Rockville Historic District Commission to hold emergency meeting December 6

The Historic District Commission has scheduled an emergency meeting for this Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 7:00 PM at City Hall. Commissioners will review an emergency application from the Mayor & Council that seeks to permit the demolition of an underground concrete structure at the Rockville Civic Center. The structure is not yet identified in the meeting agenda, but is stated to be blocking the construction of an already-approved retaining wall at the center.

Historic home on Frederick Ave. likely to be demolished

The owner of a two-story Colonial Revival home at 214 Frederick Avenue is seeking to demolish the structure. It is located in England's Addition to Lincoln Park. City staff finds that the home does indeed meet the criteria for historic designation, but "has lost the physical characteristics that are required for the building to have integrity." They are therefore recommending against historic designation for the home.

Rockville's Historic District Commission will review the matter at its next meeting, on Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:30 PM at City Hall.

Historic District Commission to decide if barn in Rockville's West End Park can be demolished

A barn believed to date from at least the early 20th century is holding up approval of demolition of all structures at 537 Anderson Avenue in Rockville. Examining the request in November, the Historic District Commission determined the home and an additional rental home on the site have no historic significance. However, the barn was a sticking point for commissioners, as little information is available on its history, and it is a unique structure in the city of Rockville these days.

City staff has consulted with Peerless Rockville and others with historical expertise, but has so far been unable to obtain much more information about the history and significance of the barn. They hope to have found more information by the time commissioners take the matter up again at their January 18, 2018 meeting, which will be held at 7:30 PM at City Hall (and will be televised on Channel 11 for cable tv viewers).

Photo via City of Rockville

New house proposed on Martins Lane in historic district

A property owner has proposed building a new home in the Hebron House Historic District of Rockville, on a newly-subdivided lot at 19 Martins Lane. The single-story home will have an attached garage. Hebron House itself is located at 17 Martins Lane.

The Historic District Commission will take up the proposal at their June 15 meeting. Staff is recommending approval of the home, once advice from the Commission is incorporated into the design.

Rendering courtesy City of Rockville

Mayor and Council seek permission to demolish Rockville home for parking lot

The Historic District Commission will consider whether or not to declare a 1977 home in Lincoln Park historic at their meeting tomorrow night, May 18, at 7:30 PM at City Hall. Rockville's Mayor and Council purchased the home recently, for the purpose of demolishing it to make room for a parking lot at the Lincoln Park Community Center.

Although the area is historic for being one of the first subdivisions in Montgomery County available for purchase by African-Americans, the home itself is on a parcel that was created in 1976, 313 1/2 Frederick Avenue. Staff liaison Sheila Bashiri is recommending against historic designation.

For my part, having attended a number of events and meetings at the community center, I can attest that additional parking spaces are desperately needed at this facility.

Americana Centre seeking historic designation in Rockville

One of the most visible properties in Rockville could be one of the most protected, if the Historic District Commission and Mayor and Council approve. Americana Centre's Board of Directors has filed a request with the City seeking historic designation for the venerable condominium property.

Very much an icon of the "urban renewal" phase of the later-mid 20th century in Rockville town center, Americana Centre is now surrounded by a landscape of change, however slow its pace.

Carl M. Freeman and Associates was chosen by the City of Rockville to design the complex, which opened as a rental property in 1972. Quickly converting to condominium, the property was the first residential high-rise in the city. But the complex also includes many garden-style and townhome units, as well.

Folks with Delaware beach property may be familiar with another Freeman property, Sea Colony in Bethany Beach. The firm also has several other Americana-branded developments in the area, including one now known as Glenmont Forest. That garden apartment community is now in danger of demolition and redevelopment, thanks to our corrupt County Council's passage of a destructive Glenmont sector plan.

Americana Centre may be spared from such an ignominious fate - staff is recommending approval of historic designation for the property. The HDC will review the request at its November 17 meeting at City Hall, scheduled for 7:30 PM.

Meanwhile, the staff report is very much worth a read if you are interested in midcentury modern Rockville, including an extremely rare aerial photo of the Rockville Mall.

Staff report photo of
Rockville Mall

Rockville HDC finds revised Chestnut Lodge plan meets Secretary of the Interior standards

The Rockville Historic District Commission made a preliminary finding last night that the revised plan for the site of Chestnut Lodge meets Secretary of the Interior standards for Rehabilitation. A formal vote on a final draft is expected to be taken at the body's next meeting on November 17.

