the draft plan's route that passes through its Rockville campus. Don Smith, director of the college's Evening and Weekend Office, and a member of its bike task force, said the college "strongly supports" biking, noting its participation in the Capital Bikeshare program. But "it cannot compromise security by opening the perimeter fence" in the northwest area of the campus, Smith said. "Controlling access is critical to the prevention” of crime on campus, Smith argued. The college "does not endorse" the plan's proposed through-campus route for that reason, Smith said.

The solid opposition of the college to opening the fence needs to be taken into account before passing the draft plan, two commissioners argued. Commissioner John Tyner said the campus is "not to be breached in any place." Leiderman pointed out that, while the city can put any route into the plan, the college cannot be compelled to open its property. To go forward with the college segment as written, would be "exercising futility, to put something in a master plan that cannot be," Leiderman argued.

Proponents of the plan stressed the importance of bike route connectivity both within the city, and to bike infrastructure outside of it. Rockville is already ahead of most in the county in its number and route miles of bike trails. It seems realistic that the goal of more connections could be accomplished while addressing community concerns, such as those expressed at the hearing.

Leiderman moved to hold a second public hearing after the commission holds work sessions, and to keep the public record on the plan open until after that hearing is held. That would ensure the public can comment on finer details not yet known, he said. Tyner agreed, and urged citizens to get involved on the issue. Commissioner David Hill recommended the record close one week following the second hearing. Leiderman and Tyner concurred. Leiderman's amended motion passed unanimously.