Applicant JNP Chestnut Lodge, LLC has proposed constructing 6 townhomes on the spot where the historic Chestnut Lodge psychiatric hospital stood until it was destroyed by fire in 2009. Nancy Pickard, Executive Director of historic preservation organization Peerless Rockville, testified that townhomes were not part of the heritage of Rockville at the time Chestnut Lodge was built.

Pickard told commissioners that, while wealthy estate dwellers did buy townhomes in urban areas in those days, they did not do so in Rockville. She said the first townhome developments in the City weren't constructed until the 1960s, nearly a century after the era of Chestnut Lodge's birth as a hotel. She also criticized the idea that the proposal should be considered only in the context of the SOI Rehabilitation standards. The other 3 sets of SOI standards - Restoration, Reconstruction, and Preservation - should be applied as well, she said. Rehabilitation standards ceased to be relevant after the main lodge burnt down, she added.

HDC chair Rob Achtmeyer asked Pickard if the individual access doors of townhomes vs. the shared entry of a condo building was her central concern. "It is a large factor," Pickard replied. "That housing form (townhouse) was not introduced in this city until the 1960s. That is not the heritage of Rockville," she said.
"Massing, the stronger verticality of the original hotel. There was the relationship of the dominant hotel to the outbuildings. The whole site was larger."

Kate Kuranda of Goodwin and Associates, speaking for the applicant, said what is left of the Chestnut Lodge site would not qualify for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Once a building has burned, she said, it is removed from the Register. Kuranda said she concurs with City staff that the plan does meet the Secretary's rehabilitation standards, and that it retains the park-like setting of Chestnut Lodge.

Kuranda said the developer, Jim Proakis, has offered to establish a website to archive all of the photographs, oral and written history, and other records available on the historic hotel and hospital. Proakis has already discussed the idea with a firm that has experience in creating this type of website, she said. Achtmeyer said he found the website offer "very intriguing." He also exhorted attendees and the televison audience to bring forward to staff any materials they may have on the lost building. Achtmeyer called sitting on such materials as this plan rapidly moves forward "counterproductive. Please, do us all a favor - share."

In a presentation earlier, staff liaison Sheila Bashiri said that the suggestion by many in the community to rebuild Chestnut Lodge as it was would only make sense if it was then opened as a hotel or psychiatric hospital. The primary goal of a reconstruction, Bashiri said, is education. A building would usually be reconstructed, and then opened to the public, who could learn from visiting or touring it about its history.

Bashiri recommended the commission find the plan does meet the SOI Rehabilitation standards.

During a period of public testimony, Paul Newman, the president of the 30 Oaks Civic Association, asked why the input of the West End Citizens Association was not included in the staff report. "Where is it," he asked.

Newman said it was inaccurate to claim that the new building resembles the footprint of the lost building. He said he walked the grounds of the site, and noticed that some of the markers indicating the footprint of the proposed building are actually on pavement, not the grass, indicating it is larger. Newman called Chestnut Lodge "one of the anchors of the historic district. It's a little disingenuous to say [we can't reconstruct it]."

"Changing an access road to the outbuildings into a back alley with garages and trash cans," Newman said, "that is a major change in character." The applicant previously has promised to hide trash receptacles through both the design of the homes, and via condo association rules about when they can be placed outdoors.

There was very little mention of the Planned Residential Unit agreement that high-profile opponents like current Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, and past mayor Larry Giammo, have argued remains in effect. That PRU demanded that the main building be restored as a prerequisite for its adapted re-use as a condominium development. The PRU agreement was reached between the City and a previous developer who sought to redevelop the site.

After a short break, commissioners returned at 10:45 PM to discuss the matter.

"I find the massing and the roofline very problematic," Commissioner Stefanie Tincher said. "It changes its relationship to the surrounding buildings. I'm having a real problem with it."

No other commissioner commented on the plan. Achtmeyer suggested going forward then with the body's recommendation to the Mayor and Council.

First, a majority of the commission agreed that they should employ the Rehabilitation standards. Then they took straw votes on each of the applicable standards.

For Standard #1 (A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal
change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships), commissioners voted "Yes" by 3-2. Tincher and Commissioner Emily Correll were the dissenters. Tincher argued that #1 didn't apply, because the new structure will change the spatial relationships.

For Standard #2 (The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property
will be avoided), commissioners unanimously voted that the project does meet the standard.

For Standard #3 (Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements
from other historic properties, will not be undertaken), commissioners voted 4-1, with Tincher dissenting. "I'd like to revise the staff report" on scale, mass and design, Tincher said. Achtmeyer suggested it might be faster to just cast her lone dissenting vote, and move on.

Achtmeyer joined Tincher in dissenting on Standard #9 (New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work will be differentiated from the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment).

The Planning Commission will be the next body to review the plan. Achtmeyer said he would like to hold off the vote until next month, so that the Planning Commission can reach their own conclusions apart from the HDC's influence.

Rockville HDC to review Chestnut Lodge proposal Oct. 20

The modified project plan for a townhome development on the former site of the Chestnut Lodge mental institution will be reviewed by the Rockville Historic District Commission at its October 20 meeting. This will again be a courtesy review; the project will also have to receive a Certificate of Approval from the HDC later, if its design receives final approval from the Planning Commission and Mayor and Council.

This proposal reduces the number of townhomes from seven to six, in response to community and historic preservation experts' concerns that the structure's footprint was wider than the original building, which burnt down in a suspicious fire in 2009.

Planning staff is recommending a favorable recommendation by the HDC.

The public will have the opportunity to speak at next Thursday's meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM at City Hall.

Rockville zoning chief announces how review of Chestnut Lodge project will proceed

Rockville zoning chief Jim Wasilak has announced his plan for proceeding on the review of a revised plan amendment for the Chestnut Lodge project. Applicant JNP Chestnut Lodge, LLC filed the revised amendment with the City early this month.

In an email sent yesterday to parties of record in the controversial matter, Wasilak said he considered the feedback given last week by the Mayor and Council before deciding on the following process and tentative schedule:

• Written and electronic notification of all parties of record, property owners, nearby residents and civic associations

• Area meeting to be held by JNP Chestnut Lodge LLC on July 26

• Staff/Development Review Committee review prior to staff report and recommendation on September 8
• Planning Commission briefing by staff on September 14
• Mayor and Council briefing on September 19
• Historic District Commission courtesy review and recommendation on October 20
• Planning Commission review and recommendation on November 9
• Mayor and Council public hearing on December 5
• Mayor and Council discussion and instructions to staff on January 9, 2017
• Mayor and Council final decision on January 30, 2017

Wasilak notes that the HDC is being asked to give a recommendation, beyond just the courtesy review it gave the earlier plan amendment. I've highlighted in bold the meetings above where the public will likely or certainly have the chance to speak.

While the new plan amendment reduces the horizontal width and footprint of the project, it still does not meet the requirements of the Planned Residential Unit (PRU) agreement previously negotiated by the City for the Chestnut Lodge site. Opponents of the project have argued that PRU remains legally binding, and would not permit a townhome development on this site, which is within a historic district.

Rendering courtesy City of Rockville

Rockville HDC recommends listing New Mark Commons on National Register of Historic Places

The Rockville Historic District Commission voted last night to recommend that the New Mark Commons development be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. John Hansman, President of the New Mark Commons HOA, said his community's addition to the list would be perfect timing for its 50th anniversary next year.

Hansman testified that the process began when he met a woman at his Bethesda church who had led the effort to list Carderock Springs. That Bethesda community just west of the Capital Beltway along River Road was also built by New Mark Commons' developer, Edmund J. Bennett.

Not everyone is on board for the honor, however. One NMC resident, who said he was also representing several neighbors who couldn't attend, expressed concerns about the impact of the designation. Many in teh community were not aware this process was underway, he said. There is a substantial amount of deferred maintenance in the community, he reported, such as wooden fences that need to be repaired or replaced. He feared that being added to the list would be used as an excuse to not keep the community looking fresh.

HDC Chair Rob Achtmeyer said maintenance issues are a problem in any aging community. He said that code enforcement by the City could address any of those upkeep problems that violate City code. Achtmeyer and preservation planner Sheila Bashiri assured the resident that he and his neighbors would have the opportunity to address the listing when the matter goes before the Mayor and Council, and when it is taken up by the Maryland Historical Trust. They also attempted to distinguish this honorary designation from the more-complicated historic designation, which requires approvals to make exterior changes to your home.

Commissioner Jessica Reynolds said she was comfortable that the community had been informed, and the commission voted to recommend the community be added to the list.

Rockville neighborhood could be listed on National Register of Historic Places

A process that began in 2012 has culminated in the nomination of New Mark Commons to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, pending review by the Rockville Historic District Commission. That review will take place at the commission's next meeting, on Thursday, June 16.

Listing on the register gives an honorary recognition of the historic significance and character of a place, but does not prevent architectural changes to homes, or require the review of the HDC to make such changes. It does require any project involving federal funds, licenses or permits to be reviewed by the federal agency involved to determine if the project will have an adverse impact on the historic character of the listed property.

Inclusion on the register also makes communities and homeowners eligible for historic preservation grants.

The nomination acknowledges New Mark Commons' place in history as an example of "Situated Modernism."  Builder Edmund J. Bennett and architects Keyes, Lethbridge, & Congdon emphasized open space, amenities and mature trees. The community was promoted as "a Twentieth Century village that's one foot in the future and a step back to a better time." Like its contemporaries Reston and Columbia, it also features a lake, even though it reduced Bennett's profits to build it.

Included in the staff report and attachments are many other interesting details on the development and features of New Mark Commons. It's very much worth a read for those interested in Rockville history, planning, architecture, and the times in which this neighborhood was constructed.

Rockville Historic District Commission selects roof option for King Farm dairy barn

The design of the replacement
roof selected for a dairy barn
at King Farm

The Historic District Commission last night recommended Option 1 out of three potential roof replacements for a dairy barn at the King Farm farmstead in Rockville. This option was determined to meet the Secretary of the Interior standard No. 6.

Option 1 was recommended by the contractor hired to replace the roof, which will also get a replacement Thompson's Dairy logo when work is completed. The project is part of a renovation of the farmstead that has been a priority for the Mayor and Council.

Giammo asks Rockville HDC to reconsider Chestnut Lodge review

Former Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo appeared before the Historic District Commission last night on the current hot topic in historic preservation: Chestnut Lodge. Following the Planning Commission's unanimous bodyslam of a proposed townhome development on the former site of the famed mental health facility last week, Giammo asked the HDC to reconsider the findings it made in a Courtesy Review of the project last year.

At that November 19 review, the HDC commissioners present expressed no objection to the plan of JNP Chestnut Lodge, LLC for townhomes at the 500 W. Montgomery Avenue site. The development team's presentation was well-received, in stark contrast to the response of the Planning Commission and the public. However, the two HDC commissioners who are usually the most-outspoken on preservation matters, Jessica Reynolds and Craig Maloney, were both absent that evening. Maloney's term on the HDC has since ended.

But a re-review of the plan with Reynolds and new commissioner Stefanie Tincher on the dais could conceivably end with a different conclusion than the November session.

That possibility is on the minds of those opposing the plan, which includes Giammo. The former mayor told the HDC last night that the conversation planning commissioners had last week is the one he had hoped the HDC would have had last year. Giammo also was critical of staff's instructions to the HDC, which he noted were very narrow in scope.

In fact, Giammo said, Maryland law trumps the guidelines suggested by staff, and require the HDC to fully consider the impacts of such redevelopment on a historic site. That includes whether or not the project might have a negative, degrading impact on the historic character and integrity of the overall site.

The HDC must reach an "unequivocal determination" on all of the issues that have been raised, Giammo said. He also emphasized that the claims of the developer's historical consultant that there are no blueprints or design records that would permit reconstruction of Chestnut Lodge - which burnt down in a suspicious 2009 fire - are "entirely false." Giammo said Peerless Rockville and other historic preservation advocates such as historian Eileen McGuckian stand ready to assist in such an effort.

A legal agreement reached between the City and the developer at that time in 2006 required the rehabilitation of the Chestnut Lodge building as a condition for the construction of 7 condo units within the rehabbed structure.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

6-car garage proposed for historic W. Jefferson St. property; King Farm dairy barn plan on HDC agenda

Repair and renovation of the dairy barn complex at the former King Farm is on the agenda of the Rockville Historic District Commission tonight at City Hall at 7:30 PM. City staff is recommending approval of a plan that would replace the steel roof with a new terne steel roof that meets the Secretary of the Interior standards, repair the existing wood siding and doors. Only one door requires a full replacement.

The Thompson's Dairy lettering, as pictured above, will be reproduced on the new roof.

There is one condition for approval of the plan, which is that the original wood siding be reinstalled on the barn after the interior work is completed.

A potentially more controversial agenda item is a proposal to construct a six-car garage and circular driveway at the Luckett House at 107 W. Jefferson Street. The property is located in the West Montgomery Avenue Historic District.

This is a Courtesy Review by the HDC, and staff is seeking commissioners' advice for the applicant as to how these non-traditional elements can be incorporated into the existing property.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Rockville HDC approves County request to move statue to Beall Dawson House

The Rockville Historic District Commission voted 3-1 last night to approve the Montgomery County Department of General Services request to move the Confederate statue from the historic courthouse to the Beall Dawson House. There was actually some drama at last night's meeting.

Commissioner Emily Correll once again recused herself, due to having testified against moving the statue at a public hearing, prior to being appointed to the HDC. That left a quorum of 4. But things got briefly tense when a 2-1-1-1 split emerged among the four commissioners voting.

Commissioner Jessica Reynolds said she favored the recommended spot at the Beall Dawson property. Chair Rob Achtmeyer countered that that site seemed too much like a rededication, and said the alternate location would be less formal. Commissioner Craig Moloney was not pleased about placing the statue in such a prominent place. He said he personally was offended by the statue, and that it is "defiant", not merely a fallen soldier surrounded by angels. Commissioner Anita Neal Powell concurred, saying that placing the statue at Beall Dawson was actually giving it greater prominence and visibility than the current site, where it is hidden.

Reynolds repeatedly made her displeasure with the County Executive known during the hearing, asking city staff what conditions the HDC could place on the approval to require the County to pick up the potentially hefty tab for moving, siting and posting of signage and other materials. She argued city residents shouldn't have to pay when it was the Executive who demanded it be moved.

The motion to approve was made by Reynolds and seconded by Powell. At the last moment, Moloney and Powell joined Reynolds for a 3-vote majority; Achtmeyer cast the lone dissenting vote.

What made for some drama was that earlier split - 2 people in favor (but each preferring different alternative spot), and 2 opposed. Reynolds ultimately sided with Achtmeyer on the alternate spot, setting up a 2-2 tie. A tie would have counted as a rejection of the County's request, potentially delaying the statue's move further.

Now the Mayor and Council will vote to accept or reject the statue at their February 8 meeting.

Rockville's Confederate statue could stay put at least through February 2016

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and the City Council will have the final say over whether or not the Confederate statue outside the Red Brick Courthouse ends up on the grounds of the Beall Dawson House, City Manager Barbara Matthews confirmed during Monday night's Mayor and Council meeting. 

The Rockville Historic District Commission is scheduled to take up Montgomery County's request to move the statue, which the County owns, to the City-owned Beall Dawson property on Thursday night. That decision was postponed when the recusal of one commissioner prevented a quorum on that agenda item at last month's meeting of the HDC.

Matthews said that, even if the HDC approves the move, the Mayor and Council can accept or reject the statue. She recommended scheduling Mayor and Council action on the matter for February, so that the highly-controversial issue would not overwhelm budget discussions already on meeting agendas in January.

That would mean the statue will remain in place at least through February of next year.

Rockville Confederate statue move put on hold, Chestnut Lodge development reviewed

The absence of two members of Rockville's Historic District Commission at last night's meeting resulted in the postponement of action on moving the Confederate statue to the Beall-Dawson House until mid-December. Although the Commission had a quorum with 3 members present, newest member Emily Correll informed HDC Chair Rob Achtmeyer that she would recuse herself from the statue vote, having testified on the matter as a citizen at a previous hearing.

Commissioner Jessica Reynolds was out of the country, and Commissioner Craig Moloney was detained by bad weather despite his intention to fly back in time for the meeting, Achtmeyer said.

The Commission was able to handle the rest of its agenda, however.

Commissioners voted unanimously that there was no historical significance to homes at 714 and 729 Beall Avenue, allowing their owners to now demolish them. Both are in the West End Park subdivision. Achtmeyer suggested that, while neither of these homes were of the structural integrity to preserve, the City and residents should be having conversations about specific homes, blocks and areas within Rockville that could be designated historic, to preserve mid-century residential architecture.

Afterward, Commissioners conducted a courtesy review of the 7-townhome development on the site of the former Chestnut Lodge at 500 W. Montgomery Avenue, for developer JNP Chestnut Lodge, LLC.

Architect Randy Creaser told commissioners that he did extensive research on Chestnut Lodge, a historic hotel later converted into a sanitarium. In 2009, the abandoned building was burnt down in a fire many believed was an arson incident.

Chestnut Lodge as photographed
in 2003

Creaser said he was inspired by the building's 2nd Empire Victorian architecture, and wanted a design that would "acknowledge and give a nod to the grace and beauty of that architecture we lost."

The proposed townhome
development

Central to that, are the tower elements of the building's roofline. Ten foot ceilings - "a very Victorian height," Creaser noted - also allow for tall windows. Natural light was very important during the gaslight age, Creaser said. A gable element along the new building's south elevation will also pay tribute to the Lodge.

Tower elements at the
roofline recall
Chestnut Lodge

Garages will be recessed 17' behind the rear decks of the townhomes, and are at a lower grade than the access road, minimizing them as architectural elements, Creaser said.

The applicant's attorney, Soo Lee-Cho, said that by moving the footprint of the building south, mature holly trees will be preserved. An arborist testifying for the applicant said the trees "are worth this effort," and that he had worked out a long-term plan with the City arborist to ensure the health of those natural resources.

Of the Chestnut Lodge-inspired design, Achtmeyer said, "This is not typical in any way, and I think that's important for this site."

Commissioners did not express any objections to the plan. It will now be presented to the Mayor and Council in a briefing Monday night.

Photos courtesy City of Rockville

No action on Confederate statue reconsideration request by Rockville HDC

Rockville's Confederate statue remains on track for removal, as the Historic District Commission declined to revisit its September decision to permit Montgomery County to move it at its October 15 meeting. Opponents of the move had hoped the HDC would put a reconsideration of the decision on its November agenda.

The hot topic was not even the subject of much discussion at the meeting, where Peerless Rockville Executive Director Nancy Pickard briefly addressed the HDC during the Public Comment period. She asked the commissioners to "take a fresh look at the decision," based on information that those who oppose the relocation have uncovered since the September meeting.

Earlier in the evening, the commission went into a closed Executive Session, to receive legal advice on "correspondence received October 2." HDC Chair Rob Achtmeyer later noted the commission had received correspondence from Peerless Rockville and others, but the topic was not addressed further at that point.

Close to the end of the meeting, Commissioner Craig Maloney did briefly comment on the statue request during Old Business. "I don’t think this is an appropriate course," Maloney said. "We made the correct decision on this."

In other business, the commission declined to find 9 triplex units at 9701 Veirs Drive to be of historic significance. The homes will be replaced with a new residential building. Jim Wasilak, Chief of Planning for the City of Rockville, said the developer has not yet submitted that project for review by the Planning Commission.

Peerless Rockville contesting Historic District Commission decision on Confederate statue

Eileen McGuckian, Executive Director emerita of historic preservation organization Peerless Rockville, criticized the September 17 vote by the Historic District Commission to allow Montgomery County to relocate the city's Confederate statue at last night's Mayor and Council meeting. McGuckian said the HDC made at least two errors in its decisionmaking process.

On the question of whether or not the statue had itself been declared historic, McGuckian said HDC commissioners were misled by city staff, who had said no such evidence could be found. She said that was incorrect, and that the statue had indeed been declared historic in the past. McGuckian also argued that the HDC used the wrong set of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's Standards in reaching its conclusion.

The deadline to file a request to reconsider the HDC decision is October 4, McGuckian said. But the next Mayor and Council meeting is not until October 5. The Mayor and Council couldn't do anything about the matter anyway, Councilmember Tom Moore told McGuckian, as they have no authority to intervene.

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and Councilmember Beryl Feinberg said they would make themselves available to meet with McGuckian this week to discuss the matter.

McGuckian also called for more training for HDC commissioners, whom she said "were clearly uncomfortable with their roles" on September 17.

Newton said the Mayor and Council must have a public discussion on a separate issue regarding the statue October 5 - whether or not it will be accepted by the Beall-Dawson House, which is the preferred location by Montgomery County so far.

Twinbrook back on Historic District Commission agenda for Thursday

The agenda for the Rockville Historic District Commission for its Thursday, August 20 meeting includes an "update on HDC meeting with Twinbrook Citizens Association." Discussion of historic preservation options for the Twinbrook neighborhood, and a potential meeting with their association, has been postponed at least twice this year.

The talk of such options has raised some concerns among Twinbrook homeowners, and the topic was discussed at the TCA meeting in April. Many Twinbrook homes fall within the 50-year window for consideration as historic, Commissioner Jessica Reynolds noted this past March.

Other notable items on Thursday's agenda include an update on a draft Historic Preservation text amendment, and a courtesy review of the proposed new ADA-compliant parking lot for the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre and social hall.

Thursday's meeting will be at City Hall, and will begin at 7:30 PM.